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J.Edgar Hoover Becomes Head of the FBI
On May 10, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge appointed Hoover as the fifth Director of the Bureau of Investigation, partly in response to allegations that the prior director, William J. Burns, was involved in the Teapot Dome scandal. -
Mein Kampf is Published
It was a blueprint of his agenda for a Third Reich and a clear exposition of the nightmare that will envelope Europe from 1939 to 1945. -
Stock Market Crash Begins Great Depression
The crash began on Oct. 24, 1929, known as "Black Thursday," when the market opened 11% lower than the previous day's close. Institutions and financiers stepped in with bids above the market price to stem the panic, and the losses on that day were modest, with stocks bouncing back over the next two days. -
The Dust Bowl Begins
The Dust Bowl was the name given to the drought-stricken Southern Plains region of the United States, which suffered severe dust storms during a dry period in the 1930s. As high winds and choking dust swept the region from Texas to Nebraska, people and livestock were killed and crops failed across the entire region. -
Franklin Roosevelt is Elected President (1st Time)
In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated Republican incumbent Herbert Hoover in a landslide. -
Adolf Hitler Become Chancellor of Germany
Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933 following a series of electoral victories by the Nazi Party. He ruled absolutely until his death by suicide in April 1945. Primary Image: Adolf Hitler giving the Nazi salute at a rally in Nuremburg in 1928. -
CCC is Created
Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, with an executive order on April 5, 1933. The CCC was part of his New Deal legislation, combating high unemployment during the Great Depression by putting hundreds of thousands of young men to work on environmental conservation projects. -
WPA is Created
President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the WPA with an executive order on May 6, 1935. It was part of his New Deal plan to lift the country out of the Great Depression by reforming the financial system and restoring the economy to pre-Depression levels. ... The WPA shut down in June of 1943. -
J.J. Braddock Wins Heavyweight Boxing Title
Instead, on June 13, 1935, at Madison Square Garden Bowl, Braddock won the Heavyweight Championship of the World as the 10-to-1 underdog in what was called "the greatest fistic upset since the defeat of John L. Sullivan by Jim Corbett". -
Olympic Games in Berlin
The Berlin Games were the 10th occurrence of the modern Olympic Games. The 1936 Olympics were held in a tense, politically charged atmosphere. The Nazi Party had risen to power in 1933, two years after Berlin was awarded the Games, and its racist policies led to international debate about a boycott of the Games. -
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom, was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's Sturmabteilung paramilitary forces along with civilians throughout Nazi Germany on 9–10 November 1938. The German authorities looked on without intervening. -
Grapes of Wrath is Published
The Grapes of Wrath, the best-known novel by John Steinbeck, published in 1939. It evokes the harshness of the Great Depression and arouses sympathy for the struggles of migrant farmworkers. The book came to be regarded as an American classic. -
Wizard of Oz Premiers in Movie Theaters
On August 25, 1939, The Wizard of Oz, which will become one of the best-loved movies in history, opens in theaters around the United States. Based on the 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. -
Germany Invades Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September campaign, 1939 defensive war and Poland campaign, was an attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. -
The Four Freedoms Speech
Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union Address, commonly known as the “Four Freedoms” speech. In it he articulated a powerful vision for a world in which all people had freedom of speech and of religion, and freedom from want and fear. It was delivered on January 6, 1941 and it helped change the world.