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Herbert Hoover is elected president
Hoover was an American engineer, businessman and politician who served as the 31st President of the United States from 1929 to 1933 during the Great Depression. -
The IBM Corporation is founded
International Business Machines Corporation is an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States, with operations in over 170 countries. -
The Palmer Raids arrest and deport over 6,000 suspected "radicals"
Palmer Raids, also called Palmer Red Raids, raids conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 1919 and 1920 in an attempt to arrest foreign anarchists, communists, and radical leftists, many of whom were subsequently deported. -
The 18th Amendment goes into effect
On January 29, 1919, Congress ratified the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the manufacturing, transportation and sale of alcohol within the United States; it would go into effect the following January. -
19th Amendment is ratified by Congress
In 1919, the 19th Amendment, which stated that “the rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex,” passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the states for ratification. -
The League of Nations is founded
The League of Nations was an international diplomatic group developed after World War I as a way to solve disputes between countries before they erupted into open warfare. -
Radio Station KDKA air the first commercially broadcast program
On November 2, 1920, station KDKA made the nation's first commercial broadcast (a term coined by Conrad himself). They chose that date because it was election day, and the power of radio was proven when people could hear the results of the Harding-Cox presidential race before they read about it in the newspaper. -
Warren G. Harding is elected president
Harding’s presidency was overshadowed by the criminal activities of some of his cabinet members and other government officials, although he himself was not involved in any wrongdoing. -
Sacco and Vanzetti Trial concludes
Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were Italian-born American anarchists who were controversially convicted of murdering a guard and a paymaster during the April 15, 1920 armed robbery of the Slater and Morrill Shoe Company in Braintree, Massachusetts, United States. -
Readers Digest is founded
Reader's Digest is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace. -
The Teapot Dome Scandal is uncovered
During the Teapot Dome scandal, Albert B. Fall, who served as secretary of the interior in President Warren G. Harding's cabinet, is found guilty of accepting a bribe while in office. Fall was the first individual to be convicted of a crime committed while a presidential cabinet member. -
First game in the newly built Yankees Stadium is played
The first game at the new Yankee Stadium was a preseason exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs played on April 3, 2009, which the Yankees won 7–4. -
President Warren G. Harding dies
Today, most historians accept that Harding, 57, died from a heart attack brought on by ample evidence of cardiac problems. -
President Calvin Coolidge is elected president
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was an American politician and the 30th President of the United States. A Republican lawyer from New England, born in Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor -
Adolf Hitler leads a failed attempt to overthrow the German government (Beer Hall Putsch)
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and his followers staged the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, a failed takeover of the government in Bavaria, a state in southern Germany. -
The National Origins Act is passed limiting immigration
In 1924 Congress passed a discriminatory immigration law that restricted the immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans and practically excluded Asians and other nonwhites from entry into the United States. -
The first Winter Olympics are held
The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. -
George Gershwin releases "Rhapsody in Blue"
Rhapsody in Blue is a 1924 musical composition by American composer George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band, which combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects. The composition was commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman. -
The Great Gatsby is published by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby tells the story of one man's pursuit of the American Dream. The narrator, Nick Carraway, is an upper class American man who moves from the West to New York to try his luck as a bond trader. -
Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf
The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926 -
Langston Hughes publishes his first set of poems in his The Weary Blues
“The Weary Blues” is a lyric poem with two voices. The poem provides a sample of the blues as well as an observation of the blues tradition from an outside source. As the title of the poem indicates, and the narrator suggests (with “droning” and “drowsy”), the musician is literally weary; the setting is late at night. -
The Ford Motor Company announces the creation of a 40 hour work week
Ford announced that it would pay its male factory workers a minimum wage of $5 per eight-hour day, upped from a previous rate of $2.34 for nine hours (the policy was adopted for female workers in 1916). -
Gertrude Ederle is the first woman to swim the English Channel
Gertrude Caroline Ederle was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in five events. On August 6, 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. -
The Great Mississippi Flood displaces 700,000 people
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with 27,000 square miles (70,000 km2) inundated up to a depth of 30 feet (9 m). -
Charles Lindbergh makes the first nonstop Transatlantic flight
Charles A. Lindbergh completed the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight in history, flying his Spirit of St. Louis from Long Island, New York, to Paris, France. -
Scopes Monkey Trial begin in Dayton, TN
In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called “Monkey Trial” begins with John Thomas Scopes, a young high school science teacher, accused of teaching evolution in violation of a Tennessee state law. -
Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs
On September 30, 1927, Babe Ruth hits his 60th home run of the 1927 season and with it sets a record that would stand for 34 years. George Herman Ruth was born February 6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland. -
The Holland Tunnel connecting NYC and NJ opens
Holland Tunnel, twin-tube tunnel under the Hudson River connecting Canal Street in Manhattan, New York City, with 12th and 14th streets in Jersey City, N.J. The tunnel was completed in 1927 and opened for traffic on November 13 of that year. It was named for Clifford M. Holland, the engineer who designed it. -
The first film with sound "The Jazz Singer" debuts
The Jazz Singer, the first commercially successful full-length feature film with sound, debuts at the Blue Mouse Theater at 1421 5th Avenue in Seattle. The movie uses Warner Brothers' Vitaphone sound-on-disc technology to reproduce the musical score and sporadic episodes of synchronized speech. -
Alexander Fleming discovers Penicilin
Fleming’s legendary discovery of penicillin occurred in 1928, while he was investigating staphylococcus, a common type of bacteria that causes boils and can also cause disastrous infections in patients with weakened immune systems. -
Mickey Mouse makes his first appearance in the short film "Steamboat Willie"
Mickey Mouse made his movie debut in Steamboat Willie, one of the earliest animated cartoons. This seven-minute film, directed by Walt Disney, was the first to combine animation technology with synchronized sound. -
Chicago's St.Valentine's Day Massacre
The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was when the men were gathered at a Lincoln Park garage on the morning of Valentine's Day, where they were made to line up against a wall and shot by four unknown assailants -
Stock Market crashes on 'Black Tuesday'
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Stock Market Crash of 1929 or the Great Crash, is the stock market crash that occurred in late October, 1929 -
Amelia Earhart attempts to fly around the world
Amelia Earhart's Last Flight. She decided that her next trip would be to fly around the world. In March 1937, she flew to Hawaii with fellow pilot Paul Mantz to begin this flight. Earhart lost control of the plane on takeoff, however, and the plane had to be sent to the factory for repairs. -
Ellis Island closes as an immigration point to the United States
Ellis Island closes. On this day in 1954, Ellis Island, the gateway to America, shuts it doors after processing more than 12 million immigrants since opening in 1892.
