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Mass Production of Cars
Henry Ford begins mass production of the Model T and utilizes Assembly Line production to mass produce cars. This began in 1917, but continued until 1925 and was a major influence of the 20s which is why it remains in this list. -
Flappers
An image of a unladylike woman in the 20s, one who was more promiscuous, free, and coined by an image in a short dress and a short bob while also drinking and doing things that the average woman did not do. They were demonized as a bad type of women, and certain people argued that giving women the right to vote led to them being independent and losing moral value, which of course, was not true. -
Harlem Renaissance
A musical renaissance based off of the Great Migration, where black families began to move to Harlem due to over development and cheap prices of buildings. The influx of culture and diversity brought forth a music boom and a grand age of Jazz. -
1st Female President
The tagline might not be officially true, however, in the later years of Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke that left him with severe brain damage which left Edith Wilson in charge of what decisions he made as his main caretaker, making her the De Facto President. While this was not known to the public at this time, it is an important event to happen within the 20s that should be recognized. -
First Commercial Radio Station Established
The first commercial radio station was KDKA in Pittsburgh which went on the air in November 1920 -
The Ku Klux Klan
In an age of an increase of liberties for women and minorities, also came fear of immigrants and people of color. This led to political idealogies being directly tied to racism, and anti-communist propaganda being thinly veiled racism against Asians with the Red Scare. In the 20's the Ku Klux Klan began grew much larger and began expanding across the United States to direct a fearful hate and spread terror in the United States -
Prohibition Begins
The 18th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States is officially put into law on January 17th, 1920 effectively banning the use, sale, or production of any alcoholic beverage in the U.S. This was hard to enforce, and would bring about issues that come up later in the decade -
The Ponzi Scheme
Charles Ponzi is the originator of the term "Ponzi Scheme." He scammed 86 people for over 7 million dollars. It was the origin of the Pyramid Scheme in which everyone was making him money on the pretext of them also getting rich. He later pleaded guilty to mail fraud and spent 14 years in prison. -
Women's Voting Rights
A little over 101 years ago from modern day, Women were barely given the right to vote. The 19th amendment was ratified on this date, and women gained a voice in government issues, which previously wasn't federally guaranteed. Certain states allowed women the right to vote, but others did not until this gave women the right to vote. -
End of the First Wave of Feminism
It is said that the first Wave of Feminism ended with the women given the right to vote, which was a major victory for women. This is said to have begun in 1848, and ended in 1920. There were many different issues women were bringing up some of which are still being talked about today, such as abortion, abolitionism and ending barbaric practices such as forced sterilization, however, women getting voting rights worked to silence these issues and stall them until future waves of feminism came. -
Wall Street Bombing
"American Anarchist Fighters" bombed Wall Street during the lunch rush killing more than 30 and injuring hundreds more via a bomb hidden in a cart. The Anarchist who committed the crime escaped the country, and it was, at the time, the deadliest terror incident to ever occur in the United States. -
Albert Einstein Gets Nobel Prize
Albert Einstein received the Nobel Prize for his work in Theoretical Physics in 1921. -
Tulsa Race Massacre
In Tulsa, OK, the neighborhood of Greenwood, which was a thriving community for it's black residents, was attacked by white rioters and had many black men, women, and children killed. Hundreds of people died that night, and homes and businesses were wiped out. -
Betty White Born
One of today's Pop Culture phenomenon's is Betty White who is apparently older than Sliced Bread. -
Louis Armstong's First Album
Louis Armstrong, one of the figureheads of the Harlem Renaissance whose music long outlasts him, released his first album in 1923 "Chimes Blues" -
National Origins Act of 1924
According the the Office of the Historian, The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota. The quota provided immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census. It completely excluded immigrants from Asia. It was an extremely racist and anti-asian law that was part of the mindset of many white Americans at the time. -
The Great Gatsby Published
Also known as the Great American Novel, first published in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzegerald is his 3rd, but often recognized as his most recognizable novel details the life of Jay Gatsby and his goal to marry one, Daisy Buchanan, in the world of 1920s America during the prohibition era and the privileges the rich held in that time period in terms of access to alcohol. -
Rise of Black Poetry
The Harlem Renaissance wasn't only in music. Intellectualism prospered in the 20s with Poetry and poets such as Langston Hughes and James Weldon Johnson's works coming out in popularity among the Black Community with their works "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” and "God's Trombones" respectively -
Television Invented
Philo Farnsworth successfully demonstrated electronic television in San Francisco, in 1927. Farnsworth, at the age of fifteen, began imagining ways that electronic television could work. -
Radio Control Bill
Radio Act of 1927 is a bill that was put in place to control the use of air waves due to the mass uprise of National or Local air stations being set up across the nation, signed by President Calvin Coolidge -
Sliced Bread was Invented
Few things are the best things since sliced Bread, but there are things from before it. Sliced Bread was invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder in 1927 and officially patented by him via machine in 1928. -
St. Valentines Day Massacre
Prohibition brought the rise of Al Capone, an infamous American gangster, who on Valentines Day in 1929, took out 7 of his rivals in one day which became known as the Valentines Day Massacre.