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The Roaring Twenties
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18th Amendment takes effect
The beginning of Prohibition. This amendment prohibited the sale, consumption, production, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. -
The Flapper is released
Was the first film to use the term and image of flappers in the US. -
19th Amendment is ratified
Prohibited any US citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex. Allowed women to vote for the first time in the 1920 election. -
Warren G. Harding elected president
29th President of the United States. Republican. Won in a landslide victory with 60.3% of the popular vote. -
KDKA is 1st US licensed radio station
Station KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was the first US licensed commercial broadcasting station to initiate regular broadcasts. -
Emergency Quota Act is passed
Restricted the number of immigrants admitted from any country annually to 3% of the number of residents from that same country living in the United States as of the U.S. Census of 1910. -
Teapot Dome Scandal breaks
Was a bribery scandal that involved leasing Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome and two other locations to private oil companies at low rates without competitive bidding. Teapot Dome was regarded as the "greatest and most sensational scandal in the history of American politics" and contributed to further ruining the reputation of the Harding administration. -
President Harding dies
Harding suffered what was believed to be an apoplexy (later scholars believed he succumbed to congestive heart failure) in San Francisco while on a speaking tour. -
Vice President Calvin Coolidge is sworn into office
Coolidge was on vacation at his family home in Vermont (which had no electricity or telephone) when he receieved the message of Hardin'g death. He was sworn in as president at 2:47 am by his father. He was re-sworn in by a Justice of the Supreme Court in Washington DC the next day. -
Harlem Renaissance enters its golden era
The Harlem Renaissance began to reach its zenith years in 1924, the year that Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life hosted a party for black writers where many white publishers were in attendance. -
Immigration Act of 1924 is passed
Limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already living in the United States in 1890, down from the 3% cap set by the Emergency Quota Act. Also prohibited the immigration of Middle Easterners, East Asians, and Asian Indians. -
Calvin Coolidge elected president
30th President of the United States. Republican. Won the 1924 election with 54% of the popular vote. He was given credit for a booming economy at home and no visible crises abroad. He also restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of Harding's administration and left office with considerable popularity at the end of his term. -
The Great Gatsby is published
Taking place in the height of the Roaring 20s, it tells the story of Nick Carraway, a less-than-well-to-do man who finds himself caught up in a blossoming relationship between his married cousin, Daisy, and his enigmatic neighbor, Jay Gatsby. The setting of the novel contributed greatly to its popularity following its early release, but the book did not receive widespread attention until after Fitzgerald's death in 1940. -
Scopes Trial begins
Commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, it was a landmark American legal case in which high school science teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which made it unlawful to teach evolution in any state-funded school. -
Charles Lindbergh makes first solo flight across the Atlantic
First solo non-stop flight made from New York to Paris (3,600 statute miles) in a single-seat, single-engine monoplane called Spirit of St. Louis. Lindbergh was also awarded the nation’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his historic exploit. -
Sacco and Vanzetti are executed
Two Italian immigrant anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts. After a controversial trial and a series of appeals they were executed, still protesting their innocence. -
The Jazz Singer is released
The world's first talking motion picture or "Talkie" -
Ford Model A automobiles went into production
The second huge success for the Ford Motor Company, after its predecessor, the Model T. It replaced the venerable Model T, which had been produced for 18 years. -
Herbert Hoover elected president
31st President of the United States. Republican. Won the election with a landslide victory of 58% of the popular vote due to the booming economy being associated with the Republican party. -
St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The murder of 7 mob associates as part of a prohibition era conflict between two powerful criminal gangs in Chicago: the South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone and the North Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran. -
1st Academy Awards ceremony is held
The first Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to honor the outstanding film achievements of the 1927/1928 film season. -
Stock Market Crash
Also known as Black Tuesday, it was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States. The crash signaled the beginning of the 10-year Great Depression that affected all Western industrialized countries.
