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Archduke Franz Ferdinand Killed!
The heir to the Austrian throne and his wife were assassinated by a man named Gavrilo Princip. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand led to an uproar of war declarations and ultimately the first World War. -
Austria-Hungary Declares War on Serbia!
A month after Archduke Franz Ferdinand's Assassination by Bosnian Serb, Gavrilo Princip, Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. -
Germany Declares War on France!
Germany implements the Schlieffen Plan and also invades Belgium. -
The Turks Enter The War!
Turkey entered the war on Germany’s side. Trench warfare started to dominate the Western Front. -
The Great Sinking of The "Lusitania"!
The “Lusitania”, a British passenger liner, was sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland. -
The Germans Invade Poland!
The Germans captured Warsaw from the Russians. -
Conscription Introduced in Britain!
With insufficient numbers of bachelors attesting for the Derby Scheme to be workable, and the French Army in dire need of relief, a Military Service Bill was introduced in January 1916, providing for the conscription of single men aged 18–41; in May conscription was extended to married men. Calculating for the whole of the war, conscripts made up a majority of British serving soldiers. The government pledged not to send teenagers to serve in the front line. -
Prohibition Begins
Became the most disliked law in history. The 18th amendment to the U.S. Constitution goes into effect prohibiting making, selling, possession, and use of alcohol. This was repealed in 1933. -
Chanel No.5
"Coco" Chanel introduced Chanel No.5. It was the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel. -
Best Thing Since Sliced Bread!!
Wonder introduces sliced bread to the market. -
IT'S ALIVE!!
"Frankenstein" starring Boris Karloff hits the silver screen. -
Charles Lindbergh's son
Charles Lindbergh's infant son is kidnapped and held for ransom that stands at $70,000. -
Pretty Boy Floyd
Pretty Boy Floyd committed the Kansas City Massacre in attempt to free Frank Nash. -
Death of Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were gunned down after being chased and ambushed by the Bienville Parish law enforcement on May 23rd, 1934 in Louisiana. -
Cuz No Good Story Starts With A Salad...
The first canned beer was sold! -
The Naval Expansion Act
On the same day Paris fell to the German army and Auschwitz received its first Polish prisoners, the Naval Expansion Act is signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, increasing the capacity of the U.S. Navy by 11%. Four days earlier, Roosevelt had condemned the actions of Italy's declaration of war against France and the United Kingdom. -
M&M's Were Patented By Mars
Forrest Mars, Sr., son of the founder of the Mars Company, copied the idea for the candy in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War when he saw soldiers eating chocolate pellets called Smarties, a hard shell of tempered chocolate surrounding the inside, preventing the candies from melting. Production began in 1941 in a factory located in New Jersey. The two "Ms" represent the names of Forrest Mars Sr., & Bruce Murrie, son of the founder of the Hershey Company, recieved a 20% share of the product. -
First Printed Tshirt
The dubbed “T-shirt” surfaced in the United States when they were issued by the U.S. Navy sometime around the Spanish-American War. The credit of first printed tee goes to the Air Corps Gunnery School T-shirt featured on the July 13th, 1942 cover of LIFE magazine. Mickey Mouse would follow suit a few years later. -
The Katyn Forest Massacre "Gravesite" Was Found
The Germans claimed that they found a ditch 28 meters long and 16 meters wide at the Hill of Goats in which were 3,000 bodies piled up in layers of twelve. All the bodies were fully dressed in military uniform; some were bound and all had pistol shots to the back of their heads. The Germans believed that they would find 10,000 bodies, but eventually the final total was 4,500. The Germans claimed that the bodies were in good condition. -
The First Ballpoint Pen
Invented in Argentina by Hungarian refugee László Biró, ballpoints were first manufactured in Britain for RAF navigators to use at high altitude, as fountain pens would clog. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
Adolf Hitler shot himself in the head with his pistol, likely after swallowing cyanide, ending his own life just before 3:30 pm. In the same room with Hitler was his new wife, Eva Braun, who ended her life by swallowing a cyanide capsule. After their deaths, SS men carried their bodies up to the Chancellery’s courtyard, covered them with gasoline, and lit them on fire. -
Joseph McCarthy's Speech Explaining the Communist Threat
He basically introduced McCarthyism and his ideas on blacklisting communists as well as his idea for communist "witchhunts". -
NATO Supreme Commander
Eisenhower takes over as the top commander of NATO, the military alliance of America and the nations of Western Europe. -
Election of 1952
Running as a Republican, Eisenhower defeats Democrat Adlai E. Stevenson and is elected president. He is the first professional soldier to take the office since Ulysses S. Grant in 1869. -
Death of Stalin
Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin dies from a cerebral hemorrhage at age 73. -
Disneyland
The show "Disneyland" premiers on television to promote the amusement park set to open in Anaheim, California in the summer of 1955. -
Rosa Parks Arrested
In Montgomery, Alabama, the black seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man and is arrested. The ensuing boycott, coordinated by a young Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., will mark an important turning point in the African American freedom struggle. -
Soviets Crush Hungarian Revolt
Soviet tanks and troops pour into Hungary to suppress the uprising. More than 40,000 Hungarians will die in the fighting. -
Little Rock Desegregation
Eisenhower sends federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce the court-ordered desegregation of the city's public schools. As a result, nine black students are allowed to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School. -
US Launches Satellite
The U.S. launches its first satellite, Explorer I, marking U.S. entry into the "space race" with the Russians. -
Soviets Land Spacecraft on the Moon
The Soviets reach the moon with an unmanned spacecraft, spurring Americans' fears that the Russians are leading in the so-called "space race."
