1920s
Sometimes referred to as the "Roaring Twenties".
Events and trendsTechnology John Logie Baird invents the first working television system. (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean (20 May-21 May 1927) Penicillin is discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming. (1928)
Science Great advances in quantum mechanics* Wave mechanics and the Schrödinger equation* Werner Heisenberg formulates the uncertainty principle* Paul Dirac's unification of quantum mechanics with special relativity
War, peace and politics Rise of communism after World War I The Red Scare (1920-1921) In the United States, peak of the Ku Klux Klan Irish Civil War The Irish Free State gains independence from the United Kingdom in 1922 Turkish War of Independence Polish-Soviet war First Labour Government of Ramsay MacDonald formed in the United Kingdom Kellogg-Briand Pact to end war
Economics Economic boom ended by "Black Tuesday" (October 29, 1929); the stock market crashes, leading to the Great Depression
Culture, religion Youth culture of The Lost Generation; flappers, Charleston, bobbed hair Prohibition — legal attempt to end consumption of alcohol in the USA "The Jazz Age" — Jazz and jazz-influenced dance music widely popular Rise of broadcast radio as an entertainment medium Start of commercially viable "Talking Pictures" (motion pictures with sound tracks) Beginning of surrealist movement Beginning of the Art Deco movement Fads such as dance marathons, mah-jongg, crossword puzzles and pole-sitting are popular The Harlem Renaissance The Scopes Trial (1925) which questioned evolution
PeopleWorld leaders Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (Canada) President Sun Yat-sen (Republic of China) President Chiang Kai-shek (Republic of China) President Paul von Hindenburg (Germany) King Victor Emmanuel III (Italy) Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (Italy) President W.T. Cosgrave (Irish Free State) President Mustafa Kemal(Attaturk) (Turkey) Emperor Hirohito (Japan) Pope Pius XI Vladimir Lenin (Soviet Union) Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union) King George V (United Kingdom) Prime Minister David Lloyd George (United Kingdom) Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law (United Kingdom) Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (United Kingdom) Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald (United Kingdom) President Woodrow Wilson (United States) President Warren G. Harding (United States) President Calvin Coolidge (United States) President Herbert Hoover (United States)
Entertainers Charlie Chaplin George Gershwin Duke Ellington Fletcher Henderson Al Jolson Jelly Roll Morton Cole Porter Bessie Smith Rudy Vallee Paul Whiteman Louis Armstrong Eddie Cantor Helen Kane Buster Keaton
Sports figures Babe Ruth (U.S. baseball player) Gordon Coventry (Australian Australian Rules Football player) Bill Tilden (U.S. tennis player) Jack Dempsey (U.S. boxer) Red Grange (U.S. American football player) Bobby Jones (U.S. golfer)
|
|
