Politics

In the U.S. Congressional elections, Republicans win a majority of 43 seats.

Politics

T.G. Masaryk (1850-1937) is elected president of Czechoslovakia .

Politics

Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926), American socialist and presidential candidate, is sentenced to 10 years in prison for violating espionage and sedition laws (sentence is commuted in 1921).

Government

Iceland becomes sovereign state.

Government

Serbo-Croatian-Slovene Kingdom of Yugoslavia proclaimed.

Government

Stamps: U.S. Airmail stamps go on sale for 24 cents. The United States began airmail service on May 15, 1918. Special stamps were issued to indicate prepayment of mail carried on the first flights. The first route, flown by Army pilots in Army planes, linked Washington, DC and New York City via Philadelphia, PA. The rate was 24 cents an ounce. This rate included special delivery to the addressee.

War

Russian Revolution: Ex-Czar Nicholas II (1868-1918) and family executed.

War

World War I: mobilized forces: 63 million; casualties: approx. 8.5 million killed, 21 million wounded, 7.5 million prisoners and missing.

War

World War I: Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) propounds Fourteen Points for world peace; Germany offensive on Western front; Czechoslovakia proclaimed independent republic; Allies sign armistice with Austria-Hungary on November 3; Allied conference at Versailles agrees on peace terms for Germany; Armistice signed between Allies and Germany.

Science

Nobel Prize for Physics: Max Planck (1858-1947), German physicist, for introducing quantum theory.

Science

Herbert M. Evans (1882-1971) determines that human beings have 48 chromosomes.

Medicine

Epidemics: An influenza epidemic, traveling west from Europe, begins in the eastern U.S. and spreads to 46 states. Before it ends in 1919, about 500,000 people die in the U.S. Throughout the world, 20 million people die and one billion are ill.

Inventions

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) invents a hydrofoil boat that goes 60 mph during a test run.

Technology

The Mount Wilson telescope is completed near Pasadena, California.

Education

Higher Educaton: A second Moscow University is founded (first university founded 1755).

Education

Mississippi passes school attendance laws for children between the ages of six and seventeen.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Willa Cather (1873-1947) writes “My Antonia”.

Arts and Letters

Essay: H.L. Mencken (1880-1956): “In Defense of Women”.

Arts and Letters

Painting: Joan Miro (1893-1983) first exhibits his works.

Arts and Letters

The New York Philharmonic Society bans composition by living German composers.

Arts and Letters

Opera: Paris Opera, despite daily bombardment, opens with Gounod’s (1818-1893) “Faust”.

Arts and Letters

Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (1864-1953) gives the first of her music festivals in Pittsfield, Massachusetts (Tanglewood).

Arts and Letters

Henry Adams (1851-1921) writes “The Education of Henry Adams,” which later wins the Pulitzer Prize.

Ideas

Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929), pioneer in the development of American sociology, publishes “Social Process.”

Ideas

Oswald Spengler (1880-1936) writes “Untergang des Abendlandes” (“Decline of the West”) (-1922).

Ideas

There is major controversy over the new psychology of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and C.G. Jung (1875-1961).

Ford, Betty

Elizabeth Anne ("Betty") Bloomer, wife of Gerald Ford, is born in Chicago on April 8.

Economics

Railroad History: The first Diesel-electric locomotive to be built and sold commercially was Jay Street Connecting RR #4. G.E. slightly revised its standard steeple cab straight electric locomotive car body and installed a single GM50.

Economics

The Pittman Act is passed, permitting the government to sell silver to Britain as a wartime measure.

Discovery

Harlow Shapley (1885-1972), American astronomer, discovers the true dimensions of the Milky Way.

Discovery

Archaeologists Hall and Leonard Woolley (1880-1960) begin excavations in ancient sites in Babylonia (present-day Iraq).

Daily Life

Regular airmail established between New York City and Washington; first airmail postage.

Daily Life

Daylight saving time introduced in America.

Daily Life

Census: Total population in the U.S.: 103.5 million.

Daily Life

First Chicago-New York airmail delivered: flying time 10 hrs. 5 min.

Sports

Football: Knute Rockne (1888-1931) is named head football coach at the University of Notre Dame.

Sports

Boxing: Jack Dempsey (1895-1983), American heavy-weight boxing champion, knocks out Carl Morris in 14 seconds.

Sports

Women in Sports: Eleanora Sears (a great-great-granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson, born in 1881) takes up squash, after excelling at polo (which she rode astride, shocking conventions of the day), baseball, golf, field hockey, auto racing, swimming, tennis, yachting and speedboat racing. She accumulated 240 trophies during her athletic career. She demonstrated that women could play men's games and was a prime liberator of women in sports.

Popular Culture

Composer George Gershwin (1898-1937) writes the song “Swanee” for the Broadway show Sinbad.

Religion

United Lutheran Church established (U.S.).

Social Issues

Censorship: U.S. Post Office burns installments of James Joyce’s (1882-1941) “Ulysses,” published in the “Little Review”.

Reform

Women's Suffrage Movement: Women over 30 get the right to vote in Britain.

Reform

Birth Control Movement: New York v. Sanger; Margaret Sanger wins her suit in New York to allow doctors to advise their married patients about birth control for health purposes.

Law

Women's Suffrage Movement: The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote, is passed by Congress.

Law

The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors, is ratified by two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Politics

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) founds the political party, Fasci del Combattimento.

Politics

In Paris, the League of Nations comes into being. The Hague is selected for the International Court of Justice.

Politics

The Republican convention nominates Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) for the presidency with Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) as his running mate.

Politics

The Democratic convention nominates James M. Cox (1870-1957) for the presidency with Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) as his running mate.

Government

Women's Firsts: Lady Astor (1879-1964) becomes the first woman to be elected as a Member of Parliament in Britain.

Government

Capital Punishment: Austria abolishes the death penalty.

Government

President Woodrow Wilson presents his Fourteen Points for world peace to the American Congress; these Conditions of Peace are intended to guarantee future cooperation among the nations of the world and contain the foundations for a world organization called the League of Nations.

Government

League of Nations: The plenary session of the Peace Conference accepts the proposals for the creation of a League of Nations; the U.S. Senate, however, votes against joining the League.

War

World War I: The Treaty of Versailles is signed, officially ending World War I. Part 1, Articles 1 to 26 of this and other Peace Treaties contain the Covenant of the League of Nations.

Science

English scientist F.W. Aston (1877-1945) builds mass-spectrograph and establishes the phenomena of isotopy.

Science

Observation of the total eclipse of the sun bear out Albert Einstein’s (1879-1955) theory of relativity.

Science

Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945), “Father of American Rocketry” writes “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes”.

Science

Rutherford (1871-1937) demonstrates that the atom is not the final building-block of the universe.

Science

First experiments with shortwave radio (under 100 meters).

Science

In collaboration with Massolle and Engl, Hans Vogt (1903-1986) experiments on a new sound film system.

Inventions

Glenn L. Martin (1886-1955) invents the Martin Bomber, a warplane.

Education

Higher Education: New universities are founded in Hamburg, Posen, Bratislava, and Cologne.

Education

Children's Books; Hugh Lofting (1886-1947): the first of the “Dr. Doolittle” stories.

Education

Higher Education: A.D. Juilliard ( -1919)dies leaving 20 million dollars to endow Juilliard School of Music.

Arts and Letters

The Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra gives its first concert.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) writes “Main Street”.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953) writes “The Emperor Jones” and “Beyond the Horizon."

Arts and Letters

Poetry: Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) writes “Corn Huskers,” which wins the Pulitzer Prize.

Arts and Letters

Bauhaus, founded and built by Walter Gropius (1883-1969) in Weimar, Germany, revolutionizes the teaching of painting, sculpture, architecture, and industrial arts.

Arts and Letters

Jazz arrives in Europe.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) writes “Winesburg, Ohio,” a volume of interrelated short stories.

Ideas

Johan Huizinga (1872-1945) writes “The Waning of the Middle Ages.”

Ideas

C.G. Jung (1875-1961) writes “Psychological Types.”

Roosevelt, Edith

Former President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) dies in Oyster Bay, New York.

Hoover, Lou

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) is named Director-General of International Organization for European Relief.

Economics

Ford Motor Company: A conflict with stockholders over the millions to be spent building the giant Rouge manufacturing complex in Dearborn, Michigan leads to the company becoming wholly owned by Henry Ford and his son, Edsel, who then succeeds his father as president.

Economics

J.M. Keynes (1883-1946) writes “The Economic Consequence of the Peace.”

Economics

The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) is established.

Daily Life

Transportation: J.W. Alcock and A. Whitten Brown (1886-1948) make first nonstop flight across the Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland in 16 hours 27 minutes.

Daily Life

Railroad lines operated in America total 265,000 miles.

Daily Life

The American Legion is formed.

Sports

Boxing: Jack Dempsey (1895-1983), U.S. heavyweight boxer, takes the world championship from Jess Willard.

Sports

Baseball: Babe Ruth (1895-1948) hits a 587 ft. home run in a Boston Red Sox versus. New York Giants game in Tampa, Florida.

Sports

Jim Thorpe (1888-1953), the great American all around athlete, finishes his 6-year major league baseball career with the Boston Braves; plays in 60 game; hits .327.

Sports

Horse Racing: Sir Barton is first horse to win triple crown: Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes; J. Loftus jockey in all three.

Sports

The development of a mechanical rabbit by Oliver Smith (1893-1977), of California, marks origin of modern greyhound racing.

Sports

Baseball: Black Sox Scandal: Eight players on the Chicago White Sox conspire with gamblers to throw the World Series. They are acquitted in a court of law—but they are banned from baseball forever.

Religion

Karl Barth (1886-1968): “Der Romerbrief” (“The Epistle to the Romans”), beginning of Protestant dialectical theology.

Religion

Church and State separated in Germany.

Religion

Joan of Arc (1412-1431) canonized by Pope Benedict XV.

Reform

Labor Movement: Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), governor of Massachusetts, calls out the National Guard to end Boston Police Strike.

Reform

Labor Movement: The great American steel strike occurs, lasting until January 1920.

Reform

Labor Movement: An International Labor Conference in Washington endorses eight-hour workday.

Law

The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote, is ratified by two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Law

A year after ratification, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages, goes into effect.

Politics

The German Worker’s Party is renamed the Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ or Nazi Party.

Politics

Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) is elected as the 29th President of the U.S., and Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) is elected as the nation's 29th Vice President.

Government

The Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles and the Covenant of the League of Nations for the second time.

Government

The League of Nations comes into existence with its headquarters in Geneva; the Versailles Peace Treaty and the Covenant of the League of Nations enter into force.

Government

The Water Power Act establishes the Federal Power Commission to regulate the generation of electricity from waterways on public lands and from navigational streams.

Government

The “Red Scare’ results in nationwide raids by federal agents, with mass arrests of “anarchists, Communists, and labor agitators.

Science

William D. Harkins (1873-1951) proposes the existence of an uncharged subatomic particle, which he calls the “neutron.”

Medicine

Harvey Cushing (1869-1939) pioneers new techniques in brain surgery.

Medicine

Insulin is isolated for the first time by Canadian Sir Frederick Banting (1891-1941) and Charles Best (1899-1978).

Inventions

Nobel Prize for Physics goes to Charles Guillaume (1861-1938), a Swiss physicist, for the invention of Invar, an alloy of iron containing nickel.

Arts and Letters

Literature: F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), an important novelist of the period, publishes his first novel entitled "This Side of Paradise."

Arts and Letters

Literature: Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) publishes "Main Street," a novel that exposes the cultural vacuum of a small Midwestern town.

Ideas

In "Easy Lessons in Einstein," Edwin E. Slosson explains the theory of relativity in a simple and clear manner.

Economics

The Jones Act prohibits shipping merchandise between U.S. ports "in any other vessel than a vessel built in and documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States.''''

Economics

Ford Motor Company: The Detroit-Toledo-Ironton (DTI) railroad proves to be a smart purchase for the Ford Motor Company (FMC). After purchasing the railway, FMC uses it for the next 8 years to control transport of materials and supplies to the massive Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan.

Sports

Women in Sports: The skimpy fashions of the '20's put a new emphasis on athletic bodies and narrow the gap between health and glamour. Advertisers, like Grape-Nuts, say, "Grandmother went bathing - girls like Molly go in to swim."

Sports

Baseball: The Negro National League, the first financially successful all-black league, is founded by Hall-of-Famer Rube Foster.

Sports

Baseball: The Boston Red Sox sell Babe Ruth (1895-1948) to the New York Yankees.

Sports

William T. Tilden (1893-1953) wins Wimbledon Lawn Tennis; after this victory, he dominates world tennis until 1925.

Popular Culture

KDKA, America’s first commercial radio station, begins operation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by broadcasting the results of the presidential election.

Religion

Use of religion in Turkey for political ends is made punishable by death.

Reform

Women''s Suffrage Movement: Women get the right to vote when the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified. By this time, 15 states have women suffrage laws.

Law

Chief Justices: President Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) nominates William Howard Taft (1857-1930) as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the Senate confirms his appointment on the same day. Taft is the only person in history to have been both President and Chief Justice.

Law

League of Nations: The Permanent Court of International Justice comes into being.

Government

Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) is inaugurated as the 29th President of the U.S., and Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) is inaugurated as the nation's 29th Vice President.

Government

Immigration: Congress passes the Quota Act, which limits immigration in the United States.

Government

The Department of Agriculture enforces regulations of the Packers and Stockyards Act to stop manipulation of prices in meat-packing industries.

War

The joint resolution of Congress declares that World War I has ended. Separate U.S. treaties with Germany, Austria, and Hungary are signed and ratified.

Science

Langmuir (1881-1957) and Lewis (1875-1946) independently propose atomic theories.

Medicine

James B. Collip (1892-1965) isolates pure insulin.

Medicine

Edward Mellanby (1884 - 1955) discovers vitamin D and shows that its absence causes rickets.

Inventions

Physician Alvan L. Barach designs a vented oxygen tent.

Technology

John Couch Adams (1819-1892) uses a spectroscope to study and determine the distance of 2000 stars.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) publishes "Michael Robartes and the Dancer," a collection that includes his famous poem, Easter 1916.

Arts and Letters

Women’s Firsts: Literature: American novelist Edith Wharton(1862-1937) becomes the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction. She wins the award for her novel "The Age of Innocence."

Ideas

Ernst Kretschmer (1888-1964) publishes "Physique and Character," in which he suggests that body build is closely related to mental state.

Eisenhower, Mamie

Doud Dwight (Ikky) Eisenhower (1917-1921), son of Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower dies January 2 from scarlet fever.

Reagan, Nancy

Anne Frances “Nancy” Robbins is born on July 6, 1921 at Sloane Hospital, Flushing, Queens, New York. She is the ninth of ten First Ladies born in New York, the “mother state” of presidential wives.

Economics

The end of the wartime boom causes business depression and high unemployment. The National Conference proposes a job program.

Economics

Unemployment throughout the U.S. is 5.7 million. Widespread wage cuts in many industries include those of New York Central railroad employees (by 22.5%) and clothing workers (by 15%).

Daily Life

Iowa imposes the first state tax on cigarettes.

Daily Life

Magazines: Publisher DeWitt Wallace (1889-1981) founds the Reader’s Digest.

Daily Life

Knee-length skirts for women become the fashion, causing much comment in the press.

Sports

Baseball: Station KDKA in Pittsburgh broadcasts radio’s first live major league game. (Fewer than 10 percent of Americans own a radio.)

Sports

Women in Sports: The National Women's Athletic Association is organized.

Social Issues

Immigration: California’s Supreme Court declares the state’s Alien Poll Tax unconstitutional and a violation of the treaty between the U.S. and Japan.

Social Issues

Hate Groups: The Ku Klux Klan promotes “white supremacy” and seeks to control politics in many southern communities.

Reform

Birth Control Movement: National Birth Control League and Voluntary Parenthood League are combined to form the American Birth Control League in New York City; Margaret Sanger heads the league.

Law

The Supreme Court declares that the Federal Child Labor Law is unconstitutional.

Politics

Women's Firsts: Soledad Chacon is elected Secretary State of New Mexico, the first woman elected to that position.

Government

Women’s Firsts: Rebecca Felton (1835 – 1930), of Georgia, is appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill a temporary vacancy. The first woman senator, she serves for only two days.

Government

League of Nations: The first meeting of the Permanent Court of International Justice occurs.

Government

U.S. and Japan sign Yap Treaty, permitting U.S. cable and radio stations in the Yap Islands.

Government

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) is arrested by the British in India for inciting his countrymen to violence in their fight for independence.

War

U.S. Open Doors Policy is implemented in China. Nine major powers also sign treaties limiting warships, restricting the use of submarines, and outlawing poisonous gas.

Science

Alfred C. Lane begins experiments to determine the age of the earth.

Medicine

Elmer McCollum (1879-1967) discovers vitamin D in cod liver oil. He uses the oil in the successful treatment of rickets.

Inventions

British watchmaker John Howard invents the self-winding watch.

Technology

Ship to shore radio communication begins.

Arts and Letters

Poetry: James Joyce (1882-1941) publishes "Ulysses."

Arts and Letters

Literature: F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) publishes "The Beautiful and the Damned."

Ideas

Herman Julius Oberth (1894-1989) writes "The Rocket into Interdisciplinary Space," in which the concept of escape velocity is introduced.

Eisenhower, Mamie

John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower (1922-), son of Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower, is born August 3.

Daily Life

Lt. Harold Harris becomes the first member of the Caterpillar Club by parachuting from a defective plane during a flight test in Dayton, Ohio. The club is made up of individuals who have escaped death by using a parachute.

Daily Life

Marriages in the U.S. total 1,126,000 and divorces total 148,000.

Sports

Golf: The oldest American international team golf match takes place between the U.S. and Great Britain. It is established at the National Golf Links of America, Southampton, NY.

Sports

Women in Sports: The National Amateur and Athletic Federation (NAAF) is founded, committed to boys and girls being on an "equal footing with the same standards, the same program and the same regulations."

Social Issues

Racism: Oklahoma is placed under marshal law to control violence and curb Ku Klux Klan activity.

Reform

Birth Control Movement: Dr. Marie Stopes (1880-1958) holds a series of meetings in Queen’s Hall, London to advocate birth control.

Government

Intermediate Credits Act expands credit to farmers and encourages farm cooperatives in an effort to ease agricultural depression.

Government

Vice President Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933)becomes the nation's 30th President on the death of President Warren G. Harding (1865-1923). No new Vice President is selected.

War

Payment of British war debt to the U.S. begins.

War

U.S. troops on the Rhine River in Germany are ordered to return by President Haring (1865-1923).

Science

Louis A. Bauer analyzes the Earth’s magnetic field.

Medicine

Insulin becomes generally available to people with diabetes.

Medicine

Vaccines: First vaccine for Diphtheria is used.

Inventions

The bulldozer is invented.

Arts and Letters

Drummer Buddy Rich tours the U.S. and Australia as a child prodigy on the drums.

Ideas

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) publishes his theories on the human mind in "The Ego and the Id."

Harding, Florence

President Harding (1865-1923) dies suddenly in San Francisco on his return trip from Alaska. His father in Vermont swears in Coolidge (1872-1933) as President.

Economics

The DuPont Company acquires the rights to manufacture Cellophane; the first U.S. made Cellophane is produced in 1924.

Economics

In order to build a Model T automobile, Ford required approximately 250 feet of lumber for each car that it built. As a result, Henry Ford authorized the purchase of several hundred thousand acres of forestland in northern Michigan.

Discovery

Native Americans: Oil is discovered on the Navajo Reservation.

Daily Life

Magazines: Time Magazine hits the newsstands for the first time, at $.15 a copy.

Daily Life

Disasters: An earthquake in Japan destroys Yokohama and half of Tokyo; about 100,000 people die.

Sports

Finnish Paavo Nurmi runs the mile in 4 minutes and 10.4 seconds.

Sports

Women in Sports: 22% of U.S. colleges have varsity sports teams for women.

Popular Culture

Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959), film director and producer, releases the Biblical spectacle The Ten Commandments.

Popular Culture

"e Covered Wagon," voted as one of the 10 best movies of the year by Film Daily, sets the style and popularity for Westerns.

Social Issues

Racism: The African-American town of Rosewood, Florida is burned by a white mob.

Reform

Women''s Rights Movement: National Woman’s Party proposes Constitutional amendment stating that “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and in every place subject to its jurisdiction. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

Politics

The Progressive Party, backed by the American Federation of Labor, Farm-Labor Party and the Socialist Party, nominates senator La Follette of Wisconsin for President.

Politics

Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) is elected President of the U.S. in his own right, and Charles Dawes (1865-1951) is elected the nation's 30th Vice President.

Government

Native Americans: Congress passes the Indian Citizenship Act, granting U.S. citizenship to Native Americans.

Government

Immigration: Immigration Act of 1924 establishes fixed quotas of national origin and eliminates Far East immigration.

Government

Greece is proclaimed a republic.

Government

The diplomatic and consular services of the U.S. government are consolidated.

War

The U.S. Marines land at Shanghai, China to help suppress the civil war.

Science

Scientist Harry Steenbock discovers that sunlight increases the amount of vitamin D in certain foods. After tests prove that it is the ultraviolet part of sunlight, which has this effect, Steenbock patents a process of using artificial ultraviolet light to increase the vitamin D content in food.

Medicine

The portable electrocardiograph is introduced. It uses vacuum tubes to amplify the weak electrical signals produced by the heart.

Technology

RCA demonstrates wireless telegraph transmission of photographs from New York City to London; the process takes about 25 minutes per photograph.

Education

Children's Books: A.A. Milne (1882-1956), English humorist, publishes When We Were Very Young, a collection of stories for his son, Christopher.

Arts and Letters

Paul Whiteman (1890-1967) commissions George Gershwin (1898-1937) to write the symphonic jazz-style “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Truman, Bess

(Mary) Margaret Truman Daniel (1924-), daughter of Harry and Bess Truman, is born February 17.

Coolidge, Grace

Calvin Coolidge Jr. (1908-1924), son of Calvin and Grace Coolidge, dies July 7.

Economics

Harry Cohn founds Columbia pictures.

Discovery

Hubble determines that Cepheid variables (stars) in the Andromeda nebula are hundreds of thousands of light years beyond the Milky Way. This is conclusive proof that there are other galaxies besides our own.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: The gas chamber is used for the first time as a method of execution in the United States when gangster Gee Jon is put to death in Nevada.

Daily Life

The publisher Simon and Schuster market the first crossword puzzle book.

Daily Life

There are 2.5 million radios in the U.S.; in 1920 there were only 5000, mostly used by professionals.

Sports

The first Winter Olympic games open at Chamonix, France.

Sports

Football: Notre Dame''s “Four Horseman” – Layden, Stuhldreher, Miller, and Crowley – star as Notre Dame upsets Army.

Sports

Black Athletes: Olympic gold medalist (summer games; individual): DeHart Hubbard (1903-1976) is the gold medalist for the long jump.

Social Issues

Immigration: The Johnson-Reed Act is passed, severely limiting immigration.

Reform

Women's Rights Movement: Radice v. New York, a New York state case, upholds a law that forbade waitresses from working the night shift but made an exception for entertainers and ladies' room attendants.

Politics

Nellie Taylor Ross (1876-1977) becomes the Governor of Wyoming, being the first woman to be elected as governor of a state.

Government

The Senate ratifies 20-year-old treaty, which recognizes the right of Cuba to the Isle of Pines.

Government

The U.S. and Canada agree to improve the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Lake Ontario.

Government

The boundary between Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) is established.

Government

Women’s Firsts: Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876-1997) becomes the first woman to serve as governor of a state, in Wyoming.

Government

Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) is inaugurated as President of the U.S., and Charles Dawes (1865-1951) is inaugurated as the nation's 30th Vice President.

Science

Millikan (1868-1953) discovers that cosmic rays are absorbed (not produced) by the atmosphere.

Science

The meter is standardized.

Medicine

George H. Whipple (1878-1976) demonstrates that iron is a major factor in the formation of red blood cells.

Inventions

Berliner (1851-1929) invents acoustic tiles for soundproofing.

Inventions

Railroad History: The American Locomotive Company (ALCO), along with G.E. and IR, builds its first Diesel electric loco.

Education

Higher Education: Trinity College in North Carolina agrees to change its name to Duke University to meet the terms of a $40 million trust fund established by James B. Duke, a tobacco millionaire.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) publishes "In Our Time."

Arts and Letters

Literature: F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) publishes "The Great Gatsby."

Arts and Letters

Writer DuBose Heyward (1885-1940) publishes "Porgy," on which the musical "Porgy and Bess" is later based.

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: Since Harvard was not supportive of the theatre movement on their campus, the efforts were relocated to Yale in 1925. As a result, Yale established the Drama School as a graduate program that was committed to providing American theatre with gifted artists of superior training.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Theodore Dreiser’s (1871-1945) first commercial success was "An American Tragedy" (1925), which was made into a film in 1931 and again in 1951.

Ideas

John Watson publishes "Behaviorism," a book that sparks popular interest in psychology.

Nixon, Pat

At the age of 13, “Pat” Ryan (Nixon) assumes the role of housewife for her family when her mother, Kate Halberstadt Bender Ryan, a native of Germany, dies of cancer.

Bush, Barbara

Barbara Pierce is born on June 8 in New York City. She is the tenth of ten First Ladies born in New York, the "mother state" of presidential wives.

Economics

The Ford Motor Company acquires the Lincoln Motor Company, thus branching out into luxury cars.

Daily Life

Disasters: The most violent tornado is U.S. history, the “Tri-State Tornado,” hits Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois, killing 689 people and injuring 13,000 others.

Daily Life

Magazines: The New Yorker magazine is founded.

Popular Culture

Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946), blindfolded, plays 28 simultaneous games of chess.

Religion

A copy of the Bible costs the equivalent of about $2000 in the 14th century, $500 in 1455, $100 by the 17th century, and $3 in 1925.

Religion

Public Education: Tennessee teacher John T. Scopes is arrested for teaching the Theory of Evolution, which is forbidden by state law. This dispute known as the “Monkey Trial” attracts enormous attention; Scopes is convicted and fined $100.

Politics

Third Parties: The Progressive Party wins seats in Congress in the fall election.

Government

The U.S. fails to join the Permanent Court of International Justice and Arbitration at The Hague.

Government

Senate ratifies World War debt funding agreements with European countries.

Government

Congress passes the Revenue Act which reduces income and inheritance taxes and abolishes many nuisance taxes.

Government

League of Nations: The first meeting of the Preparatory Disarmament Commission occurs in Geneva.

War

Congress establishes the Army Air Corps.

Science

German physicist, Max Born (1882-1970), formulates the mathematical basis of the quantum theory.

Medicine

George Minot (1885-1950), William Murphy (1892-1987), and George Whipple (1878-1976) use a diet rich in raw liver to cure patients who are suffering from pernicious anemia, a usually fatal disease. Later, Minot and Edwin Cohn prepare liver extract that remains the basic treatment for this disease until 1948.

Medicine

Vaccines: First vaccine for Pertussis is used.

Technology

The first liquid fuel rocket is successfully launched by Professor Robert Goddard at Auburn, Massachusetts; the rocket traveled 184 feet in 2.5 seconds.

Technology

The Radio Corporation of America, American Telephone and Telegraph Company, and the British General Post office hold the first successful transatlantic radiotelephone conversation between New York City and London.

Education

Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) founds Negro History Week, which later evolves into Black History Month.

Education

Children's Books: A.A. Milne (1882-1956) publishes "Winnie the Pooh," one of the most popular children’s books ever written.

Education

Libraries: Los Angeles Public Library is dedicated.

Arts and Letters

Literature: William Faulkner (1897-1962) publishes his first novel, "Soldier’s Pay."

Arts and Letters

Painting: Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) paints “Black Iris,” and abstract work in which the flowers assume human anatomical shapes.

Ideas

T.H. Morgan (1866-1945) publishes "Theory of the Gene."

Ideas

Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) publishes "Measurement of Intelligence."

Daily Life

Explorers Richard E. Byrd (1888-1957) and Floyd Bennett (1890-1928) fly over the North Pole.

Daily Life

Airmail service starts between New York City and Boston.

Sports

H. Bierkottes swims the English Channel in 12 hours and 4 minutes.

Sports

Women’s Firsts: American Gertrude Ederle (1906-2003) becomes the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

Popular Culture

English filmmaker, Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), known for his gripping thrillers, directs The Lodger.

Popular Culture

Writer Edna Ferber (1887-1968) publishes "Show Boat."

Law

Civil Rights Movement: The Supreme Court rules that a Texas law forbidding Negroes from voting in Democratic primary elections is unconstitutional.

Politics

A Socialist uprising and a general strike occurs in Vienna, Austria, after acquittal of Nazis for political murder.

Government

League of Nations: The Spanish Government announces that it will continue to collaborate in the work of the League.

War

U.S. Marines land in Nicaragua to protect U.S. lives and property during civil war.

Science

Jan Hendrik Oort (1900-1992), Dutch astronomer, further clarifies Lindblad’s theory about the rotation of the Milky Way galaxy.

Science

Clinton Davisson (1881-1958) and Lester Germer (1896-1971) discover that electrons are diffracted when they pass through crystal. This discovery supports the wave theory of electric behavior.

Medicine

Frank A. Hartman isolates “cortin” from the adrenal glands and suggests that absence of this hormone may cause Addison’s disease.

Medicine

Vaccines: First vaccine for Tuberculosis is used.

Inventions

The pentode (a 5-element vacuum tube) is developed. It permits distortion free amplification of sound.

Inventions

The History of Toys: A tough, durable kind of plastic, polystyrene, is invented. Although the first plastic, celluloid, was invented in the 1860s, polystyrene is the first type strong enough to really suit toy making.

Technology

Ernst Alexanderson (1878-1975) receives the first American television broadcast at his home.

Education

Libraries: The Central library of the Free Library of Philadelphia is dedicated.

Ideas

Pavlov (1849-1936) publishes "Conditioned Reflexes," based on his experiments in which dogs, fed at the sound of a bell, salivated at the sound of the bell alone.

Ideas

Cosmologist Georges Lemaitre (1894-1966) proposes the Big Bang Theory to explain the origin of the universe.

Tyler, Julia

David Gardiner "Gardie" Tyler (1846-1927), the first son born to John Tyler and his second wife Julia, dies September 5.

Economics

The Federal Reserve reduces the discount rate by half a point and purchases $230 million of government securities.

Daily Life

Transatlantic commercial telephone service begins between New York City and London.

Daily Life

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), then U.S. Secretary of Commerce, gives a speech in Washington, D.C. that is seen and heard in New York via the first long-distance television transmission.

Daily Life

Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974) makes the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic in the Spirit of Saint Louis, from Long Island to Paris.

Daily Life

The Holland Tunnel, designed by Clifford M. Holland, opens to vehicular traffic. More than 1.5 miles long, the tunnel travels under the Hudson River and connects New York with New Jersey.

Sports

Baseball: Babe Ruth (1895-1948) sets home run record when he hits 60 for the season.

Sports

Boxing: The first Golden Gloves amateur boxing matches, sponsored by the New York Daily News, are held.

Sports

Women in Sports: The International Federation of Women's Field Hockey Associations (IFWHA) is formed to provide competition for teams from the US, England, Scotland and Ireland.

Popular Culture

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded.

Popular Culture

Bandleader and composer, Duke Ellington (1899-1974), organizes a band that begins a five-year stand at Harlem’s Cotton Club.

Religion

Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959) produces his second Biblical epic called "The King of Kings."

Politics

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) is elected the 31st President of the U.S., and Charles Curtis (1860-1936) is elected as the nation's 31st Vice President.

Government

McNary-Haugen Bill for relief of farmers is vetoed on the grounds that it would fix prices and stimulate overproduction.

Government

Flood Control Bill provides $325 million to curb flooding in the Mississippi River Valley.

Government

Prohibition: Congress appropriates $32 million to enforce Prohibition during the next year.

Government

Britain recognizes the Chinese National government at Nanking.

War

U.S. signs Briand-Kellogg Act Pact, outlawing war. Eventually, 63 nations sign it also.

Science

Karl Ziegler (1898-1973) explains the chemical procedure for making artificial rubber.

Medicine

Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) discovers penicillin, founding the field of antibiotic therapy.

Inventions

Railroad History: The first Diesel-electric passenger locomotive built in North America was a two-unit 2-D-1-1-D-2.

Technology

Mount Palomar Observatory installs a 200-inch reflecting telescope designed by George Hale (1868-1938).

Education

Libraries: The West Virginia Supreme Court rules that Charleston libraries cannot exclude black patrons since, as taxpayers, they are equally entitled to library service.

Ideas

John Von Neumann (1903-1957) develops as part of his theory games, the minimax theorem, a strategy for minimizing a player’s maximum loss.

Daily Life

The first seeing eye dog was presented to Morris S. Frank.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: The Mickey Mouse character is created by Walt Disney.

Popular Culture

The first annual Calaveras County “Frog Jumping Jubilee” is held in Angel’s Camp, CA.

Popular Culture

Jerome Kern (1885-1945) and Hammerstein (1895-1960) write the score for Show Boat, which includes the song “Ol’ Man River.”

Politics

The National Revolutionary Party is organized in Mexico; it becomes the chief political party.

Government

The Lateran Treaty, in which Italy agrees to recognize the independence and sovereignty of Vatican City, is signed.

Government

Immigration: The National origins plan goes into effect. U.S. consuls are told to reject any immigrant who might become a “public charge.”

Government

The Agriculture Marketing Act establishes the Federal Farm Board to stabilize farm prices.

Government

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) is inaugurated as the 31st President of the U.S., and Charles Curtis (1860-1936) is inaugurated as the nation's 31st Vice President.

Science

Hubble measures the red shift and discovers that the galaxies are moving away from each other. This universal recession of galaxies indicates that the universe is expanding.

Science

Nobel Prize for Physics goes to Broglie (1892-1987) for his electron wave theory.

Medicine

Hans Berger (1873- 1941) discovers human electroencephalography.

Technology

Ernst Alaxanderson (1878-1975) measures the altitude of an airplane by using reflected radio waves. This is an early use of radar.

Technology

Kodak introduces 16mm movie film.

Technology

In the first instrument flight, Lt. James Doolittle (1896-1993) flies entirely by radio signals received in his airplane.

Education

Higher Education: University of Pennsylvania establishes a department of Medical Physics (biophysics).

Education

Libraries: Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932), a merchant and philanthropist, helps fund libraries in 13 southern states to be used in both urban and rural areas, regardless of race.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) publishes the novel "A Farewell to Arms."

Ideas

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) publishes “A Room of One’s Own.”

Ideas

Robert M. Yerkes (1876-1956), psychologist, publishes "The Great Apes" and establishes the Yale Laboratories of Primate Biology (Florida) to study animal behavior and intelligence.

Hoover, Lou

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) was the first president to have a telephone installed on his desk on March 27. White House phones came next.

Kennedy, Jackie

Jacqueline Bouvier is born on July 28, 2919 in Southhampton, New York. She is the eighth of ten First Ladies born in New York, the "mother state" of presidential wives.

Economics

American Money: Currency is reduced in size by 25 percent and standardizes with uniform portraits on the faces and emblems and monuments on the backs.

Economics

President Hoover (1874-1964) meets with important businessmen at the White House in order to stabilize the nation’s business.

Economics

The stock market crash brings depression, with widespread unemployment and many business failures.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Gang members working for Al Capone (1899-1947) kill rival gang members in the St. Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago.

Daily Life

The first reindeer are born in the United States, in North Beverly, MA.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: The yo-yo is popularized in the United States.

Sports

Women in Sports: Tuskegee Institute in Alabama forms one of the first women's college track teams, offering scholarships to promising women athletes, and adding women's event to their Tuskegee relays track meets.

Popular Culture

The first Academy Awards are bestowed; the statues that served as symbols of the award are not called Oscars until 1931.

Popular Culture

The first all-color talking picture, "On With the Show," opens.

Popular Culture

“Amos ‘n’ Andy,” a popular radio show heard each weekday through the 1930’s, makes its national premier.

Religion

Presbyterian churches in Scotland unite to form the Church of Scotland.

Social Issues

Immigration: Congress makes annual immigration quotas permanent.

Law

Chief Justices: President Herbert Hoover nominates Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948) as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; he is confirmed by the Senate ten days later and serves in the position for eleven years.

Law

The Supreme Court rules that buying bootleg liquor is not a violation of the 18th amendment.

Politics

In the German elections, Nazis gain 107 seats from the center parties.

Government

The Passfield White Paper on Palistine suggests that Jewish immigration be halted.

Government

The names of the cities of Constantinople and Angora in Turkey change to Istanbul and Ankara.

Government

Ras Tafari (1892-1975) becomes Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.

Government

League of Nations: First session of the Commission of Enquiry for European Union.

War

France begins building the Maginot Line.

War

Last Allied troops leave Rhineland.

War

The War Department amends Army regulations to make any violation of the federal prohibition law a military offense.

Medicine

Nobel Prize for Medicine awarded to Karl Landsteiner (1868-1943) (U.S.) for the grouping of human blood.

Inventions

Vannevar Bush, electrical engineer, develops a differential analyzer, the first analog computer.

Inventions

Quartz-crystal clocks are introduced.

Technology

Bell Laboratories develops a two-way television communication system.

Technology

The photoflash bulb comes into use.

Education

Public Education: Civil Rights Movement: The NAACP brings a series of suits over unequal teachers' pay for Blacks and whites in southern states. At the same time, southern states realize they are losing African American labor to the northern cities. These two sources of pressure resulted in some increase of spending on Black schools in the South.

Education

Civil Rights Movment: Brown v. Board: The NAACP began to challenge segregation in graduate and secondary schools in the mid-1930s. Early successes in the Supreme Court barred law schools from denying applicants on the basis of race alone.

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: The Group Theatre is formed by the Theatre Guild for the purpose of producing social protest works. Members were generally committed to largely communal projects.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959)writes “Elizabeth the Queen."

Arts and Letters

Drama: Noel Coward (1899-1973) writes “Private Lives."

Ideas

Technocracy, the absolute domination of technology, becomes talked-of phenomenon.

Ideas

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)writes “About Zionism.”

Ideas

Compton suggests that cosmic rays are made of particles.

Ideas

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)publishes “Civilization and Its Discontent."

Taft, Helen

William Howard Taft (1857-1930), 27th President of the United States dies; he is the first U.S. president to be buried in the National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.

Economics

New York City’s Bank of the United States closes because of the stock market crash. The bank has 60 branches and almost half a million depositors. During this year more than 1300 banks are forced to close.

Economics

Ford creates the Mercury division to establish a division centered on mid-priced cars. Ford Motor Company continues to grow.

Discovery

Pluto, the ninth planet in the solar system, is discovered by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh (1906-1997).

Daily Life

Prepackaged frozen food is sold for the first time by Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956) in Springfield, MA.

Daily Life

Contract bridge gains in popularity as a card game.

Daily Life

Comic strips grow in popularity in the U.S. (“Blondie” series).

Popular Culture

Bestseller “Cimarron,” is written by Edna Ferber (1885-1968).

Popular Culture

Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) writes “The Maltese Falcon."

Popular Culture

The films “Blue Angel,” (Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992))and “All Quiet on the Western Front,” both win Academy Awards (Milestone).

Politics

German millionaire Alfred Hugenberg (1865-1951) undertakes to support the 800,000-strong Nazi Party; Emil Kirdorf (1847-1938), Fritz Thyssen (1873-1951), and Schroder (1841-1902) follow his example.

Government

League of Nations: The Council decides to convene the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments.

Government

League of Nations: European Conference for Limiting the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs.

Science

Swiss chemist Paul Karrer (1889-1971) isolates vitamin A.

Science

American physicist E.O. Lawrence (1901-1958) invents the cyclotron.

Inventions

Julius A. Nieuwland (1878-1936) devises a process for producing neoprene, a synthetic rubber.

Technology

The Empire State Building opens.

Technology

The George Washington Bridge, extending from New Jersey to New York, is completed.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) writes “The Good Earth."

Arts and Letters

Poetry: Robert Frost (1874-1963) publishes his “Collected Poems,” which wins the Pulitzer Prize.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953) writes “Morning Becomes Electra.”

Ideas

John Dewey (1859-1952 ) publishes “Philosophy and Civilization.”

Discovery

Australian explorer G.H. Wilkins (1888-1958) captains “Nautilus” submarine, navigating it under the Arctic Ocean to latitude 82 degrees, 15 minutes.

Daily Life

The U.S. officially adopts “The Star-Spangled Banner” as its national anthem on March 3.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Alphonse (“Scarface”) Capone (1899-1947), gangster with reputed $20 million annual income, is jailed for income tax evasion.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: Alfred M. Butts, an unemployed architect from Poughkeepsie, New York, invents a word game called the Criss Cross Game. In 1948, Butts sells rights to the game to entrepreneur James Brunot who trademarks the game under the name Scrabble.

Daily Life

Population (in millions): China 410, India 338, U.S.S.R. 168, U.S. 122, Japan 75, Germany 64, Great Britain 46.

Daily Life

Women’s Firsts: Maxine Dunlap becomes first American woman to earn a glider pilot license.

Sports

The northern face of the Matterhorn is climbed for the first time by Franz and Toni Schmid.

Sports

Women in Sports: Women begin competing in skiing events at the world championships sponsored by the International Ski Federation.

Popular Culture

Popular songs of the year include “Minnie the Moocher”; “Mood Indigo”; Goodnight Sweetheart”; and “When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain.”

Popular Culture

Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) stars in the film, “City Lights."

Popular Culture

Walt Disney (1901-1996) produces his first color film, "Flowers and Trees."

Popular Culture

The musical comedy, "Of Thee I Sing," composed and written by George Gershwin (1898-1937), Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) George S. Kaufman (1889-1961), and Morrie Ryskind (1895-1985), becomes the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

Religion

Jehovah’s Witnesses formed from International Bible Students Association.

Religion

Pope Pius XI (1857-1939): “Quadrigesimo Anno," encyclical noting dangers of unrestrained capitalism and totalitarian communism, and calling for a new social order.

Law

The Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution, setting January 20 as the day the President is inaugurated, is passed by Congress.

Politics

Women's Firsts: Hattie W. Caraway (1878-1932), a democrat from Arkansas, becomes the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Politics

Running on the idea of a "New Deal" for the American people, Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) is elected as the 32nd President of the U.S. in a Democratic landslide; John Garner (1868-1967) is elected as the nation's 32nd Vice President.

Government

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is created to conserve area resources.

Government

Congress changes the name "Porto Rico" to "Puerto Rico".

Government

Women’s Firsts: Hattie Wyatt Caraway (1878-1950), of Arkansas, becomes the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

Government

League of Nations: A two-year Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments opens in Geneva; Germany withdraws from the Conference.

Government

The Revenue Act of 1932 is passed; it is the largest peacetime tax increase in the nation''s history to that date.

Science

W.H. Carothers (U.S.) (1896-1937) synthesizes polyamide (nylon by 1936).

Science

James Chadwick (1891-1974) discovers the neutron.

Science

Nobel Prize for Physics: Werner Heisenberg (Germany) for the creation of the matrix theory of quantum mechanics.

Science

Fritz Mietzch (1896-1958) and Josef Klarer (1898-1953): sulfonamide.

Inventions

Sperry Gyroscope Co. develops an automatic pilot.

Technology

A balloon tire is produced for farm tractors.

Technology

RCA demonstrates electric TV using a cathode-ray picture tube receiver.

Education

Libraries: The Folger Library opens in Washington.

Education

Higher Education: Bennington College opens in Vermont.

Education

Basic English is proposed as a prospective international language.

Education

Libraries: Howard University School of Divinity Library is founded.

Education

Public Education: A survey of 150 school districts reveals that three quarters of them are using so-called intelligence testing to place students in different academic tracks.

Economics

In May and June, 17,000 ex-servicemen arrive in Washington D.C., to urge the passage of a law that will permit them to cash their bonus certificates; this bill is defeated by the Senate; government offers expenses for return home, but troops led by General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) finally drive out last 2,000.

Economics

13.7 million people are unemployed in the United States.

Economics

The first unemployment insurance law is enacted in Wisconsin.

Daily Life

Crime and punishment: The infant son of Charles (1902-1974) and Anne Lindbergh (1906-2001) is kidnapped.

Daily Life

Women''s Firsts: Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) becomes the first woman to complete a solo nonstop transatlantic flight, from Newfoundland to Ireland in about 15 hours.

Daily Life

Women''s Firsts: Amelia Earhart, 34, becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in a red Lockheed Vega in 15 hours and 39 minutes.

Sports

Black Athletes: Louise Stokes (1905-1974) and Tydia Pickett are the first African-American women to be included on a U.S. Olympic team.

Sports

The first Winter Olympic Games held in the U.S., opens at Lake Placid, N.Y.

Sports

The Summer Olympic Games at Los Angeles include 23 sports, 124 events, and 1,408 participants from 37 nations.

Popular Culture

Johnny Weissmuller (1904-1984) appears in his first “Tarzan” film; Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) writes “The Thin Man;" and Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) writes “Brave New World.”

Reform

Women''s Rights Movement: The National Recovery Act forbids more than one family member from holding a government job, resulting in many women losing their jobs.

Law

Prohibition: The Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution, repealing prohibition, is passed by Congress, ratified by two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Law

The 20th Amendment to the Constitution, setting January 20 as the day the President is inaugurated, is ratified by two-thirds of the states and added to the Constitution.

Government

U.S. Congress votes independence for Philippines.

Government

The Federal Securities Act requires sworn statements about all securities for sale to be filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Government

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) is inaugurated as the 32nd President of the U.S., and John Garner (1868-1967) is inaugurated as the nation's 32nd Vice President.

Government

Women’s Firsts: Frances Perkins (1882-1965) is appointed secretary of labor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), making her the first woman member of a presidential cabinet.

Government

Adolph Hitler (1889-1945) is named Chancellor of Germany.

Government

League of Nations: Both Germany and Japan give notice of withdrawal from the League of Nations.

Science

Tadeusz Reichstein (1897-1996) synthesizes pure vitamin C.

Science

Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) recognized by R. Kuhn, Szent-Gyorgyi, and Wagner von Jauregg.

Medicine

Manfred Sakel (1900-1957) discovers insulin shock therapy.

Technology

Edwin H. Armstrong (1890-1954) develops frequency modulation (FM) radio broadcasting.

Technology

Philo T. Farnsworth (1906-1971) develops an electronic TV receiver.

Arts and Letters

“Ulysses,” by James Joyce (1882-1941), is allowed in the U.S. after court ruling.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Erskine Caldwell (1903-1987)writes “God’s Little Acre.”

Arts and Letters

George Balanchine (1904-1983) and Lincoln Kirstein (1907-1996) found the School of American Ballet.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) writes “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.”

Ideas

C.G. Jung (1875-1961) writes “Modern Man in Search of Soul.”

Economics

American banks are closed March 6 - March 9 by presidential order.

Economics

The U.S. goes off gold standard on April 19.

Economics

Unlike his father, Edsel Ford was more interested in vehicle design than mechanics. He helped bring the company''s products to new heights of elegance and style by creating the company’s first dedicated, in-house design (or “styling”) department. The department’s creations become some of the most influential automotive designs in the industry.

Discovery

The theory that Neanderthal Man is in the line of decent of homo sapiens is rejected following the discovery of the Steinheim skull.

Discovery

R.E. Byrd, begins his second South Pole expedition.

Daily Life

The board game Monopoly is invented.

Daily Life

All books by non-Nazi and Jewish authors are burned in Germany.

Daily Life

Chicago World’s Fair (A Century of Progress International Exposition) opens.

Daily Life

President Roosevelt delivers the first radio “fireside chat” to restore the public’s confidence in the American currency and banking system.

Sports

Baseball: The first baseball all-star game is played.

Sports

Boxing: Italian Primo Carnera (1906-1967) knocks out Jack Sharkey (1902-1994) to win heavyweight-boxing crown.

Popular Culture

Some popular films of the year are “Little Women,” starring Katherine Hepburn (1907-2003), and “She Done Him Wrong,” starring Mae West (1892-1980).

Popular Culture

Some popular songs are “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”; “StormyWeather”; “Easter Parade”; “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”; and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”

Social Issues

Holocaust: The Germans at Dachau open the first concentration camp; by 1945 8 to 10 million prisoners have been interned and at least half of them killed. Boycott of Jews begins in Germany.

Social Issues

Immigration: Approximately 60,000 artists (authors, actors, painters, and musicians) emigrate from Germany.

Government

League of Nations: Meeting of the General Commission of the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments.

Government

Congress passes the Gold Reserve Act, empowering the President to regulate the value of the U.S. dollar.

Government

President Roosevelt signs Securities Exchange Act, establishing Securities and Exchange Commission. The first chairman of the SEC is Joseph Kennedy.

Science

Adolph Butenandt (1903-1995) isolates the first crystalline male hormone, androsterone.

Science

Enrico Fermi (1901-1954 ) suggests that neutrons and protons are the same fundamental particles in two different quantum states.

Technology

Osoviakhim, U.S.S.R. balloon, ascends 13 miles into stratosphere.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Robert Graves (1895-1985) writes “I, Claudius” and “Claudius the God.”

Arts and Letters

Painting: Salvador Dali (1904-1989) paints “William Tell,” in surrealistic style.

Arts and Letters

Drama: William Saroyan (1908-1981) writes “The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze.”

Ideas

Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) writes “A Study of History.”

Ideas

Ruth Benedict (1887-1948) publishes “Patterns of Culture.

Economics

Women’s Firsts: Lettie Pate Whitehead (1872-1953) becomes the first American woman to serve as a director of a major corporation, The Coca-Cola Company.

Discovery

Women’s Firsts: On October 23, 1934, American adventurer Jeanette Piccard (1895 – 1985) sets an altitude record for female balloonists when she ascends 57,579 feet.

Daily Life

Transportation: The S.S. “Normandie” (France) launched; the largest ship afloat until “Queen Elizabeth.”

Daily Life

The Dionne quintuplets are born in Callendar, Ontario.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: The F.B.I. shoots John Dillinger (1903-1934), “Public Enemy No. 1.”

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: The infamous pair of Bonnie (Parker) (1910-1934) and Clyde (Barrow) (1909-1934), die in a police shootout.

Sports

Golf: The first Masters golf tournament at Augusta National in Georgia is won by Horton Smith (1908-1963).

Sports

Boxing: Max Baer (1909-1959) wins world heavyweight boxing title.

Sports

Boxing: Joe Louis (1914-1981) wins his first fight against Jack Kracken (Chicago).

Popular Culture

Shirley Temple (1928- ) stars in her first film, Stand Up and Cheer.

Social Issues

Poverty: Evangeline Booth (1865-1950), daughter of the Salvation Army’s founder, elected General of the Salvation Army.

Politics

Huey Long (1893-1935) is assassinated by Dr. Carl Weiss in Louisiana Capitol Building.

Government

The Social Security Act establishes a federal payroll tax to finance a cooperative federal-state system of unemployment insurance.

Government

President Roosevelt (1882-1945) signs U.S. Social Security Act.

Government

Chiang Kai-shek is named President of China.

Government

T.G. Masaryk (1850-1937) resigns as President of Czechoslovakiaand is succeeded by Eduard Benes (1884-1948).

Government

Persia changes its name to Iran.

Government

League of Nations: The American Senate refuses to ratify the accession of the United States to the Permanent Court of International justice.

War

World War II: The Saarland is incorporated into Germany following a plebiscite; Nazis repudiate Versailles Treaty and reintroduce compulsory military.

Medicine

Ladislas J. Meduna (1896-1964)discovers metrazol shock therapy.

Medicine

German chemist Gerhard Domagk (1895-1964) announces the discovery of Prontosil, the first sulfa drug for treating streptococcal infections.

Technology

RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) is first demonstrated by Robert Watson-Watt (1892-1973).

Technology

The first round-the-world telephone conversation covers more than 23,000 miles. It is routed from New York to San Francisco, Indonesia, Holland, England, and back to NY-to an office less than 50 feet from the phone where the call originated.

Technology

Railroad History: EMC builds #511 and #512, the first self-contained Diesel passenger locomotives in the US.

Education

Libraries: The Works Progress Administration library service program gives support in labor and funds to all types of libraries.

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: The Federal Theatre Project is established by Works Progress Administration (WPA) under the leadership of Hallie Flanagan (1890-1969). It lasted 4 years and employed over 30,000 theatrical artists and workers. Eventually Congress challenged the content of the productions as being subversive propaganda and dangerous.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Clarence Day (1874-1935) writes “Life with Father.”

Arts and Letters

Drama: T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) writes “Murder in the Cathedral.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) writes “It Can’t Happen Here.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: John Steinbeck (1902-1968) writes “Tortilla Flat.”

Economics

Electrification: The first generator at Hoover Dam along the Nevada-Arizona border begins commercial operation.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Bruno R. Hauptmann (1899-1936) goes on trial for the kidnap and murder of the Lindburgh baby.

Daily Life

Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) becomes the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

Daily Life

Transportation: The S.S. “Normandie” crosses the Atlantic in 107 hours and 33 minutes.

Daily Life

Dancing: The rumba becomes a fashionable dance.

Daily Life

Alcoholics Anonymous is organized in New York.

Sports

Baseball: The Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies play the first major league night baseball game at Crosley Field I Cincinnati.

Reform

Labor Movement: The Committee for Industrial Organizations is founded by the leaders of eight unions in the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Its goal is to develop industry-wide unions that include clerical and unskilled workers, as well as skilled-workers who are eligible for the AFL.

Law

The Supreme Court upholds constitutionality of TVA in Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority.

Politics

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) is reelected President of the U.S. by a landslide, as is John Garner (1868-1967) as Vice President.

Government

League of Nations: The Secretariat moves into the new League of Nations buildings, Geneva.

War

The U.S. Army adopts the semi-automatic rifle.

War

World War II: German troops occupy Rhineland; elections in Germany give Hitler (1889-1945) 99% of the vote; Four-Year Plan inaugurated.

War

Spanish Civil War begins in July; Franco appointed Chief of State by the insurgents in October; siege of Madrid begins; Spanish government moves to Valencia.

War

World War II: Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) declares war on Japan.

Medicine

Dr. Alexis Carrel (1873-1944) develops an artificial heart.

Medicine

Egas Moniz (1874-1955) discovers prefrontal lobotomy for treating mental diseases.

Technology

The dirigible “Hindenburg” lands at Lakehurst, N.J., after transatlantic flight.

Technology

Mrs. Amy (Johnson) Mollison (1903-1941) flies from England to Cape Town in 3 days, 6 hours, and 25 minutes.

Technology

Boulder (Hoover) Dam on Colorado River in Nevada and Arizona is completed; this creates Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the world.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Beatrice Kaufman and Moss Hart collaborate on the play, “You Can’t Take it With You.”

Economics

The Ford Foundation is established.

Daily Life

Magazines: Henry Luce (1898-1967) begins publication of “Life” magazine.

Daily Life

Crime and Punishment: Bruno Richard Hauptman (1899-1936) is convicted of kidnapping and killing the Lindbergh baby.

Daily Life

Disasters: Floods sweep Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: Parker Brothers introduce Monopoly.

Sports

Baseball: Ty Cobb (1886-1961), Babe Ruth (1895-1948), Honus Wagner (1874-1955), Christy Mathewson (1880-1925) and Walter Johnson (1887-1946) are the first players elected to the newly founded Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Sports

Boxing: Max Schmeling (1905-2005) (German) defeats Joe Louis (1914-1981) (U.S.) to win world heavyweight boxing championship.

Popular Culture

Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) writes “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

Popular Culture

Walter D. Edmunds (1903-1998) writes “Drums Along the Mohawk.”

Popular Culture

Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949) writes “Gone with the Wind,” a Pulitzer Prize Novel.

Law

Women's Rights Movement: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of a minimum wage law for women.

Government

President Roosevelt (1882-1945) signs U.S. Neutrality Act.

Government

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) is inaugurated President of the U.S., as is John Garner as Vice President.

War

World War II: Riots in Sudeten area of Czechoslovakia; Sudetan Germans leave Czech Parliament.

War

Spanish Civil War: The German Luftwaffe (air force) destroys the Spanish town of Guernica.

Medicine

The nation’s first blood bank is established at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.

Medicine

Crystalline vitamin A and vitamin K concentrates are first obtained.

Medicine

The National Cancer institute is established.

Inventions

Wallace H. Carothers (1896-1937) patents Nylon for the Du Pont Company.

Inventions

The first jet engine is built by Frank Whittle (1907-1996).

Technology

George VI (1895-1952) is crowned King of Great Britain; the broadcast of ceremonies is first worldwide program heard in the U.S.

Technology

The Lincoln Tunnel provides a second major vehicular tunnel between New York and New Jersey.

Technology

San Francisco’s Gold Gate Bridge opens; the main section is 4200 ft. long; it is the longest bridge up to this time.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Ernest Hemmingway (1899-1961) writes “To Have and to Have Not.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: John P. Marquand (1893-1960) writes “The Late George Apley,” which wins a Pulitzer Prize.

Arts and Letters

Painting: Picasso (1881-1973) paints “Guernica,” a mural for the Paris World Exhibition.

Arts and Letters

Paul Mellon (1907-1999) endows the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Economics

Wall Street stock market decline signals serious economic recession in the U.S.

Daily Life

In Connecticut, automobile license places are issued for the first time.

Daily Life

Disasters: The German airship Hindenberg bursts into flames as it is trying to land at Lakehurst, NJ. News of its occurrence is described in the first transcontinental radio broadcast.

Daily Life

Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) is lost on a Pacific flight.

Sports

Boxing: Joe Louis (1914-1981) regains world heavyweight boxing title by defeating James J. Braddock (1905-1974).

Sports

U.S. Tennis Team wins Davis Cup Tournament in England.

Sports

Women in Sports: The US becomes the first country to win the men's (Swaythling Cup) and women's (Marcel Corbillon Cup) team table tennis championships in the same year.

Popular Culture

John Steinbeck (1902-1968) writes “Of Mice and Men.”

Popular Culture

Walt Disney (1901-1996) produces “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

Social Issues

Poverty: Public Housing: One of the first public housing projects in New York City, the Harlem River Houses, is built. They were 4 and 5-story walk-ups that were connected.

Reform

Women''s Rights Movement: Minimum wage law for women is upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Reform

Labor Movement: A major strike against Republic Steel takes place: 4 killed and 84 injured in Chicago.

Law

Civil Rights Movement: The Supreme Court rules that the University of Missouri Law School must admit Negroes because of a lack of other facilities in the area.

Government

Martin Dies (1900-1972) (Texas Democrat), becomes chairman of the newly formed House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of U.S. House of Representatives.

War

World War II: Hitler (1889-1945) appoints himself War Minister, Ribbentrop Foreign Minister; meets Schuschnigg at Berchtesgaden and marches into Austria; Mussolini (1883-1945) and Hitler meet in Rome; programs in Germany.

War

World War II: Eden resigns in protest against Chamberlain’s (1869-1940) policy; Winston Churchill (1874-1965) leads country’s outcry; Duff Cooper (1890-1954) resigns as First Lord of the Admiralty; President Benes (1884-1948) resigns; Slovakia and Ruthenia granted autonomy; Hungary annexes southern Slovakia; Emil Hacha (1872-1945) installed as puppet President of Czechoslovakia.

Science

Karter, Salomon, and Fritzsche chemically identify vitamin E.

Science

Isolation of pyridoxine (vitamin B6).

Medicine

Robert E. Gross, physician, surgically repairs a congenital heart defect.

Medicine

Ugo Cerletti (1877- 1963) and Lucio Bini (1908-1964) discover electroconvulsive therapy.

Education

The Cloisters, endowed by Rockefeller (1839-1937), is built in upper Manhattan as a branch of the Metropolitan Museum to house medieval art.

Education

Higher Education: Education of Women: African American Education: Harvard University grants and honorary doctorate to Negro singer Marian Anderson (1897-1993).

Education

Civil Rights Movement: Higher Education: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the University of Missouri Law School must admit Negroes because of a lack of other facilities in the area.

Arts and Letters

Drama: "Our Town," by Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), is performed publicly for the first time in Princeton, NJ.

Arts and Letters

Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989) writes “Rebecca.”

Arts and Letters

Drama: Robert Sherwood (1896-1955): “Abe Lincoln in Illinois."

Arts and Letters

Architecture: Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) builds Taliesin West in Phoenix, Arizona.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953) writes “The Yearling,” a Pulitzer Prize novel.

Ideas

Johan Huizinga (1872-1945) writes “Homo Ludens.”

Ideas

Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) writes “Modes of Thought.”

Economics

Dupont markets the first nylon product-a toothbrush.

Economics

The Fair Labor Standards Act passed, enacting first national minimum wage law.

Daily Life

The 40 hour work week is established in the United States.

Daily Life

20,000 TV sets are in service in New York City.

Daily Life

The S.S. “Queen Elizabeth” is launched.

Daily Life

32,000 people die in auto accidents in the U.S.

Sports

Horse Racing: Eddie Arcado rides his first Kentucky Derby winner, “Lawrin.”

Popular Culture

The New Orleans jazz classic, "When the Saints Go Marching In," is recorded by Louis Armstrong (1901-1971).

Popular Culture

The popular radio quiz show Information Please is broadcast by NBC.

Popular Culture

Orson Welles’s (1915- 1985) radio production of H.G. Well’s (1866-1946) “War of the Worlds” causes considerable panic.

Popular Culture

Benny Goodman’s (1909-1986) band brings new style to jazz music.

Popular Culture

Kurt Weill (1900-1950): “Knickerbocker Holiday,” musical comedy, New York.

Social Issues

Anti-semitism: Anti-Jewish legislation enacted in July.

Reform

Labor Movement: Women''s Rights Movement: The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes minimum wage without regard to sex.

Law

President Roosevelt appoints the first Jewish Associate Justice to the Supreme Court, Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965); at the same time, he appoints William O. Douglas (1898-1980), who hold the record for longest service on the Court -- 36 years, 7 months.

War

The Spanish Civil War ends.Rooseveltasks Congress for $552 million for defense and demands assurance from Hitler and Mussolini that they will not attack 31 named states.

War

World War II: Germany occupies Bohemia and Moravia, places Slovakia under “protection,” annexes Memel, renounces nonaggression pact with Poland and naval agreement with England, and concludes both the 10-year alliance with Italy and the nonaggression pact with U.S.S.R.

War

World War II: Japanese occupy Hainan and blockade British concession at Tientsin; U.S. renounces Japanese trade agreement of 1911.

War

World War II: Britain and France recognize Franco’s government; U.S. recognition follows; Spanish Civil War ends; Spain joins Anti-Comintern Pact and leaves League of Nations.

War

World War II: Germany invades Poland and annexes Danzig on September 1; Britain and France declare war on Germany on September 3; Roosevelt declares that the U.S. is neutral; Germans overrun western Poland and reach Brest-Litovsk and Warsaw; U.S.S.R. invades Poland from the east; the British Expeditionary Force (158,000 men) are sent to France.

Science

Joliot-Curie demonstrates the possibility of splitting apart the atom.

Science

Polyethylene is invented.

Science

Nobel Prize for Physics awarded to Ernest O. Lawrence (U.S.) for the development of cyclotron.

Technology

Igor Sikorsky (1889-1972) constructs the first helicopter.

Technology

Radar stations are used in Britain to give early warning of approaching enemy aircrafts.

Arts and Letters

“Grandma Moses” (Anna M. Robertson) becomes famous in the U.S.

Arts and Letters

Dance: Aaron Copland’s “Billy the Kid” ballet opens in New York.

Arts and Letters

Literature: C.S. Forester writes “Captain Horatio Hornblower.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: James Joyce writes “Finnegan’s Wake.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: Richard Llewellyn writes “How Green was My Valley.”

Arts and Letters

Literature: John Steinbeck writes “The Grapes of Wrath.”

Arts and Letters

Drama: George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart write “The Man Who Came to Dinner.”

Ideas

John Dewey (1859-1952) publishes “Freedom and Culture.”

Ideas

Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” is made available in a complete English translation.

Economics

After the 1938 recession, the U.S. economy begins to recover and, by autumn, is booming from orders of European countries for arms and war equipment.

Daily Life

Transportation: Pan-American Airways begins regularly scheduled commercial flights between the U.S. and Europe on the “Dixie Clipper.”

Daily Life

Fashion: Nylon stockings appear for the first time.

Daily Life

Holidays: President Roosevelt moves the national Thanksgiving Celebration to the third Thursday of November in order to extend the Christmas shopping season and boost the economy.

Sports

Baseball: The first televised major league game is broadcast from Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

Sports

Baseball: Little League Baseball is founded.

Sports

Baseball: Baseball great Lou Gehrig sets of major-league record when he plays his 2,130th game.A baseball game is first televised in the U.S.

Popular Culture

The first public television broadcast is made from the Empire State Building.

Popular Culture

War songs in England are “Roll out the Barrel’ and “The Last Time I Saw Paris.”

Popular Culture

Popular Films include “Gone With the Wind”, “The Wizard of Oz” (Judy Garland), and “Stagecoach” (John Ford).

Popular Culture

Popular Songs in America are “God Bless America”, “Over the Rainbow”, and “I’ll Never Smile Again.”

Religion

Pope Pius XI dies; Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected to be Pope Pius XII (-1958).

Religion

The Methodist Church, rent by schisms of 1830 and 1844, is reunited.

Reform

Labor Movement: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that sit-down strikes are illegal.

Politics

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) is re-elected to a third term as President of the U.S., and Henry A. Wallace (1888-1965) is elected as the nation's 33rd Vice President.

Government

Stamps: Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) is the first African-American honored on a stamp.

Government

Immigration: The Smith Act (Alien Registration Act) requires the registration of all aliens and makes it illegal to advocate the overthrow of the U.S. government by force.

Government

Conservation: Congress establishes the Fish and Wildlife Service to develop and administer a wildlife conservation program.

Government

Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940) is succeeded by Winston Churchill (1874-1965) as Prime Minister of England.

Government

The U.S. does not renew its commercial treaty with Japan.

Government

The Transportation Act passes, giving ICC authority to regulate common carriers operating in interstate commerce in the coastal, inter-coastal, and inland waters of the U.S.

War

National Defense Advisory Commission coordinates U.S. civilian defense protection.

War

Congress creates the Selective Service System, the first U.S. peacetime program of compulsory military service. It requires all men between ages 21 and 36 to register.

Science

Fritz A. Lipmann (1899-1986), biochemist, proposes that ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) is a common form of energy in many cells.

Medicine

N.M. Gregg discovers that German measles during pregnancy may cause birth defects in the unborn child.

Medicine

Linus Pauling (1901-1994) and Max Delbruck (1906-1981) determine that antigens cause the body to produce antibodies.

Inventions

V. Zworykin (1889-1982) and James Hillier (1915-) invent the electronic microscope.

Inventions

Hellmuth Walter (1900-1980), a German engineer, invents a propulsion system for submarines.

Education

The first large-scale urban college building of modern design, Hunter College, is built in New York City.

Arts and Letters

The Museum of Modern Art sets up a separate department of photography.

Arts and Letters

Painting: Picasso’s (1882-1973) lithograph, “Dove” is selected as the symbol of the World Peace Congress.

Discovery

Prehistoric drawings that are at least 20,000 years old are found in the Lascaux Caves in France.

Daily Life

The first social security check is issued to Ida Fuller for $22.54.

Daily Life

Fashion: Nylon stockings go on sale for the first time in the U.S.

Daily Life

The suspension bridge over the Narrows at Tacoma, Washington called “Galloping Gertie,” collapses because of wind vibration; the Bridge tumbles into Puget Sound.

Sports

Cornelius Warmerdam (1915-2001) is the first to pole-vault 15 feet. Two years later he sets the new record of 15 ft. 7.75 inches.

Popular Culture

Oglethorpe University (Georgia) deposits a bottle of beer, an encyclopedia, and a movie fan magazine along with 1000 of other items in its “Crypt of Civilization,” a time capsule scheduled to be opened in the year 8113.

Popular Culture

John Ford (1894-1973) wins an Oscar for directing "The Grapes of Wrath."

Reform

Labor Movement: The 40-hour workweek, part of Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, goes into effect.

Law

Chief Justices: After sixteen years of service as an Associate Justice, Harlan Fiske Stone (1872-1946) is nominated Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945); he is confirmed by the Senate and serves for five years until his death in 1946.

Government

The Lend-Lease Act passes, giving the president the authority to aid any nation whose defense he believed vital to the United States and to accept repayment "in kind or property, or any other direct or indirect benefit which the President deems satisfactory."

Government

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) is inaugurated for a third term as President of the U.S., and Henry A. Wallace (1888-1965) is inaugurated as the nation's 33rd Vice President.

Government

The Lend-Lease Act lends war materials to friendly nations.

Government

The Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply is organized. It immediately freezes steel prices and later announces the need for tire rationing to conserve rubber.

War

Puerto Rico: US Congress establishes two thirds of the island of Vieques as a military training ground. Residents are given 24 hours to leave their homes.

War

The Selective Service System repeals the 900,000-man limitation of the Army and extends the length of service of draftees to 18 months.

War

U.S. lends the U.S.S.R. $1 billion worth of war material.

War

World War II: Japan attacks the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, destroying many war ships; the U.S. declares war on Japan.

War

World War II: U.S. forces land in Iceland to defend it against possible attack.

Science

The Manhattan Project, under the direction of Leslie Groves, begins top-secret research to develop an atomic bomb.

Medicine

Women's Firsts: Eleanor J. Macdonald (1906-?1995), the first cancer epidemiologist, establishes the world’s first cancer registry in Connecticut.

Medicine

Radioactive iodine is used to treat cancer of the thyroid.

Inventions

Aerosol spray cans are introduced.

Technology

RCA develops the “alert receiver,” a radio that is turned on or off by a special radio wave signal.

Technology

LORAN (long range aid to navigation) uses fixed radio signals to determine positions at sea.

Technology

An electron microscope is used to obtain the first photograph of a virus. The virus, only 4 ten-millionths of an inch in diameter, is magnified 65,000 times.

Reagan, Nancy

Maureen Reagan Revell (1941-2001), daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, is born January 4.

Economics

The FCC authorizes TV broadcasting. By the end of the year, 1 million sets are sold.

Daily Life

Gasoline curfew begins in 17 eastern states; gasoline stations are closed from 7am-7pm.

Daily Life

A National Nutrition Program begins; vitamins and minerals are added to milk, bread, and other common foods.

Daily Life

“Utility” clothing and furniture are encouraged in Britain; clothes rationing starts.

Daily Life

Holidays: After much protest, President Roosevelt returns the official Thansgiving to the fourth Thursday of November.

Sports

Baseball: New York Yankee center-fielder Joe DiMaggio (1914-1999) hits in 56 major league games and sets a major league record.

Popular Culture

The classic movie, "Citizen Kane," starring Orson Welles (1915-1985), premiers in New York City.

Popular Culture

The famous wartime phrase “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition” is said by Howell M. Forgy, chaplain on the U.S. cruiser New Orleans, which is attacked at Pearl Harbor.

Popular Culture

Billy Strayhorn (1915-1967), arranger-composer for Duke Ellington, composes the band’s theme song, “Take the A-Train.”

Popular Culture

The USO is founded in New York City to raise the morale of American troops by supplying recreation, education, and entertainment.

Social Issues

Immigration: Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii galvanizes America’s war effort. More than 1,000 Japanese-American community leaders are incarcerated because of national security.

Social Issues

Immigration: President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 8802, forbidding discrimination in federal hiring, job-training programs, and defense industries. The newly created Fair Employment Practices Commission investigates discrimination against black employees.

Government

Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945) signs an executive order resulting in the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast.

Government

Immigration: Congress allows for importation of agricultural workers from within North, Central, and South America. The Bracero Program allows Mexican laborers to work in the U.S.

War

World War II: Congress enacts measures to form the Women’s auxiliary corps of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

War

World War II: The Nazis formulate their “Final Solution” regarding the Jews at the Wannsee Conference.

War

World War II: Government wartime agencies take control of housing, alien property, shipping and transportation, foreign relief, censorship, and scientific research.

War

World War II: U.S. begins strict rationing of food and materials needed for the war effort.

Science

Russian Academy of Sciences awards honorary memberships to Americans for the first time: W. Cannon, E.O. Lawrence, and G. Lewis.

Medicine

French chemists prepare the first usable antihistamines.

Inventions

Henry Ford (1863-1947) patents the plastic automobile body.

Inventions

Magnetic recording tape is introduced.

Inventions

Bell Aircraft builds and tests the first U.S. jet, the XP-59.

Technology

Henry Kaiser (1882-1967) and Howard Hughes (1905-1976) design the Spruce Goose, an 8-engine airplane with room for 700 people.

Technology

Sonobuoys are used to detect submarines.

Technology

Radio signals (interference) are received from the Sun.

Technology

The first V-mail is sent overseas from New York City to London.

Arts and Letters

Dance: Copland (1900-1990) composes the ballet Rodeo, staged and choreographed by Agnes DeMille (1881-1959).

Ideas

Sister Elizabeth Kenny (1880-1952) publishes "Kenny Concept of Infantile Paralysis and Its Treatment."

Economics

The Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington State is completed.

Discovery

Mildenhall Treasure, a hoard of Roman silverware, is discovered in Suffolk, England.

Daily Life

Disasters: Mine explosions in Honkeiko, Manchuria kill 1549 people.

Daily Life

Disasters: The ocean liner Queen Mary collides with a British cruiser; 388 people on board the cruiser are killed.

Sports

Football: The Army-Navy football game that is usually seen by 100,000 fans in Philadelphia is played in Annapolis, Maryland for fewer than 12,000. By Presidential order, tickets are sold only to resident within a 10-mile radius of the stadium.

Sports

Baseball: Just weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt declares, “it would be best for the country to keep baseball going.”

Popular Culture

Band leader Glenn Miller (1904-1944) receives the first ever gold record for selling a million copies of “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”

Religion

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) publishes "The Screwtape Letters," an extremely popular Christian novel.

Religion

Lloyd Douglas, a Lutheran clergyman, publishes "The Robe," a novel based on the New Testament.

Government

Immigration: The Magnuson Act of 1943 repeals the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, establishes quotas for Chinese immigrants, and makes them eligible for U.S. citizenship.

War

U.S. Army engineers complete the Pentagon building. This 5-sided building, headquarters of the Department of Defense, remains the largest office building in the world.

War

World War II: President Roosevelt (1882-1945) and Prime Minister Churchill (1874-1965) meet at the Casablanca Conference.

War

World War II: The Nazi siege of Leningrad is broken.U.S. bombers sink Japanese convoy of 22 ships at the Battle of Bismarck Sea.

War

World War II: U.S. naval and amphibious forces begin island-hopping operations in the Pacific, capturing key bases.

Science

The hallucinogenic drug LSD is first produced by Albert Hoffman (1906-?) at Sandoz Laboratory in Basil, Switzerland.

Science

50,000 scientists and aides, all conducting secret atomic research suddenly populate the tiny town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Medicine

Large-scale production of penicillin begins to meet the demand as the drug is being used to treat a variety of infectious diseases.

Medicine

Epidemics: An infantile paralysis (polio) epidemic kills 1151 people and cripples thousands more.

Inventions

Alvarez develops a radar-controlled bombsight.

Inventions

Polyethylene plastic is introduced.

Arts and Letters

American Theatre: Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960) begin their successful partnership when they produce the musical Oklahoma.

Arts and Letters

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), conductor and composer, becomes the assistant composer of the N.Y. Philharmonic.

Economics

The “Big Inch,” world’s longest oil pipeline, is dedicated. It is 1300 miles long and stretches from Texas to Pennsylvania.

Daily Life

Women in England are no longer required to wear hats in law courts.

Daily Life

Dancing: The jitterbug is the most popular dance.

Daily Life

The History of Toys: While searching for a suspension device to ease rough sailing on battleships, navy engineer Richard James discovers that a torsion spring will "walk" end over end when knocked over. James brought the discovery home to his wife, who named the new toy "Slinky."

Sports

The Detroit Red Wings win the last 4 games in the Stanley Cup finals, defeating the Boston Bruins 2-0 to become the National League Hockey Champions.

Sports

Women in Sports: In its June 14th issue, Time estimates there are 40,000 semi-pro women's softball teams in the US.

Sports

Women in Sports: Baseball: Philip K. Wrigley starts what will become the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the country’s only professional female league.

Religion

Public Education: U.S. Supreme Court reverses 1940 decision and holds that children cannot be required to salute the flag in school if their religion prohibits it; case brought to court by the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Politics

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) is reelected President for a fourth term; Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) is elected the nation's 34th Vice President on the same Democratic ticket.

Government

The Declaration of Independence and other historical documents, sent from Washington D.C., for safekeeping in December 1941, are again displayed at the Library of Congress.

War

World War II: U.S. planes bomb Berlin for the first time.

War

World War II: U.S. troops establish beachheads at Utah Beach and Omaha Beach during the Allied invasion of Western Europe (D-Day).

Science

Uranium pile is built in Oak Ridge Tennessee.

Medicine

Alfred Blalock (1899-1964) and Marie Taussig introduce a surgical technique for saving “blue babies.”

Medicine

Oswald Avery (1877-1955) proves that DNA is the genetic material responsible for heredity.

Medicine

Clarence C. Little proposes that cancer is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Medicine

DDT is used to control a typhus outbreak in Naples, Italy.

Medicine

Daniel Bovet (1907-1992) discovers the antihistamine pyrilamine.

Inventions

Silicone resins are introduced as insulation capable of withstanding very high temperatures.

Education

Higher Education: President Roosevelt (1882-1945) signs The Serviceman Readjustment Act (G.I. Bill of Rights), establishing benefits for veterans after the war. One of the chief benefits of the law is the provision of funds for college for returning servicemen and women, thus providing access to higher education for many who would not have been able to afford it otherwise, and, in fact, making the idea of a college education a "normal" one for the next generation of young people.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Jean Anouilh (1910-1987) completes the play Antigone.

Ideas

Von Neumann (1903-1957) publishes "Theory of Games and Economic Behavior."

Johnson, Lady Bird

Lynda Bird Robb (1944- ), daughter of Lyndon and Claudia Johnson, is born March 19.

Daily Life

Meat rationing ends, except for steak and choice cuts of beef.

Daily Life

Transportation: The first non-stop flight from London to Canada takes place.

Popular Culture

Bing Crosby (1903-1977) stars in the film, "Going My Way."

Popular Culture

The popular radio show, "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," debuts.

Popular Culture

Jimmy “Trump” Davidson’s Big Band introduces Dixieland Jazz to Canada.

Politics

The Arab League is founded in Cairo by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

Government

United Nations: The United Nations opens in San Francisco. Senate ratifies UN Charter by a vote of 89 to 2.

Government

The Medal of Freedom is established. It is awarded to civilians for meritorious acts or service.

Government

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) is inaugurated as President for a fourth term; Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) is inaugurated as the nation's 34th Vice President.

Government

Vice President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) becomes the nation's 33rd President upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945). No new Vice President is selected.

War

World War II: The Russians liberate the Auschwitz concentration camp, where the Nazis killed over 1.5 million people, including over 1 million Jews.

War

World War II: U. S. Marines raise the American flag on Iwo Jima.

War

World War II. The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan; the rationale is that it will shorten the war and save thousands of American and Japanese lives. Several days after the bombing, Japan surrenders, bringing World War II to an end.

War

World War II: The Yalta Agreement is signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965), and Soviet leader Josef Stalin (1879-1953).

War

World War II: World War II ends; cold war begins; Soviet Union becomes prime adversary of U.S; President Truman (1884-1972) pressured to take a hard-line on Communists, foreign and domestic.

Medicine

Woodward determines the chemical structure of penicillin by using a spectroscope.

Medicine

Spies proves that folic acid (a B-vitamin) is necessary for proper development of red blood cells.

Technology

Railroad History: The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, uses the first railroad car with an observation dome. The dome is 19.5 feet long and extends the full width of the railroad car.

Technology

Weather radar is developed.

Education

Children's Books: E.B. White (1899-1985) publishes the children’s classic Stuart Little.

Arts and Letters

Drama: Sartre (1905-1980) writes the play "No Exit."

Roosevelt, Eleanor

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), 32nd president of the United States, dies of a massive cerebral hemorrhage at his home in Warm Springs, Georgia.

Economics

FCC sets aside 13 channels for commercial broadcasting.

Daily Life

Rationing of shoes, butter, and tires ends.

Daily Life

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), Italian dictator and ally of Nazi Germany, is executed.

Daily Life

German dictator Adolph Hitler (1889-1945), and his newly married mistress, Eva Braun (1912-1945), commit suicide in his Berlin bunker.

Daily Life

Anne Frank (1929-1945), the Dutch Jewish teenager who kept a diary of her wartime experiences, dies at 15 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany.

Popular Culture

Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993) organizes an orchestra featuring the “bop” style of jazz.

Popular Culture

Popular radio shows include: "The Red Skeleton Show," "The Green Hornet," "Superman," "Inner Sanctum," "The Fred Allen Show," "One Man’s Family," and "Queen for a Day."

Religion

Italian writer Carlo Levi (1902-1975) causes a sensation with his novel "Christ Stopped at Eboli."

Social Issues

Immigration: The War Bride Act and the G.I. Fiancées Act allows immigration of foreign-born wives, fiancé(e)s, husbands, and children of U.S. armed forces personnel.

Reform

Women''s Suffrage Movement: Women win the vote in France.

Law

Chief Justices: President Harry S. Truman nominates Fred M. Vinson as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; the Senate confirms his nomination and he serves for seven years until his death in 1953.

Politics

McCarthy Era: November 1946 -- Joseph R. McCarthy (1908-1957)is first elected Senator from Wisconsin, defeating progressive titan Robert Lafollette (1855-1925). Richard Nixon (1913-1994) is elected Congressmen from Whittier, CA. The Democrats lose 12 Senate seats and 55 House seats.

Government

League of Nations: (April 18) The League transfers all its assets to the United Nations. Contract signed by W. Moderow, representative of the League, and Sean Lester, the last Secretary-General of the League of Nations.

Government

United Nations: The first General Assembly of the United Nations convenes in London.

Government

Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) is elected president of North Viet Nam.

Government

The United Nations accepts an $8.5 million donation from John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937) to purchases the site for the new UN headquarters in New York City.

War

The Army and Navy are permitted to manufacture atomic weapons.

War

Chinese Communists tell the U.S. to stop supplying arms to the Nationalist Chinese Party. The U.S. gives up trying to mediate the civil war in China.

War

Cold War: Churchill (1874-1965) delivers a speech in Fulton, Missouri, warning about Soviet expansion and coining the phrase the “Iron Curtain.” This marks the beginning of the “Cold War.”

Science

Carbon-12, and isotope is discovered.

Science

The Atomic Energy Commission is established.

Inventions

Printed circuits are developed.

Technology

Computer Technology: A computer begins working at the University of Pennsylvania, taking seconds to do calculations that normally take hours. It is named ENIAC, or Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer.

Arts and Letters

Literature: Taylor Caldwell (1900-1985) publishes "This Side of Innocence."

Arts and Letters

Architecture: The “ranch-type” home becomes popular; many find the low-slung, single story homes very appealing.

Ideas

Lemaitre (1894-1966) publishes "Hypothesis of the Primeval Atom."

Nixon, Pat

Tricia Nixon Cox (1946- ), daughter of Richard and Patricia Nixon, is born February 21.

Bush, Barbara

George Walker Bush (1946- ), son of George and Barbara Bush, is born July 6.

Discovery

Byrd (1888-1957) leads an expedition to the North Pole.

Daily Life

Mikhail Botvinnik (1911-1995) of the U.S.S.R. is considered the world’s finest chess player.

Daily Life

The government lifts most price and wage controls. U.S.

Daily Life

Disasters: An Army plane crashes into the Manhattan Company in New York City; 5 people are killed.

Sports

Women’s Firsts: Women in Sports: Edith Houghton becomes the first woman hired as a major-league baseball scout.

Popular Culture

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) directs the film Notorious.

Popular Culture

Irving Berlin (1888-1989) writes the score for the Broadway musical, "Annie Get Your Gun."

Religion

Mother Frances X. Cabrini (1850-1917) is canonized; she is the first U.S. citizen to become a saint in the Catholic Church.

Religion

Women’s Firsts: Mother Maria Frances Cabrini (1850-1917) is canonized by Pope Pius XII. She is the first U.S. citizen (she was born in Italy) to become a saint.

Reform

Women''s Suffrage Movement: Women win the vote in Italy.

Reform

The strike by the United Mine Workers begins. President Truman seizes the mines after employers reject the government’s negotiated contract.