• US Geological survey says US oil supply would be depleted in 20 years

    US Geological survey says US oil supply would be depleted in 20 years
    January 19
    US Geological survey says US oil supply would be depleted in 20 years
  • Treaty

    A treaty limiting naval armament is signed by the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan. The limits set for total tonnage of major naval ships are: USA 525,000, Great Britain 525,000, France 175,000, Italy 175,000, Japan 315,000.
  • USS Langley

    USS Langley
    March 20
    The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
  • Bell

    August 4
    13 million telephones in the U.S. and Canada go dead as the Bell System shuts down all its switchboards and switching stations at 6:25PM for one minute, in memory of Alexander Graham Bell.
  • US signs friendship treaty with Central American countries

    February 2
    US signs friendship treaty with Central American countries
  • US foreign minister Charles Hughes refuses USSR recognition

    March 21
    US foreign minister Charles Hughes refuses USSR recognition.
  • Hitler

    Hitler
    April 10
    Adolf Hitler demands "hatred and more hatred" in Berlin, Germany.
  • Insulin

    Insulin
    April 15
    Insulin first becomes generally available for use by diabetics.
  • Earthquake strikes

    September 1
    Earthquake strikes Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan; kills 106,000
  • USS Shenandoah

    USS Shenandoah
    September 4
    The first U.S. airship, the USS Shenandoah, makes its maiden flight
  • German-US friendship treaty signed.

    December 8
    German-US friendship treaty signed.
  • Greece becomes a republic.

    March 24
    Greece becomes a republic.
  • around-the-world flight

    April 6
    Four planes leave Seattle, Washington on attempt at around-the-world flight
  • Calvin Coolidge

    Calvin Coolidge
    March 4
    Calvin Coolidge is inaugurated as US President, broadcast live on 21 radio stations
  • Paul von Hindenburg

    Paul von Hindenburg
    April 25
    Paul von Hindenburg elected second President of Germany.
  • Pact of Locarno

    Pact of Locarno
    October 16
    In Locarno, Switzerland, the Pact of Locarno is signed by Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, France, Italy, Poland, and Czechslovakia. The nations agree to a mutual guarantee of existing borders, and to make peaceful settlements of disputes
  • US Senate agrees to join World Court.

    January 27
    US Senate agrees to join World Court.
  • First liquid-fueled rocket

    First liquid-fueled rocket
    March 16
    In Auburn, Massachusetts, USA, Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, which rises 41 feet, flies 2.5 seconds, travelling 184 feet
  • Hurricane

    September 18
    Hurricane hits Miami and south Florida, USA, destroying hotels, piers, marinas, mansions built in preceding years. 400 killed, 50,000 made homeless.
  • US restores diplomatic relations with Turkey.

    February 16
    US restores diplomatic relations with Turkey.
  • TV and Telephone Lines

    TV and Telephone Lines
    April 7
    Telephone lines are used for the first time to transmit a television signal, from Washington DC to New York City. The audience to the demonstration sees an image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover.
  • Charles Augustus Lindbergh

     Charles Augustus Lindbergh
    May 20
    At 7:52 AM, American pilot Charles Augustus Lindbergh takes off from New York in his Spirit of St. Louis Ryan monoplane to cross Atlantic for Paris.
  • TV

    TV
    September 7
    The first fully electronic television system is achieved by Philo Taylor Farnsworth in San Francisco, California, USA.
  • A.C.

    January 1
    First US air-conditioned office building opens, San Antonio, New Mexico.
  • Scotch tape

    Scotch tape
    January 31
    Scotch tape first marketed by 3-M Company.
  • Walt Disney's

    Walt Disney's
    May 15
    Walt Disney's first silent film featuring Mickey Mouse, Plane Crazy premieres as a sneak preview at a theatre on Sunset Boulevard, in Los Angeles, California.
  • The Pact of Paris

    The Pact of Paris (Kellogg-Briand Pact) is signed by the USA, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Poland. The countries condemn recourse to war, renouncing it as an instrument of national policy in relations with one another.
  • Steamboat Willie

    Steamboat Willie
    November 18
    The Colony Theater in New York debuts Disney's Mickey Mouse film Steamboat Willie. This is the sound debut of Mickey Mouse, with Minnie Mouse (unnamed) as co-star. The film is the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound.
  • Assassination Attempt

    December 11
    Buenos Aires (Argentina) police thwart an attempt on US President-elect Herbert Hoover.
  • Herbert Hoover inaugurated as 31st US President.

    Herbert Hoover inaugurated as 31st US President.
    March 4
    Herbert Hoover inaugurated as 31st US President.
  • First color TV

    June 27
    First color TV demonstration (New York City)
  • Treaty of Paris

    Treaty of Paris
    July 24
    The Treaty of Paris becomes effective, with 31 more countries signing compliance.
  • Great Depression

    October 29
    "Black Tuesday" New York stock market crashes, triggers "Great Depression"
  • First round-the-world radio broadcast

    June 30
    First round-the-world radio broadcast, Schenectady, New York.
  • Nevada legalizes casino gaming and most other forms of gambling.

    March 19
    Nevada legalizes casino gaming and most other forms of gambling.
  • Spanish voters reject the monarchy.

    April 12
    Spanish voters reject the monarchy.
  • Empire State Building

    Empire State Building
    May 1
    U.S. President Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City's Empire State Building. At 102 stories and 1,250 feet high it is the world's tallest skyscraper (a record held until 1972)
  • Huang He floods

    The Huang He floods kill between 850,000 and 4,000,000 people (the deadliest historic natural disaster).
  • Small things lead to bigger things.

    February 25
    Immigrant Adolf Hitler gets German citizenship.
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt
    November 8
    Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Democrat) elected President of US.
  • Franz von Papen

    January 4
    In an attempt to gain power, Franz von Papen makes a deal with Adolf Hitler and is able to have him appointed chancellor of Germany. Von Papen believed he would be able to control Hitler and the Nazis.
  • Adolf Hitler dissolves German Parliament

    February 2
    Two days after becoming chancellor, Adolf Hitler dissolves German Parliament. [1]
    Adolf Hitler meets with a group of generals and admirals at the home of General von Hammerstein. He assures them they could begin a rearmament program, in defiance of the Versailles Treaty.
  • Jewish students are barred from school in Germany

    April 26
    Jewish students are barred from school in Germany
  • Albert Einstein

    Albert Einstein
    October 17
    Albert Einstein arrives in the US, a refugee from Germany.
  • FM radio

    December 26
    FM radio is patented
  • Dust Bowl

    May 11
    Over two days, the most severe dust storm to date in the USA sweeps an estimated 350 million tons of topsoil from the Great Plains across to the eastern seaboard.
  • "Night of the Long Knives".

    In Germany, two days of officially instigated murders begin. Between 100 and 2000 opponents of Adolf Hitler are killed. Heinrich Himmler's Schutzstaffel (SS) kill mostly Sturm Abteilung (SA) leaders, including head Ernst Roehm. The period becomes known as the "Night of the Long Knives"..
  • re-armament

    March 16
    In Germany, Adolf Hitler denounces the disarmament clauses of the Versailles Treaty, and begins open re-armament and conscription of soldiers.
  • second neutrality act

    February 29
    US President Franklin Roosevelt signs second neutrality act.
  • Golden Gate Bridge

     Golden Gate Bridge
    May 27
    In California, the Golden Gate Bridge officially opens to pedestrian traffic.
  • German army,

    February 4
    Adolf Hitler announces a reorganization of the German army, abolishing the post of war minister, appointing General Wilhelm Keitel as chief of the armed forces high command (OKW), and appointing Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch as Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
  • German troops march into Austria

    March 12
    German troops march into Austria, annexing the country
  • The German government initiates civil defense measures.

    June 22
    The German government initiates civil defense measures.
  • The War of the Worlds

    The War of the Worlds
    October 30
    Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, causing a nationwide (USA) panic. About a million radio listeners believe that a real Martian invasion is underway.
  • Night of Broken Glass

    November 9
    (evening) Nazis terrorize Jews in Germany and Austria. Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues are looted and burned. 91 Jews are killed, and 20,000 are taken to concentration camps. This becomes known as Reichskristallnacht, Crystal Night, or Night of Broken Glass
  • The extermination of all European Jews.

    January 20
    Adolf Hitler proclaims to German parliament to exterminate all European Jews.
  • German troops occupy the Czech

    March 15
    German troops occupy the Czech parts of Bohemia and Moravia. [10]
    Czech president Emil Hacha accepts Adolf Hitler's demand to surrender the entire country. [10]
    German troops enter the capital of Czechoslovakia, Prague. Adolf Hitler declares "Czechoslovakia has ceased to exist".
  • telegram

    August 21
    Adolf Hitler reads a telegram from Josef Stalin, acknowledging agreement on a non-aggression pact. Hitler responds by banging his fist on the supper table, exclaiming "I have them! I have them!
  • Adolf Hitler orders German armed forces to begin an attack on Poland.

    August 30
    Adolf Hitler orders German armed forces to begin an attack on Poland.
  • Attack on Pearl Harbor

    Attack on Pearl Harbor
    The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' formal entry into World War II the next day