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William Harding's presidency is most famous for its corruption. The Teapot Dome Scandal occurred during his presidency and was an event in which Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall took bribes from owners of oil companies in exchange for leasing them land in the Teapot Dome reserve in Wyoming. Similarly, in the Veteran's Bureau scandal, director Charles Forbes sold supplies meant for veterans to private businesses for a profit. Harding died on August 2nd, 1923, before completing his term.
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Alexander Fleming discovered mold growth on his staphylococcus cultures on September 3rd, 1928. In 1929, he published his discovery, which would later be developed into the lifesaving antibiotic penicillin.
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President Hoover is most well remembered as a harsh, inefficient leader for his actions (and inaction) during his presidency. After Hoover fired on a group of World War I veterans who had gathered in D.C. to demand their stipends, he never regained face. Furthermore, Hoover's conservative response to the Great Depression caused the public to perceive him as an inefficient leader. The American public voted to replace Hoover with Franklin Roosevelt in the 1932 election.
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On Black Tuesday, October 29th, 1929, the stock market crashed, spurring a panic among Americans. This would mark the beginning of over ten years of economic hardship, which would only be resolved by America's entry into World War II in 1941.
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In 1931, Japan began its invasion of Manchuria, which ended on February 27th, 1932. The Japanese brutally mistreated the Chinese populace and are remembered for the "Rape of Nanking," the invasion of Nanking in which tens of thousands of women were raped and the city was sacked. Furthermore, Japan founded the Pigfan Institute for Unit 731 in 1939, which was tasked with exterminating the Chinese through the use of bioweapons such as anthrax, gas gangrene, and plague-ridden flea bombs.
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FDR assumed office in 1933 and carried out his New Deal programs. He is known for creating the Social Security Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, and Civilian Conservation Corps. The purpose of these administrations was to provide pensions for retired people, construct infrastructure, and provide young men with employment, respectively. Roosevelt guided America through World War II and oversaw the Manhattan Project's development of the atomic bomb until his death on April 12, 1945.
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In 1936, Germany began development of the V-2 Rocket in 1936 under Wernher von Braun.
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The Kristallnacht pogrom was a major act of violence committed by the Nazis against the Jewish community. In English, "Kristallnacht" is often translated as the "Night of Broken Glass." This was the name given to the anti-Jewish pogrom because Nazis smashed the windows of Jewish shops, synagogues, and homes across Germany while lighting many of them on fire. At least 30,000 Jews were arrested, 91 were killed, and many others were sent to concentration camps such as Dachau or Buchenwald.
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On September 1st, 1939, Adolf Hitler invaded Poland and began World War II. Two days later, England and France declared war on Germany after practicing nearly a decade of appeasement. By 1939, Hitler had already annexed Austria and the Sudetenland and showed no signs of stopping.
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On a "date which will live in infamy," the Japanese carried out a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. This attack claimed the lives of approximately 2,500 American service members and civilians. In the wake of this event, Congress declared war on Germany four days later.