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Economic growth came because of the increased use of oil and electricity. The manufacturing process was made more efficient by the adoption of improved methods of mass production.
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The League of Nations is established by the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles, ending the hostilities of the first World War.
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Women get the right to vote. U.S. grants universal women' suffrage.
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Warren Harding increased the tariff rates under the Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act of 1922.
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Millions of people invested in the boom market of 1928- and millions lost their money in October 1929, when it collapsed. Other reasons were the uneven distribution of income, stock market, speculation, excessive use of credit, overproduction of consumer goods, weak farm economy, government policies, and global economic problems.
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The Great Depression's influenced American thinking and policies. Various economic statistics serve as indicators that track the health of a nation's economy. By 1933, the number of unemployed had reached 13 million people. The crash ended the Republican domination of government.
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In June, 1930 the president signed into law a schedule of tariff rates that was the highest in history. It set tax increases ranging from 31 percent to 49 percent on foreign imports.
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The depression's worst year happened to be a presidential election year. Democrats vs Republicans. Republicans renominated Hoover, while Democrats nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt. The winner was FDR. FDR an only child from a wealthy New York family. While the presidential campaign he was governor of New York.
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FDR kept a campaign promise to enact the repeal of Prohibition and also raise tax money by having Congress pass the Bear-Wine Revenue Act.
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This act authorized the president to prohibit all arm shipments and to forbid U.S. citizens to travel on ships of all belligerent nations.
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This act forbade the extension of loans and credits to belligerents.
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This act forbade the shipment of arms to the opposing sides in the civil war in Spain.
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Hitler broke Munich agreement by sending troops to occupy all of Czechoslovakia.
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German tanks and planes began a full-scale invasion of Poland. Keeping their pledge, Britain and France declared war against Germany. World War II in Europe had begun.
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Roosevelt pushed neutrality back one more step by persuading Congress to enact a law for compulsory military service. This act provided for the registration of all American men between the ages of 21 and 35 and for the training of 1.2 million troops in one year.
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By December 1941, the battlefront in Europe had shifted from the west to the east. Breaking his nonaggression pact with Stalin, Hitler had ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union.
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Roosevelt proposed ending the cash-and-carry requirement of the Neutrality Act and permitting Britain to obtain all the U.S. arms it needed on credit.
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Japanese planes from aircraft carriers flew over Peal Harbor bombing every ship in sight. The American people were stunned by the attack on Pearl Harbor.
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Congress acted immediately by declaring war, with only one dissenting vote. Three days later, Germany and Italy honored their treaty with Japan by declaring war on the U.S.
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Early in 1942, the War Production Board (WPB) was established to manage war industries.
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On August 6, an A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, and on August 9, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. About 250,000 Japanese died.
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North Africa is invaded by the United States and Great Britain.
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The United States encounters its first major defeat in the European theater of World War II at the Battle for Kasserine Pass in Tunisia.
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U.S. industries did a booming business, far exceeding their production and profits of the 1920s. The depression was over, vanquised at last by the coming of war.
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Delegates from 50 nations assembled in San Francisco, where they took only eight weeks to draft a charter for the UN. The Senate quickly voted to accept U.S. involvement in the UN.
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The Atomic Energy Commission is established.