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Dr. James Naismith, a physical education professor and instructor at the International Young Men's Christian Association Training School (YMCA) in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, invents an entirely new indoor game using a soccer ball and two peach baskets as goals (Basketball) while trying to keep his gym class active on a rainy day.
https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1890to1899.html -
The first Ellis Island Immigration Station was officially opened. That first day, three large ships were waiting to land, and 700 immigrants passed through Ellis Island. In the first year, nearly 450,000 immigrants passed through the Island. https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1890to1899.html -
For the first several years of its existence, Coke was only available as a fountain drink, and its producer saw no reason for that to change. It was not until March 12, 1894 that Coke was first sold in bottles.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/coca-cola-sold-in-glass-bottles-for-first-time -
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 24, 1896, the namesake and second cousin three times removed of the author of the National Anthem. https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/university_libraries/browse/irvin_dept_special_collections/collections/matthew_arlyn_bruccoli_collection_of_f_scott_fitzgerald/life_of_fitzgerald/index.php -
The first World Series ever played was a best-of-nine competition, and after seven games, it was Boston with four wins and Pittsburgh with three. https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-13-1903-big-bill-dinneen-leads-boston-to-a-triumph-in-first-modern-world-series/#:~:text=Menu%20Menu-,October%2013%2C%201903%3A%20Big%20Bill%20Dinneen%20leads%20Boston%20to%20a,in%20first%20modern%20World%20Series&text=The%20first%20World%20Series%20ever,wins%20and%20Pittsburgh%20with%20three. -
An earthquake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, shook the town of San Francisco, California and thirty thousand homes were either partially or wholly destroyed and an estimated 3,000 were reported dead. The earthquake caused large parts of the city to burn and it had taken 2 days of constant firefighting to stop the spread and bring the fires under control.
https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1900to1909.html -
The first-ever running of the Indianapolis 500 is won by Ray Harrounat at an average speed of 74.59 miles an hour. https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1910to1919.html -
The Titanic sets sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. The Titanic had been described as the world's most luxurious floating hotel which is unsinkable and was only 5 days out when she hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic with the loss of many lives. https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1910to1919.html -
In 1913, Fitzgerald entered Princeton University with the Class of 1917, beginning a period that would permanently shape his life and work. https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/biography/f-scott-fitzgerald/bio/princeton-years#:~:text=Fitzgerald%20attended%20prep%20schools%20in,shape%20his%20life%20and%20work. -
The 16th Amendment was ratified on February 3rd, 1913, and said that Congress had been given the power to collect taxes on income without regard for a census or enumeration. Interestingly, the Supreme Court declared the apportionment unconstitutional in 1894. 'No taxation without representation'. https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1910to1919.html -
World War I, also known as the Great War, began in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. His murder catapulted into a war across Europe that lasted until 1918. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/world-war-i-history -
A German torpedo sinks the British Ocean liner Lusitania off the Irish coast, killing nearly 1,200 people. https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1910to1919.html -
Fitzgerald achieved fame almost overnight with the 1920 publication of his first novel, This Side of Paradise. The novel, which draws heavily upon his years at Princeton, tells the story of a young man’s quest for fulfillment in love and career. https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/september-24/#:~:text=Fitzgerald%20achieved%20fame%20almost%20overnight,fulfillment%20in%20love%20and%20career. -
F. Scott Fitzgerald married Zelda Sayre on April 3, 1920. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zelda-Fitzgerald -
The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote, a right known as women’s suffrage, and was ratified on August 18, 1920, ending almost a century of protest. https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/19th-amendment-1 -
When Zelda Fitzgerald became pregnant they took their first trip to Europe in 1921 and then settled in St. Paul for the birth of their only child, Frances Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald, who was born on October 26, 1921. https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/university_libraries/browse/irvin_dept_special_collections/collections/matthew_arlyn_bruccoli_collection_of_f_scott_fitzgerald/life_of_fitzgerald/index.php -
The Beautiful and Damned, first published by Scribner's in 1922, is F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel. It portrays the Eastern elite during the Jazz Age, exploring New York café society. As in Fitzgerald's other novels, the characters are complex, especially with respect to marriage and intimacy. https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Damned-F-Scott-Fitzgerald/dp/1503295354#:~:text=The%20Beautiful%20and%20Damned%2C%20first,exploring%20New%20York%20caf%C3%A9%20society. -
Armstrong joined the jazz band in Chicago. He made his first recordings with Oliver on April 5, 1923; that day, he earned his first recorded solo on "Chimes Blues." https://www.biography.com/musicians/louis-armstrong -
The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Great-Gatsby/F-Scott-Fitzgerald/9781982146702#:~:text=The%20Great%20Gatsby%2C%20Fitzgerald's%20third,acclaimed%20by%20generations%20of%20readers. -
The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from the stock market crash of 1929 to 1939. https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/great-depression-history -
Tender Is the Night, is a semiautobiographical novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1934. It is the story of a psychiatrist who marries one of his patients; as she slowly recovers, she exhausts his vitality until he is, in Fitzgerald’s words, un homme épuisé (“a used-up man”). https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tender-Is-the-Night -
The instability created in Europe by the First World War (1914-18) set the stage for another international conflict—World War II—which broke out two decades later and would prove even more devastating. Rising to power in an economically and politically unstable Germany, Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party, rearmed the nation and signed strategic treaties with Italy and Japan to further his ambitions of world domination. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-history -
He had started writing again - scripts, short-stories, and the first draft of a new novel about Hollywood - when he suffered a heart attack and died December 21, 1940, at age 44, a failure in his mind. http://www.pbs.org/kteh/amstorytellers/bios.html -
The Last Tycoon, an unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was published posthumously in 1941. As edited by the literary critic Edmund Wilson, it contained six completed chapters, an abridged conclusion, and some of Fitzgerald’s notes. The work is an indictment of Hollywood, where Fitzgerald had had a disappointing career as a screenwriter. https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Last-Tycoon-novel-by-Fitzgerald -
Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, that was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor