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Selective Service Act
The Selective Service Acts, instituted in 1917 (May 17) by President Woodrow Wilson, created the selective service system. The selective service system was a draft system for WW1 that in the beginning targeted male citizens between the ages of 21-30. It was later expanded to all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 -45.The selective service system was used to increase the manpower during the war in times of need. It managed to get 2.8 million men into the army. -
18th Amendment
The 18th amendment was a federal prohibition of alcohol. The amendment emerged as a repercussion of the temperance movement. It was later repelled by the 22nd amendment. -
Harlem Renaisance
The Harlem Renaissance was the development of the Harlem neighborhood in New York City as a black cultural mecca in the early 20th Century and the subsequent social and artistic explosion that resulted. Lasting roughly from the 1910s through the mid-1930s, the period is considered a golden age in African American culture, manifesting in literature, music, stage performance and art. -
19th Amendment
The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. The amendment came from the women's suffrage movement. Wilson proposed suffrage amendment to America’s involvement in World War I and the increased role women had played in the war efforts. -
Emergency Quota Act
The objective of this act was to temporarily limit the numbers of immigrants to the United States by imposing quotas based on country of birth. Annual allowable quotas for each country of origin were calculated at 3% of the total number of foreign-born persons from that country recorded in the 1910 United States Census.Exceptions to the quotas were made for government official, tourists or temporary workers, immigrants from countries in the Western hemisphere, and children of US citizens. -
Sacco and Vanzetti Trial
On April 15, 1920, a paymaster for a shoe company in South Braintree, Massachusetts, was shot and killed along with his guard. The murderers, who were described as two Italian men. Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested and charged with the crime. On July 14, 1921, they were convicted and sentenced to die. -
Publication of The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby rejected war and criticized 1920 consumerism and conformity. The Great Gatsby was a major book during WWII and later became included in American High School ciriculum. -
John Scopes Trial
The Scopes Trial, AKA the Scopes Monkey Trial, was the 1925 prosecution of John Scopes for teaching evolution in a public school, which a recent bill had made illegal. The trial featured William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow as opposing attorneys. The trial was viewed as an opportunity to challenge the constitutionality of the bill, to publicly advocate for the legitimacy of Darwin’s theory of evolution, and to enhance the profile of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). -
Flight of Charles Lindbergh
Lindbergh, at the age of 25, and the Spirit of St. Louis took off from a muddy runway at Long Island’s Roosevelt Field on the morning of May 20, 1927. the first person to fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean in his monoplane, Spirit of St. Louis. The name of the plane was in honor of his fincial backers. -
The Jazz Singer
American musical film, released in 1927, that was the first feature-length movie with synchronized dialogue. It marked the ascendancy of “talkies” and the end of the silent-film era. The film is most noted for its use of blackface. -
Hoover Elected
Republican Herbert Hoover defeated Democrat Alfred E. Smith in the electoral college. America was divided between Herbert Hoover who was a Republican, Protestant, for prohibition, native-born, and a self-made million committed to business and volunteerism. on the other hand, there was Alfred Smith who was a Democrat, Catholic, "wet", of immigrant parents and rose through Tammany hall to NY Governor. -
St. Valentines day Massacre
Al Capone sought to consolidate control by eliminating his rivals in the illegal trades of bootlegging, gambling and prostitution. This rash of gang violence reached its bloody climax in a garage on the city’s North Side on February 14, 1929, when seven men associated with the Irish gangster George “Bugs” Moran, one of Capone’s longtime enemies, were shot to death by several men dressed as policemen. -
Black Tuesday
In September 1929, stock prices began to fall. Panic set in, and on October 24, Black Thursday, a record 12,894,650 shares were traded. Investment companies and leading bankers attempted to stabilize the market by buying up great blocks of stock, producing a moderate rally on Friday. On Black Tuesday, stock prices collapsed completely and marked the beginning of the Great Depression. -
Empire State Building Built
Construction began on March 7, 1930, with 3,000 workers building 4.5 floors per week. At completion, it becomes the tallest building in the world. Provided jobs to workers during the depression. -
Hoover Dam Construction
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation devised plans for a massive dam on the Arizona-Nevada border to tame the Colorado River and provide water and hydroelectric power for the developing Southwest. The largest dam in the world at the time of its completion in 1935, this National Historic Landmark stores enough water in Lake Mead to irrigate 2 million acres. The dam provided jobs to the group WPA. -
Bonus Army March
gathering of 12,000 to 15,000 World War I veterans who converged on Washington, D.C. They demanding immediate bonus payment for wartime services to alleviate the economic hardship of the Great Depression. There was a development of bonus army camps where the veterans lived. -
FDR first Election
Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican Pres. Herbert Hoover. The 1932 election was the first held during the Great Depression. It represented a dramatic shift in the political alignment of the country. FDR's biggest part of his campaign was the New Deal. -
Hitler Elected Chancellor of Germany
President Paul von Hindenburg names Adolf Hitler, leader or fÜhrer of the National Socialist German Workers Party (or Nazi Party), as chancellor of Germany.Hitler channeled popular discontent with the post-war Weimar government into support for his fledgling Nazi party. In an election held in July 1932, the Nazis won 230 governmental seats; together with the Communists, the next largest party, they made up over half of the Reichstag. -
FDR's first 100 days in office
He signed a record of 15 major pieces of legislation in his first 100 days of office. He used his fireside chat to talk to the public about what was occurring during his administration. Roosevelt was also able to help stop the banking crisis and begin to pull the US out of the Great Depression. -
FDIC Passed
The FDIC was created in response to the fall of the banking system and economy collapse during the Great Depression. The Banking Act of 1933, which created the FDIC, was signed by President Roosevelt on June 16, 1933.The goal of the FDIC to insure bank deposits and reduce the economic disruptions caused by bank failures. -
21st Amendment
Officially repealed federal prohibition, which had been enacted through the Eighteenth Amendment. it is the only amendment that has specifically repealed another amendment. it is the only amendment that has used the auxiliary method of ratification via state conventions rather than the legislatures of the states. -
US Securities And Exchange Commission
U.S. regulatory commission established by Congress in 1934 after the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency investigated the New York Stock Exchange’s operations. The commission’s purpose was to restore investor confidence by ending misleading sales practices and stock manipulations that led to the collapse of the stock market in 1929. It prohibited the buying of stock without adequate funds to pay for it, provided for the registration and supervision of securities markets, and etc. -
National Labor Relations Act
Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in 1935 to protect the rights of employees and employers, to encourage collective bargaining, and to curtail certain private sector labor and management practices, which can harm the general welfare of workers, businesses and the U.S. economy. Was enacted in response to the Great Depression. Was signed into law by FDR. -
Social Security Act Passed
It guaranteed an income for the unemployed and retirees. FDR commended Congress for what he considered to be a “patriotic” act. The Social Security Act (SSA) was in keeping with his other “New Deal” programs, including the establishment of the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, which attempted to hoist America out of the Great Depression by putting Americans back to work. -
Neutrality Act
On August 9, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Neutrality Act or Senate Joint Resolution No. 173. It declared that the US wouldn't get involved in any of the foreign affairs between other nations. This was in response to the beginning of wwII, and rise of fascist powers. -
Hindenburg Disaster
The airship Hindenburg, the largest dirigible ever built and the pride of Nazi Germany, bursts into flames upon touching its mooring mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 passengers and crewmembers.The rigid airship, often known as the “zeppelin” after the last name of its innovator, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, was developed by the Germans in the late 19th century.The airship was filled with highly flamable hydrogen gas which is vulnerable to explosion. -
Golden Gate Bridge Completion
The Golden Gate Bridge is an iconic structure connecting the city of San Francisco to Marin County, California. It spans almost two miles across the Golden Gate, the narrow strait where San Francisco Bay opens to meet the Pacific Ocean. Given the chance for steady employment amid the Great Depression, construction crews braved treacherous conditions as the roadway and towers took shape over open water. -
Germany invade Poland
German forces bombard Poland on land and from the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. By ignoring the Munich Pact. World War II had begun.The German invasion of Poland was a primer on how Hitler intended to wage war–what would become the “blitzkrieg” strategy. -
Lend Lease Act
The Lend-Lease Act was the principal means for providing U.S. military aid to foreign nations during World War II. The act authorized the president to transfer arms or any other defense materials. By allowing the president to transfer war material to Britain–and without payment as required by the Neutrality Act of 1939–the act enabled the British to keep fighting until events led America into the conflict. -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese conducted a surprise aerial attack on Pearl Harbor, a US naval base in Oahu Island, Hawaii. The US by late 1941 had ended almost all commercial and financial relations with Japan. The attack destroyed or damaged 350 aircraft, sunk or badly damaged 8 battleships, more than 3400 US Military casualties. The attack crippled our naval and air supply. Led to the US declaring war on Japan, and was the reason for the US to enter WWII. -
D-Day
Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. From this day on, Germany was no longer fighting an offensive war. -
concentration camps liberated
The Soviets liberated Auschwitz, the largest killing center and concentration camp, in January 1945. US forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany, on April 11, 1945, a few days after the Nazis began evacuating the camp.British forces liberated concentration camps in northern Germany, including Neuengamme and Bergen-Belsen. -
Yalta Conference
The February 1945 Yalta Conference was the second wartime meeting of Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt. During the conference, the three leaders agreed to demand Germany’s unconditional surrender and began plans for a post-war world. Stalin also agreed to permit free elections in Eastern Europe and to enter the Asian war against Japan, for which he was promised the return of lands lost to Japan in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima was described as the most heavily fortified area in the history of warfare. Iwo Jima's terrain lent itself to the defense. The raising of the American flag over Mount Suribachi on February 23 was photographed by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press, and it became one of the famous images of the entire war. -
FDR Death
On April 12, 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passes away. He died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage. After four momentous terms in office, he left Vice President Harry S. Truman in charge of a country still fighting the Second World War and in possession of a weapon of unprecedented and terrifying power. -
Victory in Europe Day (VE Day)
Was the day German gave unconditional surrender in WWII. However, this was only the end of the fighting in Europe. Unconditional surrender means that the surrendering party can not negotiate in the terms of surrender. -
Hiroshima bombing
On August 6, 1945, The US dropped an atomic bomb (little boy) on Hiroshima and immediately killed roughly 70,000 people. Hiroshima housed around 280,000-290,000 civilians as well as 43,000 soldiers. The US was the first and only country to ever use an atomic bomb in history. -
Nagasaki Bombing
The second bomb (Fat Man) dropped, was on Nagasaki and immediately killed between 35,000 and 40,000 people. On the day of the bombing, an estimated 263,000 were in Nagasaki, including 240,000 Japanese residents, 9,000 Japanese soldiers, and 400 prisoners of war. This bombing triggered Japan to surrender. -
Victory Over Japan Day (VJ Day)
August 14, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender to the allies. This day officially ended WWII. Japan’s formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. -
United Nations Established
The United Nations (UN) was the second multipurpose international organization established in the 20th century that was worldwide in scope and membership.In addition to maintaining peace and security, other important objectives include developing friendly relations among countries based on respect for the principles of equal rights and self-determination of peoples. The UN is similar to the League of Nations in purpose, structure, and function, but its objectives are very different.
