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KDKA in Pittsburgh
This was the first commercial radio station. It first premiered on November 2, 1920 to relay the election results in the race for presidency. This station would be the first of thousnads that would come within the next decade and on. With its first broadcast, it ushered in a quicker way for news to be spread and a time where radios would become one of the best pieces for entertainment and news in family's homes. -
The 19th Ammendment is adopted and Prohibition begins
The 19th Ammendment signified that women would be able to play a larger role in government, in electing officials and eventually taking up positions in government, and in society, as they would begin to lose the stereotypes that men had of them, and change roles. Prohibition, an effect of the 18th ammendment, brought in an increased crime rate in large cities, specifically in the crime of selling, transporting, and making illegal alcoholic beverages, and an increase in public drinking for women. -
Congress Enacts Emergnecy Quota Act
Also known as the Emergency Immigration Act, restricted the amount of European immigrants coming into the United States. It limited the immigration rate from any country to the United States to 3% annually. This was important because now native born Americans would not have as rough as a time finding work because not as many immigrants were coming into the country and taking a large number of jobs, and helped level out the political power of immigrant groups. -
Boll Weevil Ruins more than 85% of South's Cotton Crops
The Boll Weevil is a type of seemingly indestructible beetle. As it was spreading in the South, and destroying cotton crops and farms, it greatly affected the success of the South. The South still depended greatly on cotton, and as it was being destroyed by the beetles, caused business and cotton farming families to go bankrupt. -
The stock market begins its spectacular rise
It was a time of hope and prosperity for the people and business and government, but it did cause people to believe that they were indesctructible in their stock market prosperity. People recieved more income and spent more on stocks which continued to help the economy grow. -
National Origins Act replaces Emergency Quota Act.
It replaced the Emergency Quota Act by lowering the annual percentage of new immigrants to 2% for each country of origin in southern and eastern Europe, and Africans. This excluded Asians, as they were banned from immigrating to the United States, as were Arabs, and Indians. -
Scopes trial takes place in Dayton, Tennessee.
Commonly known as the Scopes Monkey Trial, it was a legal case in which a substitute teacher in Tennessee was charged with violating the Butler Act, which made it unlawful human evolution in state-funded schools. It was purposely staged to bring attention to where the case was held, Dayton Tennessee. He was found guilty and fined, but through it all, it was truly a battle between modernists and fundamentalists. -
Ku Klux Klan members stage a major march through Washington, D.C.
On this day, 50,000-60,000 men and women, members of the Ku Klux Klan, marched down the streets of Washington D.C. It was meant, and suceeded, in proving to the nation that the membership for the Klan was not decreasing but increasing in size. It also was also one of the first large showing of racism in the 20th century, to be marched in the nation's capital. -
Langston Hughes publishes “The Weary Blues.”
This was Langston Hughes' first book of poems. It won many awards and gained much support and interest of all races of people. It quickly gained the interest of people, especially those who loved the time of the Harlem Renaissance, because it had been written more lyrical than poetry had ever been before. It was also a book that not only explained the experiences the Hughes went through, but the African American race went through as a whole. -
Charles Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic.
It was the first flight across the Atlantic alone. Beginning on Long Island, New York, and landing in Paris, Lindbergh flew the previously impossible thirty three and one half hours, 3,500 mile flight to Paris, and in the process, inspired people and showed them that nothing was impossible. It was one of the longest flights and first advancements in aviation, with it being the first solo flight over the Atlantic. -
Sacco and Vanzetti are executed.
Anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed for murder after shooting and killing a paymaster in Massachusets and escaping with more than $15,000. The murderers were described as two Italian men, and when they came to claim a car connected to the crime, they were arrested and found guilty, sentenced to death, even when they were convicted with little eveidence. When the true killer stepped forward, they were not released because of their beliefs and anti-Italian prejudices. -
Herbert Hoover is elected U.S. president.
Republican candidate Hoover beat Democrat Al Smith in the election for presidency. He was in office when the stock market crashed and thousands of people struggled daily in 1929, and was bore the blame of many Americans for not taking quicker action to recognize and address the growing depression.
