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The IBM is founded
The International Business Machines Corporation is an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, with operations in over 170 countries. -
The 18th Amendment goes into affect
Congress ratified the 18th Amendment, which prohibited the manufacturing, transportation, and sale of alcohol within the United States. -
The League of Nations is founded
The League of Nations was an organization for international cooperation established at the initiative of the victorious Allied Powers at the end of World War I. -
The 19th Amendment is ratified by Congress
The 19th Amendment, which stated that “the rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex,” passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the states for ratification. -
Warren G. Harding is elected president
Warren G. Harding was the 29th president until his death 2 years later in 1923 -
Congress enacts Emergency Quota Act.
The objective of this act was to temporarily limit the number of immigrants to the United States. Imposing quotas based on country of birth. Annual allowable quotas for each country of origin were calculated at 3 percent of the total number of foreign-born people. -
President Calvin Coolidge is elected president
John Calvin Coolidge Jr. was the 30th President of the United States. -
President Warren G. Harding dies
President Warren G. Harding died on August 2, 1923, of a Heart Attack -
The stock market begins its spectacular rise.National Origins Act replaces Emergency Quota Act.
Time was full of optimism, and people started to think that this stock market prosperity was permanent and had the power to pull out of the economic crises. -
Herbert Hoover is elected U.S. president.
Hoover was widely known for his alectio, potential presidential candidates long before the campaign of 1928. -
Black thursday
Black Thursday prompts the start of the stock market crash, which plunged the country and eventually the rest of the world into the depression. Immediately, the price of stocks drops by 11%, but with Wall Street bankers buying the stocks, only 2% was lost. -
The wall street crash
Sideways trading begins when the stock market plummets to the bottom. Unaware of the trouble coming, President Hoover states that: “Any lack of confidence in the economic future or the basic strength of business in the United States is foolish.” -
The Dust Bowl Begins
The Dust Bowl would soon become the worst drought in 300 years, with Hoover originally asking the American Red Cross to support those in need. Later on, as things got worse, Congress provided $65 million for food boxes, seed, and feed for farmers. -
Banks Start to Fail
November 7: Causing failures in associated banks in the days that followed, the Bank of Tennessee fails. Weaknesses in the banking system were having an effect on the economy as it was slowly growing, ultimately bringing it back down again. -
The Banks Fail
The fourth-largest bank in the United States, the Bank of the United States, fails, causing the biggest failure in a bank at the time. President Hoover then brought the top income tax rate up to 25% as he was concerned about budget deficits. When the bank collapsed, it had more than $200 million in deposits, which made it the largest bank failure in the history of the United States and was one of the hardest-hitting events during the Great Depression. -
President Roosevelt is Elected
In one of the key events in this Great Depression timeline, Democratic candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected President of the United States after defeating Herbert Hoover in a landslide victory. Roosevelt got 22,800,000 popular votes, compared to Hoover who got 15,750,000. -
The First Hundred Days and the New Deal
President Roosevelt begins his “first hundred days” in office, and 15 laws are introduced rapidly to begin tackling the Great Depression. -
Dust Storms and Droughts Continue
Known as Black Sunday, the worst dust storm hits the United States. In order to help farmers learn how to work sustainably, President Roosevelt introduced the Soil Conservation Act. -
Creation of the Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration is created by the Emergency Relief Appropriation, hiring 8.5 million people to help with the unemployment crisis. -
President Roosevelt Elected For a Second Term
By the end of the year, the heat waves experienced across the nation had killed 1,693 people, and while trying to keep cool, 3,500 more people drowned. -
Spending on New Deal Programs Cut
This year, President Roosevelt had the difficult task of having to manage the debt, but also trying to keep the economy out of the depression. In an attempt to relieve the country’s debt, he cut back spending on the New Deal programs, which ultimately pushed the economy back into the depression. In the end, after a $5 billion relief program was enacted by Congress, the economy grew by 5.1%. -
Economic Growth
The economy started to grow again this year, eventually bringing the country out of the Great Depression. However, unemployment rates were still extremely high. -
The Start of World War Two
With the invasion of Poland by Hitler and the start of the Second World War, President Roosevelt persuaded Congress to remove the military arms embargo on France and Britain to support them during the war.
From 1939 to 1941, when Pearl Harbour was attacked by the Japanese, manufacturing in the United States increased by 50%. -
Defence Budget Increased
As the war continued, the defence budget was increased by President Roosevelt, as well as the top income to 81%. -
United States Enters The War
When the United States entered the war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the country was finally able to get out of the Great Depression by mobilising for war. At the end of the Second World War, despite its devastating effects, the United States would emerge as the only economic superpower in the world. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima and the Nagasaki -
Yalta Conference
The meeting between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin was to decide what would happen at the end of the war. Topics discussed included – Partitioning of Germany
Fate of Poland
The United Nations
German reparations -
Truman Doctrine
President Truman promised to help any country facing a Communist takeover -
Berlin Blockade
Russia’s response to the merger of the French, USA, and UK partitions of Berlin was to cut all road and rail links to that sector. This meant that those living in Western Berlin had no access to food supplies and faced starvation. Food was brought to Western Berliners by US and UK airplanes, an exercise known as the Berlin Airlift. -
Death of Stalin
Joseph Stalin died at the age of 74. He was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
A US spy plane reported sighting the construction of a Soviet nuclear missile base in Cuba. President Kennedy set up a naval blockade and demanded the removal of the missiles. War was averted when the Russians agreed on 28th October to remove the weapons. The United States agreed not to invade Cuba. -
JFK Assassination
JF Kennedy was assassinated while on a visit to Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder, but there has always been speculation that he was not a lone killer and that there may have been communist or CIA complicity.