TimeToast Timeline of the 1920s

  • Henry Ford perfects mass production

    Henry Ford perfects mass production

    This innovation significantly reduced the time it took to build a car, from over 12 hours to about 90 minutes, by dividing the process into simple, repetitive tasks and using a conveyor belt to move the product to the workers.
  • The Palmer Raids

    The Palmer Raids

    The first series of raids were launched, leading to the arrest of about 200 radicals.
  • Prohibition begins

    Prohibition begins

    Prohibition began at midnight on January 17, 1920, when the 18th Amendment went into effect, banning the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States
  • Women gain the right to vote

    Women gain the right to vote

    In the United States, women gained the right to vote nationwide on August 26, 1920, when the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was officially certified.
  • Sacco and Vanzetti are convicted

    Sacco and Vanzetti are convicted

    Sacco and Vanzetti were convicted of murder on July 14, 1921, and executed on August 23, 1927. Their trial began on May 31, 1921, after their arrest on May 5, 1920, for the April 15, 1920, robbery and murder at a shoe factory in South Braintree, Massachusetts.
  • Teapot Dome Scandal

    Teapot Dome Scandal

    Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall secretly grants exclusive drilling rights to the Teapot Dome oil reserves to Harry F.
  • Harlem Renaissance begins

    Harlem Renaissance begins

    which brought together Black writers and white editors, marking a significant moment for literary recognition.
  • Kellogg-Briand pact signed

    Kellogg-Briand pact signed

    the instruments of ratification were deposited in Washington, D.C.. The treaty, which renounced war as an instrument of national policy, was ratified by President Calvin Coolidge for the United States on January 17, 1929.
  • Scopes trial

    Scopes trial

    Tennessee's Butler Act was signed into law, to its conclusion on July 21, 1925, with the verdict and fine for John Scopes. The trial itself took place from July 10 to July 21 in Dayton, Tennessee.
  • Charles Lindberg Crosses the Atlantic

    Charles Lindberg Crosses the Atlantic

    when he took off from Long Island, NY, in the Spirit of St. Louis. He landed in Paris, France, on May 21, 1927, after a flight lasting 33 hours and 30 minutes.
  • Black Tuesday stock market crash

    Black Tuesday stock market crash

    a day of panic selling when the stock market crashed, marking the start of the Great Depression. The crash followed a period of speculation and a preceding drop on Black Thursday on Black Tuesday.