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Model T Ford
The first car to be mass produced and made affordable for the average American. The Model T has been named the most influential car in history because it is what started the automotive revolution. -
NAACP Formed
Formed by W.E.B. Du Boise in Baltimore, Maryland. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination" -
The Titanic Sinks
A Luxury cruise ship of record-breaking size collides with an Iceberg causing one of the deadliest peace-time disasters of the 20th Century (1,500+ dead). The titanic will also make history again in the 1990s by inspiring one-too-many movies. -
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World War 1
Sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and made worse by the faulty Alliance system of Europe, World War One was the most destructive and farthest reaching war the world had ever known. More than 9million soldiers were killed thanks to the destructive power of new weapons such as Machine Guns, artillery, poison and corrosive gas, and diseases. Survivors of WWI were known as "The Lost Generation" because of the horrors they had witnessed; many experienced"Shell Shock" -
"Birth of a Nation" Debuts
a movie described by President Woodrow Wilson as "History written by lightning". "Birth of a Nation" was an Epic Adventure that presented the Ku Klux Klan as noble heroes, and Black Americans as stupid, violent, and sexually aggressive towards White Women. Dispite it's racially charged message, "Birth of a Nation" was the highest grossing movie of all time until Gone with the Wind claimed that title in 1939. Many credit "Birth of a Nation" for the reformation of the KKK in the 20s. -
US Enters WWI
After recieving intelligence that Germany was trying to recuit Mexico to invade the United States, President Woodrow Wilso declares the United States in a state of war against Germany and joins England and France. -
18th Ammendment
Prohibition. The sale and production of Alcohol is prohibited under federal law. This leads to an age of underground clubs known as "speak easies", the rise of organized crime, and moonshiners. -
19th Ammendment Ratified
Women, after centuries of campaigning, are finally granted the right to vote. This ushers in a new attitude towards women, and a new expectation and freedom women put upon themselves. -
Scopes Trial
The Debate of the century: should evolution be allowed to be taught in schools? The Scopes Trial pit the religous right vs the secular left in a no-holds barred fight for minds of the younger generation. The trial was eventually thrown out, but the issue of teaching evolution in schools is still debated, though legal in most states. -
"The Jazz Singer" released
The first major motion picture featuring people talking and a pre-recorded soundtrack. It starred white Broadway singer/dancer Al Jolson in blackface. -
Charles Lindbergh makes first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean
Equiped with an Aeroplane, some rations, maps, and his wits, Charles Lindbergh becomes the first true international superstar by making the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. His flight took him from Long Island, New York to Paris, France. -
Steamboat Willie
The first appearance of Mickey Mouse. Voiced entirely by Walt Disney, Steamboat Willie was a major feat for Motion Pictures. It combined animation with prerecorded sound, and it launched Disney and his company into becoming the giant it has become. As Walt Disney said, "Let us never forget that it all started with a mouse" -
"Black Tuesday"
The great Stock Market Crash that marked the beginning of the Great Depression. The extravagent lifestyle of the 1920s and relentless buying on credit lead to a sudden collapse of the New York Stock Exchange. People committed suicide out of fear of losing their money.
