-
Woodrow Wilson's Presidency
Ended on March 4th, 1921. Woodrow Wilson was the 28th American President, leader of the country for all of World War One. His Vice President was Thomas R. Marshall. -
World War One
Ended on November 11th, 1918. The bloody "War to End All Wars" that began with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, heir to Austria-Hungary, in Bosnia. Combatants included the Allied Powers (America, Britain, Russia, France, and later Italy) against the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire). Almost 40 million people were killed during World War One. -
The Great Migration
Ended in 1970. The mass exodus of African Americans moving from the Southern to the Northern parts of America, where they hoped to create better lives for themselves free from racist ideologies. -
The Lusitania
A German U-boat torpedoes the RMS Lusitania of the coast of Ireland. 1,198 people are killed. -
Jeannette Pickering Rankin
The first woman elected to Congress. She was the only person to vote against going to war. -
Selective Service Act
The Selective Service Act gave the United States government the ability to conscript people into an army to fight in World War One. It was drafted by at-the-time Captain Hugh S. Johnson, and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, and was upheld as constitutional in 1918, in the Supreme Court case of Arver v. United States, otherwise known as the Selective Law Draft Cases. Of 4.8 million Americans who served, 2.8 million were drafted soldiers. -
Espionage Act
Passed by Congress in 1917, and allowed postal officials to ban magazines and newspapers from the mail. Any individuals found obstructing the draft could face 10,000 dollars in fines and 20 years in jail. -
Bolshevik Revolution
Vladimir Lenin, communist revolutionary and leader of the Bolshevik Party, leads a revolution against the Romanov Dynasty, overthrowing them and installing himself as leader of Russia. The Revolution pushes Russia into a three year civil war, where the main combatants are the monarchists and democrats of the White Army, and Lenin's Red Army. After, the Bolsheviks would become the Communist Party, making Lenin leader of the Soviet Union, and Russia the world's first Communist state. -
Influenza Epidemic
Ended in December 1920. Unusually deadly outbreak of influenza, otherwise called the Spanish flu. Killed three to five percent of the world's population (50-100 million people) including previously healthy adults. -
President Wilson's Fourteen Points
Speech given by President Woodrow Wilson before a joint meeting of Congress. It outlines Wilson's plan for peace in Europe, America, and the world, following World War One. -
Sedition Act
Repealed on December 13th, 1920. The Sedition Act expanded the Espionage Act of 1917. It forbade expressing negative commentary on the U.S. government and interfering with the sale of government bonds. -
Schenk v. United States
Supreme Court case involving the enforcement of the Espionage Act. The Court ruled unanimously that urging draft-age men to resist the draft is grounds for conviction, setting the precedent that any actions that could lead to a crime, even if the original actions were not criminal themselves, could still be punished as if they were criminal. This line of reasoning was used to uphold several wartime persecutions. However, the case was overruled in 1965 by Brandenburg v. Ohio. -
U.S. Rejection of Treaty of Versailles
The Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles, claiming objection to the League of Nations, saying that joining such an alliance would cause the U.S. to lose too much power. -
Prohibition goes into effect
Prohibition, the complete outlaw of any production, transport, import, or sale of alcohol in the United States, was ratified in 1919 with the 18th Amendment, but not actually put into effect until the following year. -
19th Amendment
Prevents any level of government from barring anyone, regardless of sex, from voting. -
Teapot Dome Scandal
Ended in 1923. A bribery scandal involving the members of President Warren G. Harding's administration. Investigation by Senator Thomas Welsh led to the arrest of Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall, who was convicted for accepting bribes from oil companies. Fall had been leasing Navy petroleum reserves at Wyoming's Teapot Dome and two Californian locations to oil companies. Fall was the first presidential cabinet member to go to prison. -
Creation of the BBC
The British Broadcasting Company started its first daily broadcast in London, the 2LO. At its conception, it was only on air for a few hours each day. -
First Macy's Day Parade
The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held in New York City. Instead of balloons, the Parade featured live animals borrowed from the zoo. -
First SAT Test
The first SAT test is administered to over 8,000 students in 300 different test centers nationwide. There were over 315 questions and only 90 minutes were given to answer them. -
Chinese Civil War Begins
The Chinese Civil War began in August of 1927. The primary combatants of the war were the Communist Party of China and the government of the Republic of China. Major hostilities ended by 1950, but no armistice has ever been signed.
