-
Period: to
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Term
Wilson was the 28th President from 1913 to 1921. -
WWI Began
Ended in 1918 (US got involved in 1917) -
British Passenger Ship Lusitania sinks
Germans torpedoed the Lusitania, resulting in the death of hundreds of people, including 128 Americans. This event was one of the main reasons that prompted America to join the War. -
First Woman in Congress
Jeannette Rankin was the first woman to be elected to the United States Congress. She worked to expand voting rights for women and create better working conditions for laborers in America. -
Period: to
The Great Migration
The Great Migration refers to the movement of nearly 6 million African Americans from the rural south to Northern cities over the course of several decades. -
Congress Passes Selective Service Act
The Selective Service Act required all men between the ages of 21 and 30 to register for military service. The Act was passed in order to -
Congress Passes Espionage Act
The Espionage Act prohibited obtaining any information, including photos, related to America’s defenses. This act was passed so as to prevent this knowledge from being used against the country in any way during the war. -
Vladimir Lenin leads a Russian Revolution
Lenin saw the beginnings of a revolution in Russia and began plotting an overthrow of the Government. In November he led a secret organization of Red Guards to capture Government buildings, and their success led to the Bolsheviks coming into power and Lenin becoming leader of the world’s first communist state. -
Period: to
Influenza Epidemic Spreads
After WWI, as soldiers were returning home from all over the world, the virus known as the Spanish Flu or Influenza began to spread rapidly. An estimated 50 million people died from the virus, over 3 times as many people that died in the war. -
Wilson delivers 14 Points Speech
Wilson had come up with 14 strategies to ensure national peace and security following WWI. -
Congress passes the Sedition Act
The Sedition Act promised to punish any who are found guilty of insulting the US government/constitution/military, agitating against the production of necessary weapons for the war, or teaching, advocating, or defending such beliefs. -
Schenck v. United States Court Case
Charles Schenck and Elizabeth Baer were convicted of violating the Espionage Act through actions that obstructed the enlistment service during WWI. -
US Rejects the Treaty of Versailles
The US Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles partially because of Wilson’s failure to consider the senators’ objections to the agreement. -
19th Amendment is Added to the Constitution
The 19th Amendment states that the rights of citizens to vote shall not be denied on account of sex. -
Russian Play R.U.R (Rossum’s Universal Robots) Premiered in Prague
Czech writer Karen Capek created the play R.U.R, which follows a scientist that creates synthetic humans to do work for real humans, but they end up revolting and destroying the human race. This play is where the term “robot” originated, deriving from the Czech word “robota” and translating to slave or slave labor. -
Teapot Dome Scandal
Warren G. Harding’s secretary of Interior Albert Fall had leased oil reserves at Teapot Dome to the Mammoth Oil Company. The reserves at Teapot Dome were set aside for military use only, and the leases were done in secret. People were convicted of taking bribes, and it was considered the biggest presidential scandal at its time. -
Flagpole Sitting Trend is Born
Flagpole sitting was when people climbed on top of a towering pole for as long as their body holds up. The trend began in Hollywood, when a former sailor named Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly was paid by a local theater to sit on a pole for as long as possible in order to promote a new movie. He managed to stay on the pole for about 13 hours and 13 minutes. From there, thousands of people strived to break records and become celebrities overnight. -
First SAT Test is Administered
Carl C. Brigham is tasked by The College Board to develop a test that can be used by a wide group of schools. Thus, the SAT was born. -
Woman claiming to be Anastasia arrives in US
A woman referring to herself as Anastasia Tschaikovsky (later known as Anna Anderson) arrives in the US with claims that she is the youngest daughter of the Russian czar Nicholas II. After the royal Russian family was executed, it was rumored that the youngest daughter Anastasia escaped, and between 1918 and 1928, many more women had claimed to be the real Anastasia. -
Sliced Bread is Commercialized
A man named Otto Rohwedder created the first machine to automatically slice bread. Many people were skeptical of the idea at first; people thought the bread would stale, and it generally just looked sloppy. But soon it’s popularity exploded, which gave birth to the term “the greatest thing since sliced bread.”
