1920s
Information about 1920s
| Millennia: | 2nd millennium |
| Centuries: | 19th century - 20th century - 21st century |
| Decades: | 1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s |
| Years: | 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 |
| Categories: | - - - |
Since the closing of the 20th Century, the 1920s has drawn close associations with the 1950s and 1990s, especially in the United States. The three decades are regarded as periods of economic prosperity, which lasted throughout almost the entire decade following a tremendous event that occurred in the previous decade (World War I and Spanish flu in the 1910s, World War II in the 1940s, and the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s).
Despite the comparisons, however, there were a number of differences. In contrast to the liberalism of the 1920s and 1990s, the 1950s was very conservative. Secondly, Weimar Republic Germany, like many other European countries, had to face a severe economic downturn in the opening years of the decade, because of the enormous debt caused by the war as well as the one-sided Treaty of Versailles. Such a crisis would culminate with a devaluation of the Mark in 1923, eventually leading to severe economic problems and the rise of the Nazis.
Additionally, the decade was characterized by the rise of radical political movements, especially in regions that were once part of empires. Communism began attracting large numbers of followers following the success of the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks' determination to win the subsequent Russian Civil War. The Bolsheviks would eventually adopt semi-capitalist policies--New Economic Policy--from 1921 to 1928.
The 1920s also experienced the rise of the far-right in Europe and elsewhere, starting with Fascism in the world as an antidote to Communism.
The Stock Market collapsed during October 1929 (see Black Tuesday) and drew a line under the prosperous 1920s.
Technology
Poster for the second All-Color All-Talking movie: Gold Diggers of Broadway 1929.
- John Logie Baird invents the first working mechanical television system (1925). In 1928 he invents and demonstrates the first colour television.
- Warner Brothers produces the first movie with a soundtrack Don Juan in 1926, followed by the first Part-Talkie The Jazz Singer in 1927, the first All-Talking movie Lights of New York in 1928 and the first All-Color All-Talking movie On with the Show 1929.
- Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean (20 May-21 May 1927)
- Karl Ferdinand Braun invented the modern electronic cathode ray tube in 1897. The CRT became a commercial product in 1922.
- Record companies (such as Victor, Brunswick and Columbia) introduce an Electrical Recording process on their phonograph records in 1925 (that had been developed by Western Electric), resulting in a more life-like sound.
- Robert Goddard makes the first flight of a liquid-fueled rocket in 1926.
- In the 20s new speed records were set almost daily due to the new popularity and development.
War, peace and politics
- See also Social issues of the 1920s
- Rise of communism after World War I

Vladimir Lenin in 1920. He was the leading figure of the Communist movement until his death in 1924. - The Red Scare in the United States (1920-1921)
- In the United States, peak of the Ku Klux Klan (about five million members)
- In the United States, KKK auxiliaries established.
- Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) and Irish Civil War (1922-23)
- The Irish Free State gains independence from the United Kingdom in 1922
- Marie C. Brehm becomes temperance movement leader.
- Turkish War of Independence
- Moderation League of New York worked for repeal of prohibition.
- Polish-Soviet war
- First Labour Government of Ramsay MacDonald formed in the United Kingdom
- Kellogg-Briand Pact to end war
- Prohibition leaders were at the height of their power.
- The Qajar dynasty ended under Ahmad Shah Qajar and Reza Shah Pahlavi formed the Pahlavi Dynasty, which would later become the last monarchy of Iran.
- Hitler publishes Mein Kampf, a book that foreshadows many of the events in the 1930s.
- Mussolini became Italy's Prime Minister and started a fascist dictatorship.
Economics
- The New Economic Policy is created by the Bolsheviks in Russia.
- The Dawes Plan, which lasted from 1924-1928
- Economic boom ended by "Black Tuesday" (October 29, 1929); the stock market crashes, leading to the Great Depression
Literature and Arts
- Virginia Woolf publishes Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, and A Room of One's Own
- George Gershwin writes Rhapsody in Blue
- T. S. Eliot publishes The Waste Land
- James Joyce publishes Ulysses
- Franz Kafka publishes The Trial
- Erich Maria Remarque publishes All Quiet on the Western Front
- Rene Magritte paints The Treachery of Images
- Walter Gropius builds the Bauhaus in Dessau
- F. Scott Fitzgerald publishes This Side of Paradise and The Great Gatsby
- Hermann Hesse publishes Siddhartha
- Ernest Hemingway publishes The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms
- Thornton Wilder publishes The Bridge of San Luis Rey
- Alexey Tolstoy publishes Aelita
- George Bernard Shaw publishes Back to Methuselah
- Eugene O'Neill awarded Pulitzer Prizes for Beyond the Horizon in 1920, Anna Christie in 1922, and Strange Interlude in 1928.
Culture, religion
- Prohibition — legal attempt to end consumption of alcohol in Canada, the USA, Norway and Finland
- Youth culture of The Lost Generation; flappers, the Charleston, and bobbed hair
- "The Jazz Age" — jazz and jazz-influenced dance music widely popular
- F. Scott Fitzgerald publishes some of the most enduring novels characterizing the Jazz Age. This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, and The Great Gatsby, as well as three short story collections, were all published in these years.
- Women's suffrage movement continues to make gains as women obtain full voting rights in Denmark in 1915, in the USA in 1920, and in England in 1928; and women begin to enter the workplace in larger numbers
- In the US, gangsters and the rise of organized crime, often associated with bootleg liquor, in defiance of Prohibition.
- Rum rows are established to import bootleg alcoholic beverages into U.S.
- First commercial radio station in the U.S. goes on air in Pittsburgh, in 1920, and radio quickly becomes a popular entertainment medium
- Methodist Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals defends alcohol prohibition in U.S.
- First feature-length motion picture with a sound track (Don Juan) is released in 1926. First part-talkie (The Jazz Singer) released in 1927, first all-talking feature (Lights of New York) released in 1928 and first all-color all-talking feature (On with the Show) released in 1929.
- Beginning of surrealist movement
- Beginning of the Art Deco movement
- Fads such as marathon dancing, mah-jongg, crossword puzzles and pole-sitting are popular
- The height of the clip joint
- The Harlem Renaissance
- The Scopes Monkey Trial (1925) which declared that John T. Scopes had violated the law by teaching evolution in schools, creating tension between the competing theories of creationism and evolution.
- Bishop James Cannon, Jr. becomes a U.S. temperance movement leader.
- The Group of Seven (artists)
- Repeal organizations organized to fight national prohibition in U.S.
- Minister Daisey Douglas Barr heads Women's Ku Klux Klan (WKKK).
- The tomb of Tutankhamun is discovered intact by Howard Carter (1922). This begins a second revival of Egyptomania.
- Edward Higgins becomes the third General ( international leader) of The Salvation Army . His term is from 1929-1934.
People
World leaders
- President Woodrow Wilson (United States)
- President Warren G. Harding (United States)
- President Calvin Coolidge (United States)
- President Herbert Hoover (United States)
- Prime Minister Stanley Bruce (Australia)
- Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (Canada)
- President Sun Yat-sen (Republic of China)
- President Chiang Kai-shek (Republic of China)
- President Friedrich Ebert (Germany)
- President Paul von Hindenburg (Germany)
- Ahmad Shah Qajar of Qajar dynasty (Persia/Iran)
- Reza Shah Pahlavi of Pahlavi Dynasty (Iran)
- King Victor Emmanuel III (Italy)
- Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (Italy)
- President W.T. Cosgrave (Irish Free State)
- President Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) (Turkey)
- Emperor Hirohito (Japan)
- Pope Pius XI
- Józef Piłsudski (Poland)
- Vladimir Lenin (Soviet Union)
- Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
- King Alfonso XIII (Spain)
- King George V (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister David Lloyd George (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald (United Kingdom)
Entertainers
- Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
- Louis Armstrong
- Josephine Baker
- Irving Berlin
- Clara Bow
- Louise Brooks
- Eddie Cantor
- Lon Chaney
- Charlie Chaplin
- Joan Crawford
- Duke Ellington
- Douglas Fairbanks
- Greta Garbo
- Janet Gaynor
- George Gershwin
- William S. Hart
- Harry Houdini
- Al Jolson
- Buster Keaton
- Tom Mix
- Jelly Roll Morton
- Will Rogers
- Mary Pickford
- Cole Porter
- Bessie Smith
- Chief Tahachee
- Rudolph Valentino
- Rudy Vallee
- Paul Whiteman
- Florenz Ziegfeld
Sports figures
- Warwick Armstrong (Australian cricket captain)
- Gordon Coventry (Australian rules football player)
- Jack Dempsey (American boxer)
- Red Grange (American football player)
- Jack Hobbs (Surrey & England cricketer)
- Alex James (Arsenal & Scotland footballer)
- Bobby Jones (American golfer)
- Kenesaw Mountain Landis (American Baseball Commissioner)
- Suzanne Lenglen (French tennis player )
- Helen Wills Moody (American tennis player)
- Paavo Nurmi (Finnish runner)
- Wilfred Rhodes (Yorkshire & England cricketer)
- Babe Ruth (American baseball player)
- Herbert Sutcliffe (Yorkshire & England cricketer)
- Bill Tilden (American tennis player)
- Lou Gehrig (American baseball player)
Styles
- Robert Sobel The Great Bull Market: Wall Street in the 1920s (1968)
A millennium (pl. millennia) is a period of time equal to one thousand years (from Latin mille, thousand, and annum, year).
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twentieth century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar. Some historians consider the era from about 1914 to 1991 to be the Short Twentieth Century.
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21st Century is the present century of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It began on January 1, 2001 and is due to end December 31, 2100. However, more modern methods of dating begin the century in the year 2000.
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list of decades which have articles with more information about them.
During the twentieth century, it became popular to look at that century's decades as historical entities in themselves.
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During the twentieth century, it became popular to look at that century's decades as historical entities in themselves.
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Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1860s 1870s 1880s - 1890s - 1900s 1910s 1920s
1890 1891 1892 1893 1894
1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
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- The 1890s
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1860s 1870s 1880s - 1890s - 1900s 1910s 1920s
1890 1891 1892 1893 1894
1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
- -
- The 1890s
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Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1870s 1880s 1890s - 1900s - 1910s 1920s 1930s
1900 1901 1902 1903 1904
1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
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1870s 1880s 1890s - 1900s - 1910s 1920s 1930s
1900 1901 1902 1903 1904
1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
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Events and trends
Technology
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Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1880s 1890s 1900s - 1910s - 1920s 1930s 1940s
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
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-
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1880s 1890s 1900s - 1910s - 1920s 1930s 1940s
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
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-
Events and trends
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Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1900s 1910s 1920s - 1930s - 1940s 1950s 1960s
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934
1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
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- The 1930s
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1900s 1910s 1920s - 1930s - 1940s 1950s 1960s
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934
1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
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- The 1930s
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Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944
1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
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- The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949.
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1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944
1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
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- The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949.
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worldwide view.
2nd millennium
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954
1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
- -
- The 1950s
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1917 1918 1919 - 1920 - 1921 1922 1923
Year 1920 (MCMXX
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1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1917 1918 1919 - 1920 - 1921 1922 1923
Year 1920 (MCMXX
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1918 1919 1920 - 1921 - 1922 1923 1924
Year 1921 (MCMXXI
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1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1918 1919 1920 - 1921 - 1922 1923 1924
Year 1921 (MCMXXI
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1919 1920 1921 - 1922 - 1923 1924 1925
Year 1922 (MCMXXII
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1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1919 1920 1921 - 1922 - 1923 1924 1925
Year 1922 (MCMXXII
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1920 1921 1922 - 1923 - 1924 1925 1926
Year 1923 (MCMXXIII
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1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1920 1921 1922 - 1923 - 1924 1925 1926
Year 1923 (MCMXXIII
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20th century - 21st century
1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1921 1922 1923 - 1924 - 1925 1926 1927
Year 1924 (MCMXXIV
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1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1921 1922 1923 - 1924 - 1925 1926 1927
Year 1924 (MCMXXIV
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1922 1923 1924 - 1925 - 1926 1927 1928
Year 1925 (MCMXXV
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1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1922 1923 1924 - 1925 - 1926 1927 1928
Year 1925 (MCMXXV
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1923 1924 1925 - 1926 - 1927 1928 1929
Year 1926 (MCMXXVI
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1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1923 1924 1925 - 1926 - 1927 1928 1929
Year 1926 (MCMXXVI
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20th century - 21st century
1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1924 1925 1926 - 1927 - 1928 1929 1930
Year 1927 (MCMXXVII
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1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1924 1925 1926 - 1927 - 1928 1929 1930
Year 1927 (MCMXXVII
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1925 1926 1927 - 1928 - 1929 1930 1931
Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII
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1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1925 1926 1927 - 1928 - 1929 1930 1931
Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1926 1927 1928 - 1929 - 1930 1931 1932
Year 1929 (MCMXXIX
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1890s 1900s 1910s - 1920s - 1930s 1940s 1950s
1926 1927 1928 - 1929 - 1930 1931 1932
Year 1929 (MCMXXIX
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Jazz Age describes the period from 1918-1929, the years between the end of World War I and the start of with the Roaring Twenties; ending with the rise of the Great Depression, the traditional values of this age saw great decline while the America stock market soared.
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Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, that emphasizes the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism. Normality returned to politics in the wake of World War I, jazz music blossomed, the flapper redefined modern womanhood, Art
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Motto
"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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Golden Twenties is a term, mostly used in Europe, to describe the 1920s, in which most of the continent had an economic boom following the First World War and the severe economic downturns that took place between 1919-1923 before the Wall Street Crash in 1929.
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The Golden Twenties, in Berlin was a vibrant period in the history of Berlin, German history, and European history in general. This "fertile culture" of Berlin extended onwards until Adolf Hitler rose to power in early 1933 and stamped out any and all resistance to the Nazi Party, which
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worldwide view.
2nd millennium
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954
1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
- -
- The 1950s
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Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1960s 1970s 1980s - 1990s - 2000s 2010s 2020s
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
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1960s 1970s 1980s - 1990s - 2000s 2010s 2020s
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
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For the band, see .
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