1920s
| Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century | |
| Decades: | |
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Sometimes referred to as the "Jazz Age" or primarily in North America as the "Roaring Twenties".
| Contents |
Events and trends
Technology
- John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as "Tommy gun"
- John Logie Baird invents the first working television system (1925)
- Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean (20 May-21 May 1927)
- Penicillin is discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming (1928)
- Insulin is discovered by Frederick Banting during the winter of 1921-1922
Science
- Great advances in quantum mechanics
- Wave mechanics and the Schrödinger equation
- Werner Heisenberg formulates the uncertainty principle
- Paul Dirac's unification of quantum mechanics with special relativity
- Prediction and discovery of the expanding universe
War, peace and politics
- Rise of communism after World War I
- The Red Scare in the United States (1920-1921)
- In the United States, peak of the Ku Klux Klan (about three million members)
- Irish Civil War
- The Irish Free State gains independence from the United Kingdom in 1922
- Turkish War of Independence
- Polish-Soviet war
- First Labour Government of Ramsay MacDonald formed in the United Kingdom
- Kellogg-Briand Pact to end war
Economics
- Economic boom ended by "Black Tuesday" (October 29, 1929); the stock market crashes, leading to the Great Depression
Culture, religion
- Youth culture of The Lost Generation; flappers, Charleston, bobbed hair
- Women's suffrage movement continues to make gains as women obtain full voting rights in the United States in 1920, in Denmark in 1921, and in England in 1928; and women begin to enter the workplace in larger numbers
- Prohibition — legal attempt to end consumption of alcohol in the USA
- In the US, gangsters and the rise of organized crime, often associated with bootleg liquor, in defiance of Prohibition
- "The Jazz Age" — jazz and jazz-influenced dance music widely popular
- First commercial radio station in the U.S. goes online in Pittsburgh, in 1922, and radio quickly becomes a popular entertainment medium
- Start of commercially viable "Talking Pictures" (motion pictures with sound tracks)
- Beginning of surrealist movement
- Beginning of the Art Deco movement
- Fads such as dance marathons, mah-jongg, crossword puzzles and pole-sitting are popular
- The Harlem Renaissance
- The Scopes Trial (1925) which questioned evolution
People
World leaders
- Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (Canada)
- President Sun Yat-sen (Republic of China)
- President Chiang Kai-shek (Republic of China)
- President Paul von Hindenburg (Germany)
- King Victor Emmanuel III (Italy)
- Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (Italy)
- President W.T. Cosgrave (Irish Free State)
- President Mustafa Kemal(Attaturk) (Turkey)
- Emperor Hirohito (Japan)
- Pope Pius XI
- Vladimir Lenin (Soviet Union)
- Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
- 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)
- President Woodrow Wilson (United States)
- President Warren G. Harding (United States)
- President Calvin Coolidge (United States)
- President Herbert Hoover (United States)
Entertainers
- Charlie Chaplin
- George Gershwin
- Duke Ellington
- Fletcher Henderson
- Al Jolson
- Jelly Roll Morton
- Cole Porter
- Bessie Smith
- Rudy Vallee
- Paul Whiteman
- Louis Armstrong
- Eddie Cantor
- Helen Kane
- Buster Keaton
Sports figures
- Babe Ruth (U.S. baseball player)
- Gordon Coventry (Australian Australian Rules Football player)
- Bill Tilden (U.S. tennis player)
- Jack Dempsey (U.S. boxer)
- Red Grange (U.S. American football player)
- Bobby Jones (U.S. golfer)