Charlie Chaplin, comedian and actor, c1921. Chaplin asleep on a bench, cradling a bag of golf clubs in his arms. Photograph promoting the motion picture The Idle Class, released in 1921. (Photo by Sarah Fabian-Baddiel/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
1920
- Bubonic Plague in India
- First Commercial Radio Broadcast Aired
- Harlem Renaissance Begins
- League of Nations Established
- Prohibition Begins in the U.S.
- Pancho Villa Retires
- Women Granted the Right to Vote in U.S.
1921
- Bessie Coleman Becomes First Female African-American Pilot
- “Fatty” Arbuckle Scandal
- Extreme Inflation in Germany
- Irish Free State Proclaimed
- Lie Detector Invented
1922
- Insulin Discovered
- Kemal Atatürk Founds Modern Turkey
- Tomb of King Tut Discovered
- Michael Collins Killed in Ambush
- Mussolini Marches on Rome
- The Reader’s Digest Published
Joost Schmidt, Bauhaus exhibition at Weimar, 1923
1923
- Charleston Dance Becomes Popular
- Hitler Jailed After Failed Coup
- Ruhr Occupied by French and Belgian Forces
- Teapot Dome Scandal
- Time Magazine Founded
1924
- First Olympic Winter Games
- J. Edgar Hoover Appointed FBI Director
- Leopold and Loeb Murder a Neighbor Out of Boredom
- V.I. Lenin Dies
1925
- Balto, the Sled Dog, Brings Serum to Nome, Alaska
- Flapper Dresses in Style
- Hitler’s Mein Kampf Published
- Josephine Baker Moves to France and Becomes a Sensation
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Is Published
- The Scopes (Monkey) Trial
1926
- A.A. Milne Publishes Winnie-the-Pooh
- Famous Actor Rudolph Valentino Dies Suddenly at Age 31
- First Assassination Attempt on Mussolini
- Henry Ford Announces 40-Hour Work Week
- Hirohito Becomes Emperor of Japan
- Houdini Dies After Being Punched
- Mystery Writer Agatha Christie Goes Missing
- Richard Byrd and Roald Amundsen Begin Their Race to Be the First to Fly Over the North Pole
- Robert Goddard Fires His First Liquid-Fuel Rocket
- Route 66 Established
- A Woman Swims the English Channel
1927
- Babe Ruth Makes Home-Run Record
- BBC Founded
- The First Talking Movie, The Jazz Singer
- Lindbergh Flies Solo Across the Atlantic
- Necrophiliac Serial Killer Earle Nelson Caught
- Sacco and Venzetti Executed
1928
- Bubble Gum Invented
- Chiang Kai-Shek Becomes Leader of China
- First Mickey Mouse Cartoon
- First Oxford English Dictionary Published
- Kellogg-Briand Treaty Outlaws War
- Penicillin Discovered
- Sliced Bread Invented
1929
- Byrd and Bennett Fly Over South Pole
- Car Radio Invented
- First Academy Awards
- The Great Depression Begins
- Stock Market Crashes
- St. Valentine’s Day Massacre