Video: '8MK Calling: 100 Years Of WWJ'
(Friday, August 20, 1920) — The first commercial radio station in the United States, 8MK, began operations today in Detroit. Continue reading First commercial radio station in U.S. begins operating in Detroit 100 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 20 1920)
Video: '18th August 1920: Ratification of 19th Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees female suffrage'
(Wednesday, August 18, 1920) — The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was ratified today by Tennessee, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law of the land. Continue reading Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing all American women’s right to vote ratified 100 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 18 1920)
Video: 'Democratic convention in San Francisco 1920'
(Tuesday, July 6, 1920, 1:39 p.m. PST) — Governor James M. Cox of Ohio was nominated President of the United States early today at the 1920 Democratic National Convention meeting at Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Continue reading Democrats nominate James M. Cox for POTUS 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jul 6 1920)
Video: 'Republican Convention 1920'
(Saturday, June 12, 1920) — Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio was nominated President of the United States today at the 1920 Republican National Convention meeting at Chicago Coliseum in Chicago. Continue reading Republicans nominate Harding for POTUS, Coolidge for VPOTUS 100 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 12 1920)
Video: 'This Place in History: Levi P. Morton'
(Sunday, May 16, 1920, 8:30 p.m. local time) — Levi P. Morton, the 22nd vice president of the United States from 1889 to 1893, during the administration of President Benjamin Harrison, died tonight from bronchial pneumonia at his home at Ellerslie in Rhinebeck, New York, on his 96th birthday. Continue reading Former U.S. Vice President Levi P. Morton dies 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (May 16 1920)
Video: 'Weather History: 1920 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak'
(Palm Sunday, March 28, 1920, 12:00 p.m. CST; during the 1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak) — 380 people were killed and at least 1,215 injured today by a series of 37 tornadoes that swepted through the eastern half of the United States, from Illinois to Georgia. Continue reading 380 Americans killed in Palm Sunday tornado outbreak 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 28 1920)
Video: 'Prohibition in the United States: National Ban of Alcohol'
(Saturday, January 17, 1920, 12:01 a.m. EST) — The prohibition of “intoxicating liquors” in the United States began early this morning as the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution took effect, one year to the day after its ratification.
This rang in the era of bootleg liquor when people whispered passwords through speak-easy doors, flappers ruled the dance floor and mobsters like Al Capone made millions from a thirsty public.
The Eighteenth Amendment would be repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment on December 5, 1933.
(Saturday, January 10, 1920, 4:11 p.m. Western European Time) — World War I formally ended and the League of Nations was established today in Paris when Allied and German representatives exchanged ratifications of the Treaty of Versailles. Continue reading League of Nations established as Treaty of Versailles goes into effect 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jan 10 1920)
Video: 'Byrd's First Antarctic Expedition 1928' (crew reaches South Pole at 38:44)
(Friday, November 29, 1929, 114 GMT) — Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd, pilot Bernt Balchen, radio operator Harold June and photographer Ashley McKinney today became the first people to fly over the South Pole as they flew the Floyd Bennett to the South Pole and back to Little America, Antarctica, on the Ross Ice Shelf, south of the Bay of Whales, in 18 hours, 41 minutes. Continue reading Byrd and three crewmen become first people to fly over South Pole 90 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 28 1929)
Video: '1929 Wall Street Stock Market Crash' (Oct. 29, 1929, at 5:41)
(Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. EST) — On the fourth and final day of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, stock prices virtually collapsed today, swept downward with gigantic losses in the most disastrous trading day in the New York Stock Exchange’s history.
Investors traded a record 16.4 million shares as panic selling reached its peak.
Video: 'Herbert Hoover Biography' (Oct. 1929, at 12:28)
$14 billion in open market values was lost, wiping out thousands of investors and setting the stage for the Great Depression, the longest, deepest, and most widespread economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world up to that time.
Video: 'The Crash of 1929 & The Great Depression (PBS) 5of6' (Oct. 29, 1929, at 6:03)
The Dow lost an additional 30 points, or 12 percent.
The Dow would continue to slide for three more years, bottoming out on July 8, 1932, having lost almost 90 percent of its value since its peak on Sept. 3, 1929.
