1920
American women win the vote
Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, and half the population of the United States gained the franchise.
League of Nations convenes
Woodrow Wilson's brainchild took its first breath in Geneva, a parliament of nations meant to make war impossible through talk.
Greco-Turkish War rages in Anatolia
Encouraged by the Allies at Versailles, Greek armies pushed deep into Anatolia, aiming to revive Byzantium.
American Prohibition begins
At midnight on January 17 the sale, manufacture, and transport of alcohol became illegal across the United States under the Eighteenth Amendment.
First commercial radio broadcast
On election night KDKA in Pittsburgh went on the air announcing Warren Harding's victory over James Cox to perhaps a thousand listeners on crystal sets.
Prohibition bootleggers fund jazz clubs
Speakeasies, the illicit bars that flourished across American cities under Prohibition, became the incubators of jazz.
F. Scott Fitzgerald publishes This Side of Paradise
At twenty-three, a Princeton dropout put out his first novel and became, overnight, the voice of the new generation of disillusioned youth.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1920?
Saeculum lists 7 events from 1920. The most significant is American women win the vote: Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, and half the population of the United States gained the franchise.
What era was 1920 part of?
1920 falls within the Modern Era (1901-2000). World wars, cold war, and the splitting of the atom.
Which regions saw notable events in 1920?
The events from 1920 span North America, Europe and Middle East.