January 16, 1920. Prohibition officially takes effect in the United States. The sale of alcohol is banned in an attempt to end alcohol related deaths and abuse.
January, 1920. The newly formed League of Nations meets in Paris, France. The League consists of 29 countries, and although it is the brainchild of American president Woodrow Wilson, the U.S. is not a member since the U.S. Senate has not yet ratified the Treaty of Versailles. On January 19 the Senate votes against joining the League of Nations.
April-October, 1920. In the Polish-Soviet War the Poles and the Bolsheviks (Communist Russians) fight over territory and ideology. The Treaty of Versailles had not defined the frontiers between Poland and Soviet Russia, and the revolution in Russia created turmoil with the Bolsheviks wanting to spread communism and assist the communist revolution in neighboring countries. The Polish victory secured Polish independence and made the Bolsheviks abandon their cause of international communist revolution.
August 26, 1920. The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed, giving women the right to vote in national elections, including the presidential election in November, 1920.
September, 1920. The first domestic radio sets come to stores in the United States; a Westinghouse radio costs $10.00.
September, 1920. Indian nationalist Mohandas Ghandi launches a peaceful noncooperation movement against British rule in India.
November, 1920. Civil war ends in Russia as the Red Army, led by Leon Trotsky, achieves victory for the Bolsheviks.
November 21, 1920. Bloody Sunday: British forces open fire on spectators and players during a football match in Dublin’s Croke Park, killing 14 Irish civilians. This violence follows the assassinations of 12 British agents by the Irish Republican Army in an earlier attack elsewhere. The country has been in a state of insurrection since Britain declared its intention to split Ireland into two states, predominantly Catholic southern Ireland and mostly Protestant Northern Ireland.
December 11, 1920. Martial law is declared in Ireland.
Slang of the 1920’s. Can you translate the terms bearcat, copacetic, cheaters, flivver, speakeasy, jitney, hooch, ducky, palooka, ritzy?