Year

1920

9 sourced events from this year.

Events

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1920

Law 20th Century Global

League of Nations Covenant Enters into Force

After the devastation of World War I, Allied leaders sought mechanisms to prevent future global conflicts through collective security. The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, included the Covenant of the League of Nations. On January 10, 1920, the Covenant took effect as the treaty was ratified, formally establishing the League with its headquarters in Geneva. Forty-two nations initially participated. The organization aimed to resolve disputes diplomatically and promote disarmament.

Event Detail US Military Atlas

1920

Civil Rights 20th Century North America

American Civil Liberties Union Founded

Following the Palmer Raids and widespread suppression of dissent during and after World War I, civil liberties advocates sought to institutionalize defense of constitutional rights. On January 19, 1920, a group including Roger Baldwin, Crystal Eastman, and Albert DeSilver formally established the American Civil Liberties Union from the earlier National Civil Liberties Bureau. The new organization aimed to protect free speech, due process, and the rights of radicals, immigrants, and labor activists targeted by government actions. Its founding meeting outlined immediate priorities around defending those affected by the raids and anti-war prosecutions. The ACLU quickly became a leading force in landmark legal battles.

Event Detail Free Speech Atlas

1920

Politics 20th Century Europe

Nazi Party Unveils 25-Point Program in Munich

In the unstable years after World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, the small German Workers' Party (DAP) sought to expand its appeal amid economic hardship and political extremism in Bavaria. Adolf Hitler, recently joined as a speaker and propagandist, helped craft a platform blending nationalist, socialist, and antisemitic elements. On February 24, 1920, at a large meeting in Munich's Hofbräuhaus beer hall attended by about 2,000 people, the party changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) and presented its 25-point program. The manifesto called for the abrogation of Versailles, a Greater Germany, exclusion of Jews from citizenship, and various economic reforms. Hitler delivered the keynote address outlining these demands.

Event Detail

1920

Civil Rights 20th Century North America

Matewan Massacre Erupts in West Virginia

Coal mining communities in southern West Virginia faced intense pressure from mine operators seeking to block union organizing in the early 20th century. Baldwin-Felts detectives arrived in Matewan to evict striking miners and their families from company housing. Local police chief Sid Hatfield and Mayor Cable Testerman sided with the miners against the armed agents. On May 19, 1920, a confrontation on the town's main street escalated into a gun battle that left ten people dead, including seven detectives. The clash highlighted deep divisions between labor and capital in the Appalachian coalfields.

Event Detail

1920

Politics 20th Century Middle East & North Africa

Treaty of Sèvres Signed, Dismantling Ottoman Empire

After World War I, the victorious Allies negotiated peace terms with the defeated Ottoman Empire. Representatives of Sultan Mehmed VI met Allied powers in France. On August 10, 1920, the Treaty of Sèvres was signed at the porcelain factory in Sèvres, abolishing the Ottoman Empire, stripping Turkey of Arab territories in Asia and North Africa, and creating provisions for an independent Armenia, autonomous Kurdistan, and Greek zones in Anatolia. The treaty was never ratified by the new Turkish nationalist government under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who rejected its harsh terms and fought the Turkish War of Independence.

Event Detail US Military Atlas

1920

Civil Rights 20th Century North America

Tennessee Ratifies 19th Amendment Granting Women Vote

By 1920, the women's suffrage movement had campaigned for decades across the United States, securing ratification in 35 states but needing one more for the required three-fourths majority. The Tennessee legislature convened in a special session amid intense lobbying from both suffragists and opponents. On August 18, the state House debated fiercely, with the vote tied until 24-year-old Representative Harry T. Burn received a telegram from his mother urging him to support the amendment. Burn changed his vote from opposing to supporting, securing passage by a single vote of 50-46. The Senate had already approved it, completing ratification. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the amendment part of the Constitution days later.

Event Detail America 250 Atlas

1920

Civil Rights 20th Century North America

19th Amendment Certified for Women's Suffrage

The movement for women's voting rights in the United States gained momentum after decades of activism, with the amendment first proposed in Congress in 1878. After passage by Congress in 1919, ratification required approval by three-fourths of the states. Tennessee provided the decisive 36th ratification on August 18, 1920. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the amendment on August 26, 1920, formally adding it to the Constitution. The new provision prohibited denial of voting rights on account of sex. Millions of American women gained the franchise overnight, fundamentally altering the electorate.

Event Detail America 250 Atlas

1920

Disaster 20th Century North America

Bomb Detonates on Wall Street During Lunch Hour

The years after World War I brought labor strikes, anarchist bombings, and the First Red Scare to the United States, heightening tensions around radical political movements. On September 16, 1920, a horse-drawn wagon carrying approximately 100 pounds of explosives and metal fragments exploded at noon in front of the J.P. Morgan & Co. building on Wall Street. The blast killed 38 people, mostly clerical workers and messengers, and injured more than 300 others. Investigators attributed the attack to anarchist groups, though no perpetrators were ever convicted. The bombing remains one of the deadliest terrorist incidents in U.S. history prior to the twenty-first century.

Event Detail America 250 Atlas

1920

Culture 20th Century North America

September 17, 1920: The Founding of the League That Became the NFL

Representatives of professional football clubs met in the Canton, Ohio, automobile showroom of Canton Bulldogs owner Ralph Hay and organized the American Professional Football Association. The new association sought to bring order to a sport troubled by escalating salaries, players moving freely among teams, and inconsistent club arrangements. The representatives elected celebrated athlete Jim Thorpe as the association's first president. In 1922, the organization adopted the name National Football League.

Event Detail OpenPlay Football