Spirit of America Bookstore U.S.  Timeline  –  1901  to  1950 up to 1800    •    1801-1900    •    jump to 1951-2000    •    2001 to present Turn of The Century    •    World War One    •    Roaring Twenties Era The Great Depression    •    World War Two    •    Post-War Boom Era Turn  of  The  Century 1901: Founding of Quaker Oats Co. by merger of three cereal millers. 1901 Feb 25: Financier J.P. Morgan founded the United States Steel Corporation. 1901 Sept 6: President McKinley shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo, New York. 1901 Sept 14: President McKinley died from gunshot wounds inflicted by anarchist assassin eight days prior; Vice President Theodore Roosevelt becomes President. 1901 Dec 5: Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois. 1902 Founding of J.C. Penney's first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming. First description of the American-style hamburger, a recipe that combined ground beef, chopped onion, and pepper. Animal Crackers® cookies introduced as a seasonal item by National Biscuit Co., the colorful box designed with a string for hanging on Christmas trees. 1902 Feb 27: Birthday of author John Steinbeck [1902-68] in Salinas, CA; he died in 1968. 1902 March 4: Founding of American Automobile Club in Chicago, Illinois. 1902 April 2: First motion picture theater established, by Thomas L. Tally as part of a carnival in Los Angeles, CA. 1902 May 20: U.S. ended control of Cuba; Republic of Cuba founded under President Tomas Estrada Palma. 1903: Invention of the hot fudge sundae, at C.C. Brown's Ice Cream Parlor in Los Angeles, California. 1903: James L. Kraft began a wholesale cheese business in Chicago. 1903 June 16: Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan. 1903 August: Founding of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, led by Samuel Gompers. 1903 Sept 1: Massachussetts passed a law, making it the first state to require license plates on automobiles. 1903 Sept 21: Birthday of visionary auto-maker Preston Tucker; he died in 1956. 1903 Dec 15: Patent received by New York City street vendor Italo Marchiony for an ice cream cone mold; the cones became wildly popular with visitors to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904. 1903 Dec 17: The Wright Brothers (Orville & Wilbur) flew the first successful manned aeroplane flights in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. 1904: Pharmacist David Strickler invented the banana split in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. 1904: Founding of Brach's Palace of Sweets candy company in Chicago. 1904 March 2: Birthday of children's author Dr. Seuss in Springfield, MA; he died in 1991. 1904 July 23: Charles E. Menches claims invention of the ice cream cone during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri. 1905: Delicatessen owner Richard Hellman of New York City introduced the first ready-made mayonnaise. 1905 June 27: Founding of the Industrial Workers of the World [I.W.W., aka 'wobblies'] trade union in Chicago, Illinois. 1905: Invention of RC Cola® soft drink. 1905 Dec 5: Frank H. Fleer & Co, of Philadelphia registered the "Chiclets" (chewing-gum) trademark. 1905 Dec 24: Birthday of billionaire aviator Howard Hughes in Houston, Texas; he died in 1976. 1906: Founding of Planters Peanut Company in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvia. 1906 April 1: Newly-formed Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Co. in Michigan started production of Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes™ breakfast cereal. 1906 April 18: San Francisco earthquake in California, which killed about 700 people. 1906 May 22: The Wright Brothers received the patent for their flying machine. 1906 June 26: Bon-Bon Company of New York City registered the Dentyne™ chewing-gum trademark. 1906 June 30: The Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act became law, due to pressure from Harvey W. Wiley's 'pure food' crusade and publication of "The Jungle" by muckraker Upton Sinclair. 1907: Hershey's™ Chocolate Kisses® put on the market. 1907 Feb 3: Birthday of author James A. Michener; he died in 1997. 1907 March 14: #8 worst one-day Dow-Jones Industrial Average decline of 8.29% 1907 Aug 28: Founding of the American Messenger Co. in Seattle, Washington, which evolved into today's United Parcel Service. 1907 Oct 21: The financial 'Panic of 1907' began with a run on the Knickerbocker Trust Company of New York, dragging stocks down 37%.    "The Panic of 1907: Lessons Learned From The Market's Perfect Storm" [2007] by Robert F. Bruner & Sean D. Carr Wiley 9x6 hardcover [8/2007] for $19.77 book excerpt (text) at N.P.R. 1908: Founding of the Independent Halvah & Candies Company in Manhattan to manufacture a version of the Turkish confection made with crushed sesame seeds, honey & soya protein; company name later changed to The Joyva Corporation. 1908: Buick, Cadillac, Oldsmobile & Oakland {later Pontiac) merged to form General Motors. 1908 Jan 7: Killing of the last grizzly bear in California – leaving only the one on the state flag. 1908 March 22: Birthday of Western author Louis L'Amour; he died in [1988. 1908 Oct 1: Henry Ford introduced the 'Model T' automobile. 1908 Nov 14: Birthday of anti-communist demagogue Sen. Joseph McCarthy; he died in 1957. 1909 Jan 28: U.S. ended direct control of Cuba. 1909 Feb 12: Founding of the N.A.A.C.P. {Natl Assn for the Advancement of Colored People}. 1909 April 8: Birthday of author John Fante; he died in 1983. 1910 Feb 8: Boy Scouts of America was incorporated. 1910 May 11: Glacier National Park in Montana was established. 1910 Nov 20: A revolution led by Francisco I. Madero broke out in Mexico. 1911: Frank & Ethel Mars started making and selling a variety of butter-cream candies from the kitchen of their home in Tacoma, Washington; in 1922, they started Mar-O-Bar Company in Minneapolis to manufacture chocolate candy bars; later incorporated as Mars, Inc. 1911 March 25: Tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City; 146 workers and managers died due to unsafe work conditions, including fire doors nailed shut. 1911 March 26: Birthdate of playwright Tennessee Williams in Columbus, Mississippi. 1911 Aug 15: Procter & Gamble Company introduced Crisco®, the first solidified shortening product made entirely of vegetable oil. 1911 Oct: California became the sixth state to give women the vote (by a very narrow margin). 1912 Invention of 'Life Savers'® candy by Clarence Crane of Cleveland, Ohio. Chocolate sales in Cleveland, Ohio fell in warm weather, so Clarence A. Crane invented candy mints with a hole in the middle, calling them Life Savers. Cracker Jack® began including "A Prize In Every Box". Founding of growers cooperative California Associated Raisin Company; launched Sun-Maid Raisin brand in 1915. 1912 March 6: Launch of Nabisco's Oreo® Cookies. 1912 July 7: Horn & Hardart of Philadelphia opened an 'Automat' cafeteria at Broadway & East 14th Street in New York City, which caused a sensation.    "The Automat: The History, Recipes & Allure of Horn & Hardart's Masterpiece" [2002] by Lorraine B. Diehl & Marianne Hardart Clarkson Potter 7¾x7¾ hardcover [11/2002] for $12.24 1913 Feb 4: Birthday of civil rights activist Rosa Parks; she died in 2005. 1913 Feb 3: 16th Amendment providing for a federal income tax was ratified. 1913 Feb 25: 16th Amendment declared to be in effect. 1913 March 1: Birthday of author Ralph Ellison; he died in 1994. 1913 March 14: Department of Labor signed into law by President Taft. 1913 May 9th: 17th Amendment providing for popular election of U.S. Senators (rather than selection by state legislators) was ratified. 1913 May 31: 17th Amendment declared to be in effect. 1913 Oct 10: Completion of the Panama Canal. 1913 Dec 1: Opening of the first U.S. drive-in service station for automobiles, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 1913 Dec 21: The first newspaper 'word-cross' puzzle was published in the New York World, invented by editor Arthur Wynne. 1914: Morton Salt® introduced the Umbrella Girl with the slogan 'When it rains it pours'. 1914: William Wrigley Jr. introduced Doublemint brand chewing gum. 1914 Feb 5: Birthday of Beat writer William S. Burroughs; he died in 1997. 1914 Feb 13: Founding of the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers {A.S.C.A.P.}. 1914 April 20: 'The Ludlow Massacre': Colorado National Guard troops opened fire with machine guns on a tent city of 1,200 strikers and their families; 9 strikers, 2 women & 11 children died.    "Blood Passion: The Ludlow Massacre & Class War In The American West" [2007] by Scott Martelle Rutgers Univ Press pb [8/2007] for $17.13

World  War  One War Film Festival - World War I Movies 1914 June 28: Austria's Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sofia were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serb nationalist, setting off World War I. 1914 June 27: Transcontinental telephone lines completed by AT&T between San Francisco and New York City. 1914 July 29: First transcontinental telephone conversation, a test on AT&T lines between San Francisco and New York City. 1914 Aug 4: Britain declared war on Germany; the United States proclaimed its neutrality. 1914 Sept 12: #1 worst one-day Dow-Jones Industrial Average decline of 24.39%. 1915 Jan 21: Founding of the Kiwanis Club, in Detroit, Michigan. 1915 Jan 25: Alexander Graham Bell inaugurated U.S. transcontinental telephone service with major fanfare connected to the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Diego, California. 1915 Jan 28: Congress established the Coast Guard by merging the Life-Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service. 1915 Feb 8: Premiere of D.W. Griffith's epic "The Birth of A Nation" at Clune's Auditorium in Downtown Los Angeles, California {under original title of "The Clansman"}. 1915 March 16: Congress established the Federal Trade Commission. 1915 May 6: Birthday of actor / filmmaker Orson Welles; he died in 1985. 1915 May 7: A German U-boat torpedoed & sank the British liner R.M.S. Lusitania, with 128 Americans aboard. 1915 Oct 17: Birthday of author / playwright Arthur Miller; he died in 2005. 1915 Nov 19: Execution by firing squad of labor leader Joe Hill [1879-1915] in Utah. 1916: First prize in Planters Peanut symbol-design contest given to a 14-year-old boy for a drawing of Mr. Peanut®. 1916: California Fruit Canners Association [est. 1898] – the Del Monte brand – merged with three more canners to form California Packing Corp. 1916 July 15: Founding of Pacific Aero Products Co. in Seattle, Washington which later evolved into Boeing Corp. 1916 July 24: Birthday of mystery author John D. MacDonald, creator of Travis McGee; he died in 1986. 1916 Aug 4: The U.S. purchased the Danish Virgin Islands. 1916 Aug 25: Congress established the National Park Service within the Deptartment of Interior. 1916 Sept 5: Release of D.W. Griffith's epic "Intolerance". 1916 Nov 7: First woman elected to Congress, Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana. 1917: World's first 5-cent candy bar introduced, the Clark bar 1917 March 2: Puerto Ricans granted U.S. citizenship as President Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act. 1917 March 2 (Western March 15): Russia's Tsar Nicholas II abdicated in the face of protests that began in February, thus known as the February Revolution. 1917 Apr 6: U.S. Congress approved declaration of war against Germany. 1917 Sept 15: Prime Minister Alexander Kerensky declared Russia a republic. 1917 Oct 25 (Western Nov 7): Lenin's Bolshevik party overthrew the provisional government of Russia, known as the October Revolution. 1918 March: 'Spanish' influenza pandemic began in Fort Riley, Kansas; in the next year, as many as 100 million people worldwide died from the disease; 28% of the U.S. population were infected, and 675,000 died in the U.S.    "The Great Influenza: The Story of The Deadliest Pandemic In History" [2004] New York Times bestseller by John M. Barry Penguin 8½x5½ pb [10/2005] for $11.56 Viking 9x6½ hardcover [2/2004] for $29.95 the paperback has an Afterword on avian flu    "America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918" [1997] by Alfred W. Crosby listed in Los Angeles Times 100 Most Important Books of 1997 Cambridge Univ Press 8¾x5¾ pb [7/2003] for $22.99 Cambridge Univ Press 9x6 hardcover [7/2003] for $64.40 1918 March 19: Congress approved the Standard Time Act, which included Daylight Saving Time. 1918 Oct 8: U.S. Army Sgt. Alvin C. York almost single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and captured 132 more in the Argonne Forest in France. 1918 Nov 11: Cessation of hostilities at agreed-upon "eleventh hour of eleventh day of eleventh month". Commemorated as Armistice Day from 1919; name changed to Veterans Day 1 June 1954. 1919 Feb 26: Congress established Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. 1919 June 28: World War I officially ended (Treaty of Versailles). 1919 Sept 16: Founding of the American Legion by an act of Congress. 1919 Oct 17: Founding of the Radio Corporation of America. 1919 Oct 28: Congress passed the Volstead Act, establishing Prohibition {of alcoholic beverages}, overriding President Wilson's veto. 1919 Nov 19: The U.S. Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 55-39, short of the two-thirds required for ratification. 1919 December 24: Attempted robbery of an armored truck in Bridgewater, Massachusetts by five men; anarchist Bartolomeo Vanzetti was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the crime.

Roaring  Twenties  Era 1920: Good Humor® chocolate-dipped ice cream bar on a stick invented by Harry Burt at the Burt Confectionery in Youngstown, Ohio. 1920: Swift & Company introduced E.K Pond commercial peanut butter; later adopted hydrogenation technology to become the first emulsified peanut butter sold to the public; changed name to Peter Pan Peanut Butter in 1928. 1920 Jan 2: Birthday of author Isaac Asimov; he died in 1992. 1920 Jan 16: 18th Amendment prohibiting production & sale of alcoholic beverages declared to be in effect, starting the Prohibition Era. 1920 Feb 14: Founding of the League of Women Voters. 1920 April 15: Two employees were killed and nearly $16,000 in payroll money taken at the Slater & Morrill Shoe Factory in South Braintree, Massachusetts; the killers escaped in a car with several other men; anarchists Sacco & Vanzetti were executed for the crime in 1927. 1920 May 19: Striking miners and local police defended the town of Matewan, West Virginia against hoodlums hired by mine owners; the gunfight resulted in 12 deaths, including the mayor. 1920 Aug 26: 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the vote was declared to be in effect. 1920 Aug 29: Birthday of jazzman Charlie 'Bird' Parker; he died in 1955. 1920 Sept 17: Founding of the American Professional Football Assn. (a precursor of the National Football League) in Canton, Ohio. 1920 Oct 22: Birthday of counterculture icon Timothy Leary, PhD; he died in 1996. 1921 Eskimo Pie™ chocolate-dipped ice cream bar went on the market, produced by Russell Stover Candies®. Character 'Betty Crocker' created to respond to cooking & baking questions received from a Gold Medal flour advertisement in Saturday Evening Post Magazine. Launch of the Baby Ruth® candy bar. 1921 May 3: West Virginia imposed the first state sales tax. 1921 May 21: Taggart Baking Company of Indianapolis, Indiana introduced Wonder® bread. 1921 July 14: A jury found Italian anarchists Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco guilty in the Braintree robbery & killings; the two Italian anarchists were executed for the crime in 1927. 1921 Aug 25: U.S. signed a peace treaty with Germany. 1921 Nov 11: President Harding dedicated the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC. 1922 Jan 24: Patent for Eskimo Pie™ chocolate-dipped ice cream bar issued to Christian K. Nelson of Onawa, Iowa and Russell Stover of Chicago, Illinois. 1922 March 12: Birthday of Beat writer Jack Kerouac in Lowell, MA; he died in 1969. 1922 May 30: Dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC by Chief Justice William Howard Taft. 1922 Sept: Clarence Birdseye founded Birdseye Seafoods, Inc. in New York City to process flash-frozen fish fillets. 1922 Nov 11: Birthday of author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.; he died in 2007. 1923: Russell Stover Candies® went on the market. 1923 Feb 14: Velveeta Cheese Company incorporated in Monroe, New York; sold to Kraft in 1927. 1923 March 2: Launch of Time Magazine by Henry R. Luce. 1923 May 2-3: First nonstop flight across America took 26 hours and 50 minutes. 1923 Sept 17: Birthday of singer / songwriter Hank Williams; he died in 1953. Timelines of History 1924-25 1924 Pyrex® cookware went on the market. First U.S. execution using hydrocyanic gas, of a Chinese tong member at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City. Painted roadway center lines law passed by California legislature after a long campaign by Dr. June McCarroll of Indio, California. Whole wheat flakes ready-to-eat breakfast cereal accidentally invented by a health clinician in Minneapolis; process perfected by George Cormack, head miller at Washburn Crosby Co.; eventually marketed as Wheaties®. 1924 Feb 8: First coast-to-coast radio broadcast. 1924 Feb 22: Calvin Coolidge delivered the first radio broadcast from the White House. 1924 May 10: J. Edgar Hoover appointed Director of the F.B.I. 1924 June 2: Congress granted U.S. citizenship to all American Indians. 1924 Aug 2: Birthday of author James Baldwin; he died in 1987. 1924 Aug 5: Harold Gray's comic strip Little Orphan Annie began in the New York Times. 1924 Nov: Launch of Wheaties® Whole Wheat Flakes ready-to-eat breakfast cereal. 1924 Nov 25: Macy's Department Store held its first Thanksgiving Parade in New York City. 1925: Beginning of the Goodyear blimp program. 1925 Feb 21: Birthday of film director Sam Peckinpah; he died in 1984. 1925 Mar 13: Tennessee law made teaching of evolution there unlawful. 1925 May 19: Birthday of activist Malcolm X; he died in 1965. 1925 May 27: Birthday of mystery author Tony Hillerman. 1925 June 6: Founding of the Chrysler Corporation by Walter Percy Chrysler. 1925 July 10: Scopes 'Monkey Trial' began in Dayton, Tennessee. 1925 July 21: John T. Scopes convicted, fined $100; conviction overturned on appeal. 1925 Nov 28: The 'Grand Ole Opry' radio program made its debut on Nashville's WSM. Timelines of History 1926-27 1926 March 16: Dr. Robert H. Goddard successfully launched the first liquid-fueled rocket near Auburn, Massachusetts. 1926 June 3: Birthday of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg; he died in 1997. 1926 July 2: The U.S. Army Air Corps was established. 1926 Aug 6: Warner Bros. premiered "Don Juan" in New York City, the first film using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system (featuring music & sound effects). 1926 Nov 15: The National Broadcasting Company debuted with a radio network of 24 stations. 1927: Edwin E. Perkins invented Kool-Aid® in Hastings, Nebraska; celebrated at the town's 'Kool-Aid Days' in August. 1927 Jan 29: Birthday of eco-activist / author Edward Abbey; he died in 1989. 1927 April 9: After lengthy appeals, Italian anarchists Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco were sentenced to death by Judge Thayer. 1927 May 4: Founding of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. 1927 May 19-20: Aviator Charles Lindbergh made the first successful solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, traveling nonstop from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York to Paris, France in 33.5 hours. 1927 August 23: Executions of unjustly-convicted Italian anarchists Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco, along with bankrobber Celestino Madeieros.    "Sacco and Vanzetti" documentary feature film [indep March 2007] Directed by Peter Miller video/DVD not yet available • full credits from IMDb • official movie site    "Sacco and Vanzetti: The Men, The Murders & The Judgment of Mankind" [2007] by Bruce Watson Viking 8¾x6 hardcover [8/2007] for $17.13    "Boston: A Documentary Novel {of the Sacco-Vanzetti Case}" [1928] by Upton Sinclair [1878-1968] A Boston brahmin who is the widow of the ex-governor becomes involved in the social and political turmoil created by the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti. Bentley 9¼x6½ hardcover [12/78] for $32.00    "Ballads of Sacco & Vanzetti" [1996] by Woody Guthrie Smithsonian Folkways remastered recordings [2/96] for $16.98 1927 Sept 7: Invention of all-electronic television by Philo T. Farnsworth [1906-71]. 1927 Sept 18: Debut of the Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System [later C.B.S.] with a network of 16 radio stations. 1927 Sept 23: Invention of all-electronic television by Philo T. Farnsworth. 1927 Oct 6: Talking pictures arrived with the opening of "The Jazz Singer", starring Al Jolson; the movie featured both silent & synchronous-sound scenes. 1927 Dec 2: Ford Motor Company unveiled the 'Model A' automobile, successor to the Model T. 1928 Jolly Green Giant® brand placed on the market. William Dreyer partnered with candy-maker Joseph Edy to found a small ice cream factory in Oakland, California. Launch of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. 1928 March 12: Release of "The Treasurer's Report", a hilarious short starring Robert Benchley, which is actually the first ALL-sound movie in general release. 1928 June 17-18: Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. 1928 June 20: Founding of General Mills, Inc. by merger of 5 companies. 1928 Nov 18: The first successful synchronous sound animated cartoon premiered in New York City - Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie", starring Mickey Mouse. 1929 Jan 15: Birthday of civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Atlanta, GA; he died in 1968. 1929 Jan 17: Popeye the Sailor appeared in the first dialy "Thimble Theater" comic strip. 1929 Feb 14: Chicago's Al Capone machine-gunned to death seven rivals in the 'St. Valentine's Day Massacre'. 1929 Feb 26: President Coolidge signed legislation establishing Grand Teton National Park. 1929 May 16: First Academy Awards banquet. 1929 Oct 28: Stock market crashes! #3 worst one-day Dow-Jones Industrial Average decline of 12.82%, closing at 260.64. 1929 Oct 29: Stock market crashes! #4 worst one-day Dow-Jones Industrial Average decline of 11.73%, closing at 230.07; the infamous 'Black Tuesday' collapse of the New York stock market began America's 'Great Depression'. 1929 Nov 6: Stock market crashes! #5 worst one-day Dow-Jones Industrial Average decline of 9.92%.

The  Great  Depression    "The Great Crash: 1929" [1954 classic] by John Kenneth Galbraith Mariner Books 8¼x5½ pb [4/97] for $11.20 Houghton Mifflin mass pb [1/61] out of print/many used book entry at Wikipedia    "Great Depression: A Nation In Distress" [YA 1996] by Janet Beyer & JoAnne Weisman Deitch Tandem Library 7¼x5¼ econoclad [10/2001] for $15.25 Discovery Enterprises 7½x5¼ pb [4/96] out of print/used    "The New Deal: Hope for The Nation" [1997] by Cheryl Edwards Tandem Library 7½x5¼ econoclad [10/2001] for $15.25 Discovery Enterprises 7½x5¾ pb [3/97] out of printy/used    "The Hungry Years: America In An Age of Crisis, 1929-1939" [1999] by T.H. Watkins "Maybe the best book ever written about the worst of times in America." — Smithsonian Magazine Owl Books 8¼x5½ pb [9/2000] for $13.26 Henry Holt hardcover[10/99] out of print/many used    "The Worst Hard Time: the Untold Story of Those Who Survived The Great American Dust Bowl" [2005] by Timothy Egan Mariner Books 8¼x5½ pb [9/2006] for $10.17 Houghton Mifflin 9¼x6¼ hardcover [12/2005] for $18.48    ”The Forgotten Man: A New History of The Great Depression” [2007] by Amity Shlaes ”a skeptical critique of the New Deal”, but a thorough history nonetheless HarperCollins 9x6 hardcover [6/2007] for $16.17 1930 Chelsea Milling Co. introduced Jiffy Mixes®. Founding of Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. by Marcus L. Urann and two other cranberry growers. Harland Sanders began cooking chicken dinners for customers of his service station in Corbin, Kentucky. He was given the honorary title 'Kentucky colonel' by the governor in 1935. Replogle Globes, world leader in map-globe manufacture, established in Broadview, Illinois. 1930s: Ruth Wakefield is credited with inventing chocolate chip cookies at her Toll House Restaurant in Whitman, Massachussets, later making a deal with Nestlé to publish her recipe on their packages of semi-sweet chocolate. 1930 March 19: Birthday of jazz musician Ornette Coleman. 1930 April 6: Continental Baking Co. executive Jimmy Dewar invented (Hostess) Twinkies as a use for cream-filled strawberry shortcake machines idled when strawberry season ended. 1930 July 3: Congress established the U.S. Veterans Administration. 1931 March 3: "The Star-Spangled Banner" officially became the U.S. national anthem. 1931 March 18: Schick, Inc. put the first electric razor on the market. 1931 March 19: Nevada legalized gambling. 1931 May 1: Dedication of the 102-story Empire State Building in New York City. 1932: Dow-Jones Industrial Average down to 41.22 points. Fritos Corn Chips® put on the market, in San Antonio, Texas; merged with H.W. Lay Company in 1961. Skippy Peanut Butter introduced by Rosefield Packing Co. of Alamada, California, under license to Swift & Co.; re-introduced 1 February 1933, in both creamy & new chunk-style forms. Mars Candy Co. introduced the 3 Musketeers® Bar, named for the three flavored sections (vanilla, chocolate & strawberry) inside. 1932 May 20: Aviator Amelia Earhart began the first successful solo flight by a woman across the Atlantic Ocean, traveling nonstop from Newfoundland to Ireland. 1932 July 12: Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa received a patent for a bread-slicing machine with multiple cutting bands. 1932 Aug 12: #7 worst one-day Dow-Jones Industrial Average decline of 8.40% 1932 Sept 17: Birthday of mystery author Robert B. Parker. 1933: First national minimum wage established at 25 cents per hour; the Supreme Court decided that the law was unconstitutional {as written} on 27 May 1935; new minimum wage law enacted in 1938. First version of the Philadelphia cheese steak – sliced, grilled beef & grilled onions piled on a roll – made by Harry & Pat Olivieri at their 'Pat's King of Steaks' hot dog stand near the Italian market in South Philadelphia; the options of Cheez Whiz, provalone, American cheese & pizza sauce were added later. 1933 Jan 30: Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. 1933 Feb 6: 20th Amendment {'lame duck'} declared to be in effect, establishing details of Presidential succession. 1933 Feb 17: Thomas J.C. Martin published the first issue of Newsweek Magazine (then-called "News-Week"). 1933 March 2: The motion picture "King Kong" had its world premiere in New York City, becoming the highest grossing film of 1933. 1933 March 13: The first national radio "Fireside Chat" from President Roosevelt to the American people. (F.D.R. made thirty such broadcasts, the last in June 1944.) 1933 April 5: President Roosevelt made 'hoarding' of gold illegal, effectively taking the U.S. off the gold standard. 1933 June 6: Opening of the first drive-in movie theater, in Camden, New Jersey. 1933 July 21: #10 worst one-day Dow-Jones Industrial Average decline of 7.84% 1933 Dec 5: 21st Amendment ratified by Utah, ending Prohibition. 1934 June 18: Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act, promoted as a 'New Deal' for Native Americans. 1934 June 19: The Federal Communications Commission was created, replacing the Federal Radio Commission. 1934 July 22: Federal agents shot & killed bank robber John Dillinger outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago. 1935: Nabisco launched Ritz Crackers in the U.S. 1935 Jan 24: The first canned beer, Krueger's Cream Ale, went on sale in Richmond, Virginia. 1935 April: President Roosevelt created the Works Projects Administration (shortly renamed Works Progress Administration) to hire the unemployed to construct and repair local public buildings, roads & other infrastructure, and to operate large arts, drama, media & literacy projects.    "American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of The W.P.A. - When F.D.R. Put The Nation To Work" [2008] by Nick Taylor Bantam 9¾x6 hardcover [2/2008] for $17.92 Random House offical booksite 1935 June 10: Founding of Alcoholics Anonymous in Akron, Ohio. 1935 July 16: Oklahoma City installed the first parking meters. 1935 Aug 14: The Social Security Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt. 1935 Nov 9: John L. Lewis & others formed the Committee for Industrial Organization. 1935 Nov 14: President Roosevelt proclaimed the Philipine Islands a free commonwealth. 1935 Dec 19: First public demonstration of F.M. radio, by American inventor Edwin Howard Armstrong. 1936: General Mills Foods introduced the Betty Crocker® line of baking mixes. 1936 Jan 29: First members named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, including Ty Cobb & Babe Ruth. 1936 Oct 28: President Roosevelt rededicated the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary. 1936 Nov 23: Launch of Life Magazine by Henry R. Luce. 1937: Kraft introduced its Macaroni & Cheese Dinner product. 1937: Margaret Rudkin began baking preservative-free bread because her son was allergic to artificial ingredients in commercial breads; began selling Pepperidge Farm bread to local grocers in Fairfield, Connecticut. 1937 Jan 1: A party guest at the Hormel Mansion in Minnesota won $100 for a new name for the planned luncheon meat product originally called Hormel Spiced Ham; Hormel Spam® was introduced later that year. 1937 Feb 11: United Auto Workers won their 6-week sit-down strike when General Motors agreed to recognize the union. 1937 April 27: First Social Security checks distributed. 1937 May 6: Crash in Lakehurst, New Jersey of the hydrogen-filled German dirigible airship Hindenburg; one ground crewman died, 35 of 97 on board died. 1937 May 27: San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge was opened to the public (pedestrians only). 1937 May 28: Golden Gate Bridge opened to vehicular traffic, via remote by President Roosevelt in Washington, DC. 1937 July 2: Aviator Amelia Earhart disappeared in the South Pacific while attempting the first round-the-world flight at the Equator with navigator Fred Noonan. 1937 July 13: Vernon Rudolph bought a secret yeast-based doughnut recipe from a French chef from New Orleans, rented a building in Old Salem, North Carolina and began selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts to grocery stores. 1937 July 18: Birthday of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson; he died in 2005. 1938: Buick automobiles included the first turn signals. 1938: Founding of the Topps Chewing Gum Company in Brooklyn, New York (later makers of Bazooka bubble gum). 1938 June 23: The U.S. Civil Aeronautics Authority was established. 1938 June 25: National minimum wage established at 25 cents per hour, as part of the Fair Labor Practices Act.

World  War  Two War Film Festival - World War II Movies 1939: Nestlé put Toll House Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (i.e. chocolate chips) on the market. 1939: Herman W. Lay founded H.W. Lay Corp. in Atlanta, Georgia as a distributor of potato chips; changed product name to Lay's Potato Chips in 1944. 1939 Sept 1: World War II began as Nazi Germany invaded Poland. 1939 Sept 5: U.S. declared its neutrality in the war in Europe. 1940: First Dairy Queen® soft ice cream stand opened. 1940 March 1: Publication of "Native Son" by Richard Wright. 1940 Sept 14: Congress passed the Selective Service Act, establishing the first peacetime military draft in U.S. history. 1940 Oct 28: Italy invaded Greece. 1940 Dec 30: California's first freeway opened, the Arroyo Seco Parkway between Downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena. 1941: General Mills introduced 'Cheerioats' as the first ready-to-eat oat cereal; changed name to Cheerios in 1945 for legal reasons. 1941 Jan 6: President Roosevelt's State of The Union Address outlined The Four Freedoms: freedom of speech and expression; freedom of every person to worship [a deity] in his own way [or not]; freedom from want; and freedom from fear. 1941 Feb 4: Founding of the United Service Organizations aka 'The U.S.O.'. 1941 May 1: Premiere of Orson Welles's masterpiece "Citizen Kane" at the R.K.O. Palace Theatre in New York City. 1941 May 24: Birthday of musician Bob Dylan {nee Robert Zimmerman}. 1941 May 27: With war tension growing around the world, President Roosevelt proclaimed an "unlimited national emergency". 1941 July 7: Delivery to U.S. Army of Willys MA 4x4 vehicle, later named the Jeep. 1941 Dec 7: Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. 1941 Dec 8: U.S. Congress declared war on Japan. 1941 Dec 11: United States joined World War II. 1942: America's first parking meter ordinance passed in Santa Ana, California. Production of Hershey's Kisses candies suspended (until 1949) as tin foil was needed for the war effort. Corn dog invented by Carl & Neil Fletcher for sale at the State Fair of Texas. 1942 Feb 19: President Roosevelt signed Executive Order #9066 giving the military the authority to relocate and intern Japanese-Americans and Japanese nationals living in the U.S.; German-Americans and German nationals were rounded up and relocated from the East Coast, as well as Italian-Americans and Italian nationals. 1942 March 18: President Roosevelt signed Executive Order #9102 authorizing the War Relocation Authority. 1942 March 23: Federal troops began evacuating Japanese-Americans from their West Coast homes to detention centers farther inland, including Manzanar in the California desert, Granada in Colorado, Heart Mountain in Wyoming, Topaz Center at Delta in Utah, and the Gila River Reservation in Arizona.    "Farewell To Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During & After The World War II Internment" [1972] by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston Laurel Leaf mass pb [3/83] for $6.99 Houghton Mifflin 8¾x6 hardcover [4/2002] for $11.25    "UnCivil Liberties: Italian Americans Under Siege During World War II" [rev 2000, orig 1990] by Stephen Fox Universal Publrs 8¼x5½ pb [2/2000] for $29.95    "Heart Mountain: Life In Wyoming's Concentration Camp" [2000] by Mike Mackey Endeavor/Western History Publns 9x6 pb [4/2000] for $15.95    "American Pastime" [Warner May 2007] A mix of archival and newly-shot footage, of modern actors and interviews with internees reveals the harrowing isolation & loneliness of the Topaz Camp in Utah and the Manzanar Camp in California, and a solution created inside the camps: baseball! Co-written & directed by Desmond Nakano; starring Masatoshi Nakamura, Gary Cole, Sarah Drew, Judy Ongg, Aaron Yoo, Seth Sakai, Susanna Thompson & Leonardo Nam Warner widescreen color DVD [5/2007] for $16.99 full credits from IMDb    "Come See The Paradise" [Fox Dec 1990] An American union organizer falls in love with a Japanese girl in pre-war Los Angeles, and they escape local prejudice by eloping to Seattle; but soon after Pearl Harbor, all Japanese on the West Coast are herded into concentration camps, and the young man is drafted. Written & directed by Alan Parker; starring Dennis Quaid, Tamlyn Tomita, Sab Shimono, Shizuko Hoshi, Colm Meaney & Becky Ann Baker Fox widescreen color DVD [6/2006] for $12.99 Fox color VHS [3/92] out of prodn/many used Varese Sarabande soundtrack CD [12/90] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb 1942 Nov 20: The 600-mile-long Alaska-Canada [AlCan] Highway was opened after only eight months of construction. 1942 Nov 26: President Roosevelt ordered nationwide gas rationing, effective December 1st. 1943: John Tyson purchased his first chicken farm, located in Springdale, Arkansas; incorporated Tyson Feed & Hatchery in 1947. 1943 Jan 14: Casablanca conference meeting of President Roosevelt, Britain's Prime Minister Churchill, and France's Gen. de Gaulle. 1943 July 1: Federal 'pay as you go' income tax withholding began. 1943 Oct 14: Radio Corporation of America completed sale for $8 million to businessman Edward J. Noble of its N.B.C. Blue Network, soon renamed the American Broadcasting Company. 1943 Dec 24: President Roosevelt appointed Gen. Eisenhower as supreme commander of the Allied forces. 1944 June 6: 'Operation Overlord', the WWII invasion of Normandy's beaches, began; day referred to as 'D-Day'. 1944 July 17: Navy munitions explosion at Port Chicago, California killed 320 sailors, followed by 'mutiny' of 328 Afro-American sailors protesting unsafe working conditions. 1944 Aug 25: Allied forces liberated Paris, France after 4 years of occupation by Nazi Germany. 1944 Oct 8: Debut of "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" on C.B.S. Radio. 1944 Dec 17: The U.S. Army announced it was ending exclusion of Japanese-Americans from the West Coast. 1945 Jan 27: Concentration camp inmates at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland were liberated by the Russian Army.    "Auschwitz Report" [Italian 1946; English 2006] by Primo Levi & Leonardo de Benedetti; edited by Robert S. C. Gordon The newly-rediscovered early work by Holocaust survivor Levi and a fellow Auschwitz inmate, a doctor. Verso 7½x5½ hardcover [10/2006] for $10.77    "Survival In Auschwitz" [Italian 1947, English 1959] by Primo Levi Touchstone 8x5½ pb [9/95] for $11.20 Scribner 8¼x5½ hardcover? [9/93] out of print/used 1945 Feb 11: F.D.R & Churchill & Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement. 1945 Feb 13: Allied bombers destroyed German city of Dresden, killing 135,000 civilians. "The Destruction of Dresden" by David Irving, American edition 1964 from H R & W "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. [1922-2007] 1945 April 1: U.S. forces invaded Okinawa, Japan. 1945 April 12: Buchenwald Nazi slave labor camp was liberated on the same day that F.D.R. died; Vice President Harry S. Truman becomes President. 1945 April 29: American soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp. 1945 May 7: Germany surrendered unconditionally. 1945 May 8: "V-E Day" proclaimed for celebration of victory by Allies in Europe. 1945 July 16: First atomic bomb test (code named 'Trinity') in the New Mexico desert. 1945 Aug 6: Atomic bomb (rated at 20 kilotons) dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, killing an estimated 140,000 people. 1945 Aug 9: Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, killing an estimated 74,000 people. Atomic U.S.A. Page at Spirit of America 1945 Aug 14: Japan surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, ending World War II. 1945 Aug 15: "V-J Day" proclaimed for celebration of victory by Allies over Japan. 1945 Sept 2: Japan formally surrendered aboard the battleship U.S.S. Missouri. 1945 Oct 24: The United Nations officially came into existence. 1945 Dec 28: The U.S. Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance. 1946: Minute Rice® put on the market. 1946 Jan 25: United Mine Workers rejoined the A.F.L. 1946 Feb 18: California court case Mendez et al v. Westminster School District, in which a group of civic-minded parents of Orange County successfully sued to end segregation based on national origin in their schools. 1946 March 5: Winston Churchill delivered his famous 'Iron Curtain' speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. 1946 March 30: The Soviet Union invaded Austria. 1946 July: First official flight into space, when Werner von Braun's 'Operation Paperclip' team launched a V-2 rocket from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico; the on-board payload included live fruit flies and corn seeds. 1946 July 1: Above-ground nuclear test at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific. 1946 July 25: Underwater nuclear test at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific. 1946 Oct 30: R.C.A. publicly demonstrated an all-electronic system of color TV, on a 15x20-inch screen. 1946 Dec 31: President Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.

Post-War  Boom  Era 1947: Topps Chewing Gum Co. developed Bazooka bubble gum; introduced baseball cards in 1951; introduced Bazooka Joe comics wrappers in 1953. 1947 Feb 21: First public demonstration of Polaroid camera & film at Optical Society of America by Dr. Edwin Land. 1947 April 16: Financier Bernard M. Baruch said in a speech at South Carolina's Capital Building "Let us not be deceived: We are today in the midst of a cold war." 1947 Jun 4: U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the Taft-Hartley Act, revising labor law in favor of management. 1947 June 23: Congress over-rode Truman's veto of Taft-Hartley, making it law. 1947 July 8: U.S. Army Air Force officials announced that a 'flying disc' had crashed 130 miles from Roswell, New Mexico, but later the same day corrected the report by announcing that the object was a weather balloon. 1947 July 26: President Truman signed the National Security Act, establishing the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 1947 Oct 14: Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier over Edwards A.F.B. [Muroc Dry Lake] in California, flying the Bell XS-1 to a speed of Mach 1.06. 1947 Oct 20: House Unamerican Activities Committee [H.U.A.C.] chairman J. Parnell Thomas opened hearings into alleged influence & infiltration by Communist Party members within the motion picture industry. Early witnesses were friendly, and included philosopher Ayn Rand [1905-82]. This was the beginning of the 'Hollywood Blacklist'. 1947 Nov 2: Howard Hughes flew the HH-1 'Spruce Goose' flying boat in Long Beach Harbor. 1947 Nov 24: H.U.A.C cited for contempt of Congress a group of writers, producers & directors – later known as the 'Hollywood Ten' – for refusing to answer questions about alleged Communist influence in the motion picture industry. 1947 Dec 23: Bell Labs of New Jersey publicly demonstrated the first semiconductor amplifier, a primitive transistor. 1948: Engineer Percy Spencer at Raytheon Corp. invented the commercial microwave oven. 1948: Johnson & Johnson launched the first mass-marketed disposable diaper. 1948 Feb 16: First nightly television news broadcast, "The Camel Newsreel Theatre" on NBC-TV, showing Fox-MovieTone newsreels narrated by John Cameron Swayze (which lasted to Oct 1956). 1948 April 3: Inaugural broadcast of the Louisiana Hayride radio program from station KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana. 1948 May 3: The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision in U.S. vs. Paramount Pictures ordering America's motion picture studios to divest themselves of their ownership in movie theaters. This became known as the infamous 'consent decree'. 1948 May 3: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that real estate covenants prohibiting sale to Afro-Americans or other racial groups were legally unenforceable. 1948 May 14: The independent state of Israel declared its existence in Tel Aviv. 1948 June 18: Columbia Records publicly unveiled its new long-playing ['LP'] record in New York City. 1948 June 24: Communist forces cut off all land & water routes thru East Germany to Western-occupied sectors of the city of Berlin, prompting the Western allies to organize the massive Berlin Airlift. 1948 July 10: Aaron 'Bunny' Lapin of St. Louis, Missouri put whipped cream in a spray can, marketed it as "Reddi Wip". 1949 March 31: Newfoundland joined confederation with Canada as the tenth province. 1949 May 11: The U.S.S.R. lifted the blockade of Berlin, Germany; the Berlin Airlift continued until September (to ensure sufficient supplies against another blockade). 1949 Aug 10: U.S. military renamed the Defense Department. 1949 Sept 23: Birthday of Bruce Springsteen. 1949 Sept 30: The end of the Berlin Airlift in Germany. 1949 Oct 1: Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China during a ceremony in Beijing. Fifties Culture Nostalgia Page 1950: Nash Rambler was the first automobile to offer seatbelts. 1950 June 25: Korean War began. 1950 July 8: President Truman named Gen. Douglas MacArthur commander-in-chief of United Nations forces in Korea. 1950 Oct 2: The Peanuts® comic strip, created by Charles M. Schulz, was first published – in nine newspapers. up to 1800    •    1801-1900    •    1901-1950 { this page }    •   next: 1951-2000    •    2001 to present

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