Results: The Roaring 20s
Published on 07/13/2020
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1.
1.
The decade known as the Roaring 20s (the 1920s) was a period in American history of dramatic social and political change. The Roaring 20s got their name from the exuberant, freewheeling popular culture that defined the decade. The most obvious examples of this are jazz bands and flappers. However, the 1920s was much more than that. It was the decade that bought dramatic social and political change, flare and freedom to women, and advances in science and technology. Did you know this was why the decade was called the Roaring 20s?
Yes
48%
1148 votes
No
42%
1005 votes
Did not ever hear this expression
9%
221 votes
2.
2.
After World War I (which ended in 1918) and the Spanish Flu (which ended 1920) the world, and especially America saw some big changes. How many of these important events did you know happened in the 1920s?
The League of Nations was established in 1920. Its principle mission was to maintain world peace. Even though President Woodrow Wilson helped establish it, the U.S. did not join. Canada did, as part of the British Commonwealth
21%
510 votes
America had a de-facto woman president, in 1920, when President Wilson became too ill to perform his duties, and his wife, Edith Wilson stepped in and assumed his role, acting on his behalf.
15%
352 votes
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh flew solo from New York to Paris, and in 1928, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Before the decade was over, commercial passenger air travel had begun.
41%
966 votes
In 1923, Insulin is mass-produced for the treatment of diabetes.
15%
364 votes
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin in 1928 which changed the world of modern medicines by introducing the age of antibiotics.
28%
656 votes
Toward the end of the decade in October 1929, the stock market crashed, and America's invested wealth suddenly lost $26 billion in value. This crash was referred to as Black Thursday.
34%
802 votes
In 1921, the Communist Party of China is created.
6%
153 votes
The Butler Act which prohibits evolution from being taught in public schools is passed in Tennessee in 1925. It is not repealed until 1967.
5%
119 votes
The "Iron Lung," a device used to help polio patients breathe, is created by Philip Drinker and Louis Shaw in 1928.
21%
492 votes
All
7%
171 votes
None
39%
919 votes
Other (please specify)
0%
9 votes
3.
3.
Now, on to the pop culture events that helped shape the 1920s. How many of these famous events did you know happened in the 1920s?
The famous and iconic "Chanel No. 5" perfume is created by Coco Chanel in 1921.
17%
396 votes
The very first Winter Olympics are held. They take place in Chamonix, France, in 1924.
11%
266 votes
The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held on November 27th, 1924.
18%
428 votes
Sears Roebuck opens its first retail store in Chicago, Illinois in 1925. Sears had been selling through Home Shopping Catalogues since 1893
17%
414 votes
Walt Disney's famous Mickey Mouse cartoon character appears for the first time in "Steamboat Willie" in 1928.
37%
867 votes
The first Academy Awards (Oscars) for film-making and film actors are held in Los Angeles, in 1929. The entire awards presentation lasts 15 minutes. "Wings" won best picture.
12%
287 votes
All
7%
177 votes
None
44%
1047 votes
Other (please specify)
0%
9 votes
American pro football was born in August 1920 with the formation of the American Professional Football Association, which would later become the National Football League (NFL).
11%
251 votes
4.
4.
Finally, the truly odd things that happened in this decade -- how many of these things did you know?
At the end of each summer during the early 20th century — generally around September 15 — men would swap their straw Panama hats for more distinguished, though less breathable, felt hats. If you didn't make the switch, you were reportedly ridiculed and even risked having your straw hat stolen and stomped on. In 1922, people finally revolted against the fashion policy. Riots broke out for days, and thousands of people fought — many to great injury — over the right to wear the hat of their choosing.
6%
151 votes
The fad of pole sitting (that is sitting on top of a telephone or other poles for hours on end) was popular from the mid- to late-1920s and ended at the start of the Great Depression. Kids would construct seats on the tops of the poles and challenge their friends to see who could stay up there the longest. Some of the most die-hard pole-sitters could last more than a day or two.
14%
323 votes
Potable alcohol was so hard to come by during Prohibition that people often resorted to drinking industrial alcohol, like the kinds used to disinfect wounds. The only way to get your hands on it, however, was to steal it. Eventually, the US government got so fed up with the level of alcohol theft that it began poisoning its own supply to render it fatal if consumed, thinking this would stop the thefts. Years later, by 1933, the poisoned alcohol had killed nearly 10,000 people in what came to be known as "chemist's war of Prohibition."
12%
288 votes
All
6%
147 votes
None
70%
1660 votes
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