Knowra 1920s 1920s The decade from January 1, 1920, through December 31, 1929, marked by postwar social change, mass consumer culture, and the global economic boom preceding the Great Depression.
Roaring Twenties : A period of economic expansion, urban growth, and changing social life during the 1920s, especially in the United States. The phrase captures the decade’s best-known image of prosperity and social change.
Radio broadcasting : The transmission of audio programs by radio waves to receivers used by the public. Broadcast networks gave performers, news, and advertising national audiences.
World War I : A global war fought from 1914 to 1918, chiefly between the Allied and Central Powers. Its casualties, debts, and political upheavals shaped the decade’s starting conditions.
Great Depression : A prolonged worldwide economic crisis that began after the 1929 financial collapse. The Depression contrasts with the decade’s boom and exposed its financial fragility.
Harlem Renaissance : A flourishing of African American literature, music, visual art, and intellectual life centered in Harlem during the 1920s. Its writers and artists reshaped American culture during the decade.
Talking picture : A motion picture synchronized with recorded dialogue or other sound. Synchronized sound transformed cinema near the decade’s end.
Treaty of Versailles : The 1919 peace treaty that formally ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. Its territorial and financial terms fueled tensions that persisted throughout the decade.
Jim Crow laws : State and local laws enforcing racial segregation and disenfranchisement, chiefly in the American South. Economic and cultural change coexisted with entrenched racial exclusion.
Prohibition in the United States : The nationwide ban on producing, importing, transporting, and selling alcoholic beverages, enforced from 1920 to 1933. The 1920s became the defining era of the ban and its illegal liquor trade.
Automobile : A self-propelled road vehicle designed primarily to carry people. Assembly-line production made cars central to mobility and consumer life.
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