1909
- Japan's Prince Ito is Assassinated
- NAACP Is Founded
- Plastic Is Invented
- Robert Peary Becomes the First to Reach the North Pole.
1910
- Boy Scouts Established in U.S.
- Halley's Comet Makes an Appearance
- The Tango Catches On.
1911
- The Chinese Revolution
- Ernest Rutherford Discovers the Structure of an Atom
- The Incan City of Machu Picchu Discovered
- Mona Lisa Is Stolen
- Roald Amundsen Reaches the South Pole
- Standard Oil Company Broken Up
- Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Catches on Fire
1912
- Oreo Cookies First Introduced
- Parachutes Invented
- Piltdown Man, the "Missing Link," Discovered (Fraud)
- The Titanic Sinks
1913
- First Crossword Puzzle
- Henry Ford Creates Assembly Line
- Los Angeles Owens Valley Aquaduct Opened
- Personal Income Tax Introduced in U.S.
1914
- Archduke Ferdinand Assassinated
- Battle of the Marne
- Charlie Chaplin First Appeared as the Little Tramp
- First Traffic Light
- Panama Canal Officially Opened
- World War I Begins
1915
- Armenian Genocide
- D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation Released
- Germans Use Poison Gas as a Weapon
- Lusitania Sunk by German U-Boat
- Second Battle of Ypres
1916
- Battle of the Somme
- Battle of Verdun
- Easter Rising in Ireland
- First Self-Service Grocery Store Opens in U.S.
1917
- First Pulitzer Prizes Awarded
- Mata Hari Executed for Being a Spy
- Russian Revolution
- U.S. Enters World War I
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1918
- 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic
- Daylight Saving Time Introduced
- Russian Czar Nicholas II and His Family are Killed
1919
- Treaty of Versailles Ends World War I.
1920
- Bubonic Plague in India
- First Commercial Radio Broadcast Aired
- Harlem Renaissance Begins
- League of Nations Established
- Prohibition Begins in the U.S.
- Pancho Villa Retires.
1921
- "Fatty" Arbuckle Scandal
- Extreme Inflation in Germany
- Irish Free State Proclaimed
- Lie Detector Invented
1922
- Insulin Discovered
- Kemal Atatürk Founds Modern Turkey
- Tomb of King Tut Discovered
- Michael Collins Killed in Ambush
- Mussolini Marches on Rome
- The Reader's Digest Published
1923
- Charleston Dance Becomes Popular
- Hitler Jailed After Failed Coup
- Ruhr Occupied by French and Belgian Forces
- Talking Movies Invented
- Teapot Dome Scandal
- Time Magazine Founded
1924
- First Olympic Winter Games
- J. Edgar Hoover Appointed FBI Director
- Leopold and Loeb Murder a Neighbor Out of Boredom
- V.I. Lenin Dies
1925
- Flapper Dresses in Style
- Hitler Publishes Mein Kampf
- The Scopes (Monkey) Trial
1926
- A.A. Milne Publishes Winnie-the-Pooh
- First Assassination Attempt on Mussolini
- Houdini Dies After Being Punched
- Robert Goddard Fires His First Liquid-Fuel Rocket
- A Woman Swims the English Channel
1927
- Babe Ruth Makes Home-Run Record
- BBC Founded
- The First Talking Movie, The Jazz Singer
- Lindbergh Flies Solo Across the Atlantic
- Sacco and Venzetti Executed
1928
1929
- Bubble Gum Invented
- First Mickey Mouse Cartoon
- First Oxford English Dictionary Published
- Kellogg-Briand Treaty Outlaws War
- Penicillin Discovered
- Sliced Bread Invented
- Byrd and Bennett Fly Over South Pole
- Car Radio Invented
- First Academy Awards
- Stock Market Crashes
- St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
1930
- Gandhi's Salt March
- Pluto Discovered
- Stalin Begins Collectivizing Agriculture in the U.S.S.R.
1931
- Al Capone Imprisoned for Income Tax Evasion
- Auguste Piccard Reaches Stratosphere
- Christ Monument Built on Rio de Janeiro Hilltop
- Empire State Building Completed
- Scottsboro Boys Accused of Rape
- U.S. Officially Gets National Anthem
1932
- Air Conditioning Invented
- Amelia Earhart First Woman to Fly Solo Across the Atlantic
- Lindbergh's Baby Kidnapped
- Scientists Split the Atom
- Zippo Lighters Introduced
1933
- Adolf Hitler Becomes Chancellor of Germany
- Assassination Attempt on FDR
- FDR Launches New Deal
- First Nazi Concentration Camp Established
- Loch Ness Monster First Spotted
- Prohibition Ends in the U.S.
- Wiley Post Flies Around the World in 8 1/2 Days
1934
- Bonnie and Clyde Killed by Police
- Cheeseburger Created
- The Dust Bowl
- Mao Zedong Begins the Long March
- Parker Brothers Sells the Game "Monopoly"
1935
- Alcoholics Anonymous Founded
- Germany Issues the Anti-Jewish Nuremberg Laws
- John Maynard Keynes Suggests New Economic Theory
- Social Security Enacted in U.S.
1936
- Carnegie Publishes How to Win Friends and Influence People
- Hoover Dam Completed
- King Edward VIII Abdicates
- Nazi Olympics in Berlin
- Spanish Civil War Begins
1937
- Amelia Earhart Vanishes
- Golden Gate Bridge Opened
- The Hindenberg Disaster
- Japan Invades China
1938
1939
- Broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" Causes Panic
- Chamberlain Announces "Peace in Our Time"
- "Extinct" Fish Found (Coelacanth)
- Hitler Annexes Austria
- The Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht)
- First Commercial Flight Over the Atlantic
- German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact Signed
- Helicopter Invented
- Refugees on the St. Louis Refused Entry Everywhere
- World War II Begins.
1940
- Battle of Britain
- Leon Trotsky Assassinated
- Nylons on the Market
- Stone Age Cave Paintings Found in France.
1941
- Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor
- Jeep Invented
- Manhattan Project Begins
- Mount Rushmore Completed
- Nazi Rudolf Hess Flies to Britain on a Peace Mission
- Siege of Leningrad
1942
- Anne Frank Goes Into Hiding
- Battle of Midway
- Battle of Stalingrad
- Japanese-Americans Held in Camps
- Nazis Raze Town in Retaliation for Reinhard Heydrich's Death
- T-shirt Introduced
1943
- French Resistance Leader Jean Moulin Killed
- Grave of Katyn Forest Massacre Found
- Italy Joins the Allies
- Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
1944
- Ballpoint Pens Go On Sale
- D-Day
- First German V1 and V2 Rockets Fired
- Hitler Escapes Assassination Attempt
1945
- FDR Dies
- First Computer Built (ENIAC)
- Germans Surrender
- Hitler Commits Suicide
- Microwave Oven Invented
- Slinky Toy Hits Shelves
- United Nations Founded
- U.S. Drops Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1946
- Bikinis Introduced
- Dr. Spock's The Common Book of Baby and Child Care Is Published
- Juan Perón Becomes President of Argentina
- Nuremberg Trials
- Winston Churchill Gives His "Iron Curtain" Speech
1947
- Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier
- Dead Sea Scrolls Discovered
- Jewish Refugees Aboard the Exodus Turned Back by British
- Marshall Plan
- Polaroid Cameras Invented
- 1948
1949
- Berlin Airlift
- "Big Bang" Theory Formulated
- "Dewey Defeats Truman" in the Newspaper
- Gandhi Assassinated
- Policy of Apartheid Begun
- State of Israel Founded
- China Becomes Communist
- First Non-Stop Flight Around the World
- George Orwell Publishes Nineteen Eight-Four
- NATO Established
- Soviet Union Has Atomic Bomb
11950
- First Modern Credit Card Introduced
- First Organ Transplant
- First "Peanuts" Cartoon Strip
- Korean War Begins
- Senator Joseph McCarthy Begins Communist Witch Hunt
- U.S. President Truman Orders Construction of Hydrogen Bomb.
1951
- Color TV Introduced
- South Africans Forced to Carry ID Cards Identifying Race
- Truman Signs Peace Treaty With Japan, Officially Ending WWII
- Winston Churchill Again Prime Minister of Great Britain
1952
- Car Seat Belts Introduced
- The Great Smog of 1952
- Jacques Cousteau Discovers Ancient Greek Ship
- Polio Vaccine Created
- Princess Elizabeth Becomes Queen at Age 25
1953
- DNA Discovered
- First Playboy Magazine
- Hillary and Norgay Climb Mt. Everest
- Joseph Stalin Dies
- Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Executed for Espionage
1954
- Britain Sponsors an Expedition to Search for the Abominable Snowman
- First Atomic Submarine Launched
- Report Says Cigarettes Cause Cancer
- Roger Bannister Breaks the Four-Minute Mile
- Segregation Ruled Illegal in U.S.
1955
- Disneyland Opens
- Emmett Till Murdered
- James Dean Dies in Car Accident
- McDonald's Corporation Founded
- Rosa Parks Refuses to Give Up Her Seat on a Bus
- Warsaw Pact Signed
1956
- Elvis Gyrates on Ed Sullivan's Show
- Grace Kelly Marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco
- Hungarian Revolution
- Khrushchev Denounces Stalin
- Suez Crisis
- T.V. Remote Control Invented
- Velcro Introduced 19
1957
- Dr. Seuss Publishes The Cat in the Hat
- European Economic Community Established
- Soviet Satellite Sputnik Launches Space Age
- Laika Becomes the First Living Animal to Enter Orbit
- 1958
1958-1959
- Boris Pasternak Refuses Nobel Prize
- Chinese Leader Mao Zedong Launches the "Great Leap Forward"
- Hope Diamond is Donated to the Smithsonian
- Hula Hoops Become Popular
- LEGO Toy Bricks First Introduced
- NASA Founded
- Peace Symbol Created
- Castro Becomes Dictator of Cuba
- International Treaty Makes Antarctica Scientific Preserve
- Kitchen Debate Between Nixon and Khrushchev
- The Sound of Music Opens on Broadway
- U.S. Quiz Shows Found to be Fixed
11960
- Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho Released
- Brazil's Capital Moves to Brand New City
- First Televised Presidential Debates
- Lasers Invented.
1961
- Adolf Eichmann on Trial for Role in Holocaust
- Bay of Pigs Invasion
- Berlin Wall Built
- Peace Corps Founded
- Soviets Launch First Man in Space
1962
- Andy Warhol Exhibits His Campbell's Soup Can
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- First Person Killed Trying to Cross the Berlin Wall
- Marilyn Monroe Found Dead
- Rachel Carson Publishes Silent Spring
1963
- Betty Friedan Publishes The Feminine Mystique
- JFK Assassinated
- Martin Luther King Jr. Makes His "I Have a Dream" Speech
1964
- Beatles Become Popular in U.S.
- Cassius Clay (a.k.a. Muhammad Ali) Becomes World Heavyweight Champion
- Civil Rights Act Passes in U.S.
- Hasbro Launches GI Joe Action Figure
- Nelson Mandela Sentenced to Life in Prison
- Warren Report on JFK's Assassination Issued
1965
- Japan's Bullet Train Opens
- Los Angeles Riots
- Malcolm X Assassinated
- New York City Great Blackout
- U.S. Sends Troops to Vietnam
1966
- Black Panther Party Established
- Mao Zedong Launches the Cultural Revolution
- Mass Draft Protests in U.S.
- Star Trek T.V. Series Airs
1967
- Australian Prime Minister Disappears
- Che Guevara Killed
- First Heart Transplant
- First Super Bowl
- Six-Day War in the Middle East
- Stalin's Daughter Defects
- Three U.S. Astronauts Killed During Simulated Launch
- 1968
19688-1969
- Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated
- My Lai Massacre
- Prague Spring
- Robert F. Kennedy Assassinated
- Tet Offensive
- ARPANET, the Precursor of the Internet, Created
- Charles Manson and "Family" Arrested
- Neil Armstrong Becomes the First Man on the Moon
- Rock-and-Roll Concert at Woodstock
- Senator Edward Kennedy Leaves the Scene of an Accident
- Sesame Street First Airs
- Yasser Arafat Becomes Leader of the PLO
1970
- Aswan High Dam Completed
- Beatles Break Up
- Computer Floppy Disks Introduced
- Palestinian Group Hijacks Five Planes
- Kent State Shootings.
1971
- London Bridge Brought to the U.S.
- United Kingdom Changes to Decimal System for Currency
- VCRs Introduced
1972
- M*A*S*H T.V. Show Premiers
- Mark Spitz Wins Seven Gold Medals
- Pocket Calculators Introduced
- Terrorists Attack at the Olympic Games in Munich
- Watergate Scandal Begins
1973
- Abortion Legalized in U.S.
- Paul Getty Kidnapped
- Sears Tower Built
- U.S. Pulls Out of Vietnam
- U.S. Vice President Resigns
1974
- Halie Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, Deposed
- Mikhail Baryshnikov Defects
- Patty Hearst Kidnapped
- Terracotta Army Discovered in China
- U.S. President Nixon Resigns
1975
- Arthur Ashe First Black Man to Win Wimbledon
- Civil War in Lebanon
- Microsoft Founded
- Pol Pot Becomes the Communist Dictator of Cambodia
1976
- First Ebola Virus Outbreaks Strike Sudan and Zaire
- Nadia Comaneci Given Seven Perfect Tens
- North and South Vietnam Join to Form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
- Tangshan Earthquake Kills Over 240,000
1977
- Elvis Found Dead
- Miniseries Roots Airs
- South African Anti-Apartheid Leader Steve Biko Tortured to Death
- Star Wars Movie Released
- 1978
1978-1979
- First Test-Tube Baby Born
- John Paul II Becomes Pope
- Jonestown Massacre
- Ayatollah Khomeini Returns as Leader of Iran
- Iran Takes American Hostages in Tehran
- Margaret Thatcher First Woman Prime Minister of Great Britain
- Mother Theresa Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
- Nuclear Accident at Three Mile Island
- Sony Introduces the Walkman
1980
- Failed U.S. Rescue Attempt to Save Hostages in Tehran
- John Lennon Assassinated
- Mount St. Helens Erupts
- Pac-Man Video Game Released
- Rubik's Cube Becomes Popular
- Ted Turner Establishes CNN.
1981
- Assassination Attempt on the Pope
- Assassination Attempt on U.S. President Reagan
- First Woman Appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court
- Millions Watch Royal Wedding on T.V.
- New Plague Identified as AIDS
- Personal Computers (PC) Introduced by IBM
1982
- E.T. Movie Released
- Falkland Islands Invaded by Argentina
- King Henry VIII's Ship the Mary Rose Raised After 437 Years
- Michael Jackson Releases Thriller
- Reverend Sun Myung Moon Marries 2,075 Couples at Madison Square Garden
- Vietnam War Memorial Opened in Washington, DC
1983
- Cabbage Patch Kids are Popular
- Reagan Announces Defense Plan Called Star Wars
- Sally Ride Becomes the First American Woman in Space
- Soviets Shoot Down a Korean Airliner
- U.S. Embassy in Beirut Bombed
1984
- Huge Poison Gas Leak in Bhopal, India
- Indira Gandhi, India's Prime Minister, Killed by Two Bodyguards
- PG-13 Movie Rating Created
1985
- Famine in Ethiopia
- Hole in the Ozone Layer Discovered
- Mikhail Gorbachev Calls for Glasnost and Perestroika
- New Coke Hits the Market
- Wreck of the Titanic Found
1986
- Challenger Space Shuttle Explodes
- Chernobyl Nuclear Accident
- Ferdinand Marcos Flees the Philippines
- Iran-Contra Scandal Unfolds
- U.S. Bombs Libya
- U.S.S.R. Launches Mir Space Station
1987
- DNA First Used to Convict Criminals
- Klaus Barbie, the Nazi Butcher of Lyons, Sentenced to Life in Prison
- New York Stock Exchange Suffers Huge Drop on "Black Monday"
- West German Pilot Lands Unchallenged in Russia's Red Square