Decade by Decade
By Jennifer Rosenberg, About.com Guide to 20th Century History
Every decade of the twentieth century had its own personality. This personality was formed by both the people and the events that dominated it. Learn more about the century by exploring its decades.
1900s
Events, people, places, and other important happenings during the first years of the 20th century.
- 1906 San Francisco Earthquake & Fire
- First Airplane Crash
- First License Plates Issued in the U.S.
- First Silent Movie
- Mysterious Explosion in Siberia
- Typhoid Mary Captured
- President McKinley Assassinated
- More About the 1900s
1910s
A decade dominated by the first total war, World War I.
1920s
From Flappers to Prohibition, the 1920s were a decade full of major cultural and social change.
- Alexander Fleming Discovers Penicillin
- Charleston Dance Becomes Popular
- Flappers
- Henry Ford Designed the Model T
- Hiter's Attempted Coup
- Prohibition
- St. Valentine's Day Massacre
- Stock Market Crash of 1929
- Tomb of King Tut Found
- More About the 1920s
1930s
As the Nazis gained power in Germany, the Great Depression ravaged the rest of the world.
1940s
While countries from around the world sent troops to Europe to fight World War II, the Nazis continued their blitzkrieg tactics to take over Europe, country by country, while also murdering millions of Jews and Gypsies.
- Anne Frank Goes Into Hiding
- Dewey Defeats Truman
- Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombed
- Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech
- More About the 1940s
1950s
As families settle down with their TV dinners in front of their new color televisions, the Cold War starts to heat up and the Civil Rights Movements gets underway.
- Castro Becomes Dictator of Cuba
- Disneyland Opens
- Elvis Gyrates on Ed Sullivan's Show
- First Modern Credit Card Introduced
- Hillary and Norgay Climb Mount Everest
- James Dean Dies in a Car Accident
- Laika the Dog Goes Into Space
- Legos First Introduced
- Segregation Ruled Illegal in U.S.
- More About the 1950s
1960s
Although hippies tried to counter the violence, millions of Americans and Vietnamese died during the Vietnamese War.
- Beatles Become Popular in the U.S.
- Berlin Wall
- Charles Manson and His "Family" Kill
- First Man on the Moon
1970s
As disco, M*A*S*H, and computers emerge on the scene, the American public is shocked with the discovery of the Watergate Scandal.
1980s
At the same time that perestroika and glasnost began to drastically change the Cold War, major natural and man-made disasters occured around the world.
1990s
The Cold War comes to a quick and decisive end while the increasing popularity of the Internet begins to open up worldwide communications.
