Why Did the Great Depression Happen?
Why did the Great Depression happen? The 1920s boom, the 1929 crash, bank panics, Fed mistakes, the gold standard, Smoot-Hawley, Dust Bowl and what ended it.
1900 to 1945
The Early 1900s and the World Wars
Why Did World War II Start?
Why did WW2 start? Versailles, the Depression, Hitler's aims, Japan in China, appeasement at Munich, the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Poland in 1939 and Pearl Harbor.
Why Did the Titanic Sink?
The Titanic sank after an iceberg opened her five forward compartments in April 1912. Why she flooded, why about 1,500 died, and what changed at sea after.
Why Did World War I Start?
Why did WW1 start? The long-term causes, the Sarajevo assassination, the July Crisis day by day, how alliances spread the war, and why the U.S. joined in 1917.
On This Day in This Era
Events from 1900 to 1945, by date.
- January 10, 1901A gusher at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont, Texas, launched the modern American oil industry.
- December 10, 1901The first Nobel Prizes were awarded, on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.
- November 18, 1903The United States and Panama signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, opening the way for the Panama Canal.
- December 17, 1903The Wright brothers made the first successful powered airplane flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
- February 8, 1904Japan opens the Russo-Japanese War with a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur.
- January 2, 1905Russia's commander at Port Arthur offered to surrender the besieged base to Japan.
- November 16, 1907Oklahoma joined the Union as the 46th state, combining Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory.
- December 31, 1907A lighted ball is dropped from a flagpole in Times Square for the first time on New Year's Eve.
- February 12, 1909The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is founded on Lincoln's centennial.
- December 14, 1911Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen led the first expedition to reach the South Pole.
- February 17, 1913The Armory Show opens in New York and introduces Americans to modern European art.
- December 23, 1913President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act, creating the nation's central banking system.