12 Global Events in 1920 That Reshaped the World

The 'Roaring Twenties' stands out as the only decade in U.S. history with a widely recognized nickname, as highlighted in 1920: The Year That Made the Decade Roar by historian Eric Burns. He asserts that the events of 1920 profoundly influenced every facet of modern life. Below are 12 pivotal occurrences from that transformative year.

Table of Contents

1. The League of Nations was founded in 1920.

In a 1919 speech to Congress, President Woodrow Wilson introduced his “Fourteen Points” (mockingly referred to as his Ten Commandments due to his perceived self-righteousness), a blueprint to permanently end war. The next year, he went to Paris to assist in negotiating the Treaty of Versailles. Upon arrival, as Burns recounts, “he was celebrated by the French more than any American since Benjamin Franklin.” Diplomats eagerly embraced the Fourteen Points, which became the foundation for the League of Nations. On January 16, 1920, the League convened its first Executive Council meeting with major powers. Later that November, it held its inaugural General Assembly in Geneva, open to all members. At its peak, the League of Nations included 58 member states, though the United States never joined.

2. The U.S. effectively had a female president in 1920.

While campaigning for U.S. involvement in the League of Nations, President Wilson suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed, partially blind, and with brain damage. For the remaining year and a half of his term, he was, as Burns puts it, “an invalid at best, a mere rumor at worst,” completely unable to govern or fulfill presidential duties. First Lady Edith Wilson took over, assuming his responsibilities. She managed access to the president and made key decisions on his behalf. When signatures or documents were needed, she guided his hand to write. The French ambassador reported that Wilson was irrelevant in governance, and the true authority lay with “Mme. President.”

3. The U.S. experienced its most devastating terrorist attack at the time in 1920.

On September 16, 1920, a horse-drawn wagon loaded with a massive homemade bomb exploded on Wall Street's busiest intersection. Witnesses recounted seeing “two walls of fire engulfing the entire width of Wall Street, reaching as high as the 10th floor of buildings.” The Wall Street bombing claimed 38 lives and left hundreds wounded, marking it as the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. The culprits, never identified, were suspected to be Italian anarchists.

4. J. Edgar Hoover rose to prominence in 1920.

Following a wave of bombings in 1919, U.S. Attorney General Mitchell Palmer launched a campaign to arrest and deport foreign radicals. The following year saw the “most dramatic” of the Palmer raids, where thousands of suspected communists and anarchists nationwide were rounded up in a single operation. The mastermind behind the raids was a young attorney named J. Edgar Hoover, who led the Bureau of Investigation’s General Intelligence Division.

Ultimately, the raids were marred by dubious confessions and unlawful warrants, leading to Palmer’s downfall. Hoover, however, would rise to lead the bureau and its successor, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, from 1924 until 1972.

The raids served as a crucial lesson for Hoover. Seeing Palmer’s downfall, Hoover became determined to maintain favor with political elites (under his leadership, the FBI never investigated a sitting Congress member) and to safeguard the FBI’s reputation.

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5. Women secured the right to vote in 1920.

The fight for women’s suffrage traces back to 1638, when Margaret Brent, a prominent Virginia businesswoman, demanded voting rights in the state’s House of Burgesses. By 1920, every state west of the Mississippi River had granted women the right to vote. Burns highlights that “only nine states still denied women suffrage in all cases, with seven of those, inexplicably, being among the original 13 colonies.” The final vote needed to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, ensuring women’s suffrage, came from Tennessee. On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee House of Representatives narrowly approved the amendment with a 50-49 vote.

6. The U.S. Constitution was amended twice in 1920.

1920 marked the only year since the Bill of Rights that the Constitution was amended twice. The Eighteenth Amendment outlawed alcohol nationwide. Burns describes it as “the most blatantly disregarded law in American history ... Not only was it ignored, but it was often met with outright mockery.” As Will Rogers quipped, “Why not pass a constitutional amendment banning education? If it works like prohibition, Americans would be the smartest people on Earth in five years.” In 1920, Burns presents staggering statistics resulting from Prohibition: a 41 percent rise in drunk and disorderly arrests, an 81 percent increase in drunk driving, a 13 percent jump in violent crime and murder, a 366 percent surge in the federal prison population, and a 1000 percent spike in federal spending on penal institutions.

7. The “Lost Generation” began reshaping American literature in 1920.

In 1920, the “Lost Generation”—a group of expatriate writers living in Europe after World War I—began to significantly influence American literature. Notable works published that year included Main Street, Sinclair Lewis’s critique of small-town America; This Side of Paradise, the debut novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald; and Flappers and Philosophers, Fitzgerald’s first short story collection. That same year, Fitzgerald introduced Maxwell Perkins, the renowned Scribner’s editor, to the short stories of Ernest Hemingway, who would later achieve great success.

8. The KKK unleashed terror across the U.S. in 1920.

The Ku Klux Klan, a domestic terrorist group founded during Reconstruction, was reinvigorated in 1920, partly due to new leadership skilled in publicity. Burns describes the Klan’s actions as “sporadic but brutal campaigns of terror,” comparable to “modern-day echoes of the Inquisition.” However, while the Inquisition targeted Catholics, the Klan “directed its hatred not only at Catholics but also at Jews, Asians, African Americans, and non-Nordic Europeans.”

9. A man named Charles Ponzi devised a notorious scheme in 1920.

In the early 20th century, global representatives devised a method to simplify international mail delivery. They introduced an “international reply coupon,” purchasable in one country and exchangeable for postage stamps in another. Charles Ponzi, an Italian immigrant to the U.S., identified a flaw in this system. Recognizing Europe’s post-World War I economic devastation, Ponzi realized he could purchase coupons abroad and redeem them in the U.S. for a profit.

To achieve substantial returns, Ponzi required significant capital. He established the Security Exchange Company (which Burns describes as “sounding respectable, trustworthy, and accurate—despite its deceptive nature”). He recruited agents to attract investors, offering hefty commissions for funds raised. As word spread about the potential for enormous returns, investors began recruiting others, creating a self-sustaining cycle. Ponzi soon realized profits were unnecessary; investors were essentially funding each other’s commissions. The scheme inevitably collapsed, though Ponzi schemes remain infamous to this day.

10. The era of mass media began in 1920.

In November 1920, the first commercially licensed radio station aired live updates of the presidential election. This groundbreaking method of delivering breaking news captivated the public, and the “talking box” quickly gained widespread popularity. Within two years, Americans purchased 100,000 radios, and by 1923, sales reached 500,000. By 1926, over 700 commercial radio stations were operational, blanketing nearly the entire nation with radio signals. As Burns notes, “No other event in 1920 would shape the future more profoundly than the advent of radio, marking the dawn of American mass media.”

11. Agatha Christie revolutionized mystery novels in 1920.

In her debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie introduced her iconic character, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and established conventions that continue to define the mystery genre. Her use of intricate plots—featuring suspicious murders, diverse suspects, exotic settings, and a brilliant detective piecing together clues—transformed the genre, which had its roots in the works of Edgar Allan Poe in the 1840s. Christie remains the best-selling novelist of all time.

12. Black baseball team owners established their own league in 1920.

Following the Civil War, Jim Crow laws and unwritten rules barred Black athletes from playing in white baseball leagues. Black players formed independent teams, but white businessmen often controlled the revenue and management. In 1920, former pitcher and Chicago American Giants owner Andrew “Rube” Foster convinced seven other Black team owners to create the Negro National League, aiming to provide opportunities for players and manage their own finances. The league’s inaugural game on May 2, 1920, saw the Indianapolis ABCs defeat the Chicago Giants 4-2. Other Black leagues followed, producing legendary stars like Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Willie Mays, and Jackie Robinson, who later excelled in the major leagues.