Timelines

Browse the timelines for the century or decade that interests you and purchase products designed for that era. Just click on the links for the graphics. Looking for more? Check the main directory.

 

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• 1920 Prohibition in the United States takes effect and commercial radio is on the air
• 1922 Ireland becomes independent of Great Britain and the tomb of Tutankhamun is discovered
• 1925 The first mechanical working television is invented and Hitler writes Mein Kampf
• 1925 Clarence Birdseye develops a process for commercial frozen food
• 1926 A.A. Milne publishes Winnie the Pooh
• 1927 The first part-talkie film The Jazz Singer is released and the first jukeboxes are introduced
• 1928 D.H. Lawrence publishes Lady Chatterley’s Lover
• 1928 Full voting rights for women granted in the United Kingdom
• 1929 Stock market crashes on Black Tuesday, beginning the Great Depression

The 1930s:  Betty Boop, Monopoly, Zoot suits, Gone with the Wind, and the Wizard of Oz

• 1930 The chocolate chip cookie was developed in the U.S. by Ruth Wakefield
• 1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt elected President in the U.S.
• 1933 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party rise to power in Germany
• 1933 Scotch tape arrives on the market
• 1935 music shifts from the Jazz Age to Swing
• 1937 The Hindenburg explodes over New Jersey killing
• 1938 Kristallnacht carried out against the Jews by Hitler Youth, Gestapo, and the SS
• 1939 North America denies asylum to hundreds of Jewish refugees who are returned to Germany
• 1939 WWII begins September 1

The 1940s: Casablanca, Frank Sinatra, War Bonds, White Christmas, and bikinis

• 1939-1945 WWII was fought in Europe and the Pacific
• 1940 Walt Disney releases the first animated film, Pinocchio, followed by Dumbo, Fantasia, and Bambi
• 1942 Carol Lombard killed in air crash while returning from war bond rally
• 1943 Casablanca wins the Oscar and Betty Grable becomes the most famous pinup girl
• 1945 United Nations is formed
• 1946 It’s a Wonderful Life hits the big screen
• 1947 The Diary of Ann Frank is published
• 1948 Israel becomes a nation
• 1949 Peoples Republic of China is officially proclaimed, NATO is formed, and Orwell’s 1984 is published

The 1950s: Color TV, Rear Window, Elvis, Polio vaccine, Playboy, Disneyland, and Gidget

• 1950 Korean War begins and Paper Mate introduces ball point pen
• 1951 Libya becomes first African nation to gain independence from colonialism
• 1952 High Noon, The Quiet Man and Singin’ in the Rain hit the theaters
• 1953 North Sea flood kills more than 2000 in Netherlands and Great Britain and Korean War ends
• 1954 Hurricane Hazel sweeps a path of death and destruction from the Caribbean to Canada
• 1955 Jonas Salk invented polio vaccine and school children are inoculated in North America
• 1956 Elvis Presley scandalizes the audience when he introduces Hound Dog on The Milton Berle Show
• 1957 Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1
• 1958 Coke begins bottling beverages in plastic
• 1959 NORAD signed and Vietnam War begins

The 60s: British Invasion, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Woodstock

• 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights becomes law, John F. Kennedy wins U.S. presidential election
• 1961 Construction of Berlin Wall begins and 101 Dalmations hits the theater
• 1962 Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro
• 1963 Martin Luther King gives I Have a Dream speech. President John F. Kennedy assassinated.
• 1964 The Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan and Civil Rights Act signed in U.S.
• 1965 New maple leaf flag adopted by Canad1966
• 1967 Che Guevara becomes iconic figure & first heart transplant is performed
• 1968 Martin Luther King & Robert Kennedy assassinated
• 1969 Sesame Street premiers and men land on the moon

The 70s: M*A*S*H, The Godfather, and Apocalypse Now.

• 1970 Cambodian civil war begins. Deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin
• 1971 Death of Jim Morrison of The Doors
• 1972 Northern Ireland’s Bloody Sunday
• 1973 The Watergate scandal begins and Pablo Picasso dies
• 1975 End of Vietnam War, death of Francisco Franco, victory for Khmer Rouge
• 1976 First outbreak of the Ebola virus and the death of Mao Tse-Tung
• 1977 First mass production of personal computers
• 1978 Birth of the first test-tube baby and John Paul II becomes Pope
• 1979 Soviets invade Afghanistan, Margaret Thatcher becomes Prime Minister of the UK

Paul Revere
Sarah Bernhardt
Charlie Chaplin
Clara Bow
Bette Davis
Betty Grable
Elvis Presley
The Beatles
James Taylor
Michael Jackson	The 1980s: Michael Jackson, Ronald Reagan, and Madonna.

• 1980 Mt. St. Helen’s erupts in western U.S. and John Lennon assassinated in NYC
• 1981 Chariots of Fire wins Oscar, MTV launched in the U.S. & President Reagan wounded in shooting
• 1982 Unemployment in UK reaches post-war record, Falklands War begins
• 1983 Disneyland opens in Tokyo, final episode of M*A*S*H airs, two bombs explode in France
• 1984 Crack cocaine reaches America, Apple Mackintosh debuts,
• 1985 South Africa ends ban on interracial marriages, Rick Hansen begins Man in Motion World Tour
• 1986 Space shuttle Challenger disintegrates, Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, Swedish PM assassinated
• 1987 Black Monday-stock levels fall sharply around the world
• 1988 Soviet Union begins perestroika, Celine Dion wins Eurovision Song Contest
• 1989 Serial killer Ted Bundy executed, Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska

 

The 1990s: Baywatch, Spice Girls, Forrest Gump, and Titanic

• 1990 Gulf War begins, Mary Robinson becomes first female President of Ireland
• 1991 Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved, dissolution of Soviet Union, Freddy Mercury dies
• 1992 Earthquake hits Indonesia killing 2500, first World Ocean Day is celebrated
• 1993 Audrey Hepburn dies, Jurassic Park & Sleepless in Seattle open in theaters
• 1994 Church of England ordains first female priests, Rwandan genocide begins
• 1995 Microsoft releases Windows 95, 7.6 magnitude earthquake hits Russia
• 1996 Jacques Chirac ends France’s nuclear testing, Nintendo 64 video game released in Japan
• 1997 Jeanne Louise Calment dies in Arles, France at the age of 122 years and 164 days
• 1998 Second Congo War begins, Shakespeare in Love takes the Oscar
• 1999 Euro is established as currency and Pres. Bill Clinton acquitted in impeachment proceedings

 

The 21st century lasts from 2001 to 2100

• 2000 Pope John Paul II apologizes for all wrongdoing of the Catholic Church throughout the ages
• 2002 Second Congo War over
• 2003 SARS spreads around the globe
• 2008 Japanese scientists create artificial DNA
• 2009 Barak Obama becomes first African-American U.S. president
• 2010 First total lunar eclipse to occur on solstice since 1638, H1N1 panic ends
• 2011 Iraq War ends, Arab Spring, world pop. hits 7 billion, 9.0 earthquake hits Japan, Royal wedding
• 2012 Diamond Jubilee for Elizabeth II, Dec 21 Mayan calendar ends,

 

Photo credits: Michael Jackson photo by Zoran Veselinovic