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J. Edgar Hoover became the acting Director of the Bureau of Investigation (later the FBI) on May 10, 1924, and was appointed Director by President Calvin Coolidge later that year. He was appointed to professionalize the bureau, which was then a small organization with only about 650 employees. He was tasked with removing political appointees and implementing merit-based systems -
Mein Kampf is a 1925 autobiographical and political manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The book outlines many of Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology, and his future plans for Germany and the world. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926. -
The stock market crash that marked the beginning of the Great Depression started with dramatic price declines in October 1929, notably on "Black Thursday," October 24, 1929, and culminating in the catastrophic sell-off on "Black Tuesday," October 29, 1929. -
The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. -
Hitler did not seize power through a coup, nor was he directly elected to the chancellorship by popular vote; rather, he came to power through the legal political processes of the Weimar Republic constitution. -
a U.S. New Deal program established in 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide jobs for young men on conservation projects -
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The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 6, 1935, through an executive order. It was a key part of the New Deal and was established to address the high unemployment rate of the Great Depression by employing people in public works projects -
James J. Braddock won the heavyweight boxing title on June 13, 1935, by defeating the reigning champion, Max Baer, in a 15-round unanimous decision. The victory was considered a major upset, earning Braddock the nickname "The Cinderella Man" from columnist Damon Runyon. -
Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona at the 29th International Olympic Committee meeting on 26 April 1931. -
Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom, was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's Sturmabteilung and Schutzstaffel paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilians throughout Nazi Germany on 9–10 November 1938. -
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was published on April 14, 1939. The novel chronicles the journey of the Joad family, Oklahoma sharecroppers who travel to California during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl seeking a better life. The book was an immediate success, quickly becoming a best-seller. -
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939, was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union, which marked the beginning of World War II. -
The Wizard of Oz had its world premiere on August 15, 1939, at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, with a general release across the United States on August 25, 1939. Several smaller sneak previews also took place in locations like Wisconsin and California in the weeks prior, leading to the final edit of the film -
The "Four Freedoms" speech was a 1941 address by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that proposed four essential human freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.