-
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 of October 1929, often called the Great Crash, is considered the beginning of the Great Depression. The crash was a sharp decline in stock prices that occurred over several days, most notably "Black Thursday" (October 24) and "Black Tuesday" (October 29). The collapse triggered widespread panic, led to bank failures, and caused consumer spending and industrial production to fall, initiating a severe, decade-long global economic downturn. -
The Dust Bowl - Oklahoma Digital PrairieThe Dust Bowl began in 1930, triggered by a severe drought that gripped the central United States and worsened by unsustainable farming practices. The prolonged drought and lack of topsoil cover caused massive dust storms, leading to widespread crop failure and the eventual migration of millions of people from the affected regions of the Great Plains. -
Franklin D. Roosevelt was first elected president on November 8, 1932, defeating incumbent Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression. He promised a "New Deal" to bring recovery and relief and was inaugurated for his first term on March 4, 1933 -
Adolf Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. He was appointed to the position by President Paul von Hindenburg through a legal, constitutional process. -
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. -
created on May 6, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt via executive order, as part of his New Deal. It was established through the Emergency Relief Appropriations Act to address high unemployment during the Great Depression by providing jobs for the unemployed on 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 has hosted the Olympic Games only once, in 1936, which are famously known as the Nazi Olympics. The Games were a significant propaganda event for Adolf Hitler's regime, which tried to showcase Germany as a strong and tolerant nation by temporarily suppressing anti-Semitic signs and laws. They are also remembered for the athletic triumphs of Jesse Owens, an African-American athlete who won four gold medals, and for being the first Olympic Games to be televised -
Kristallnacht, or the "Night of Broken Glass," was a violent, orchestrated anti-Jewish pogrom that took place throughout Nazi Germany, annexed Austria, and the Sudetenland on November 9 and 10, 1938. It marked a dramatic escalation of Nazi persecution and is widely considered a pivotal event leading to the Holocaust. -
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck was published on April 14, 1939. The novel, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1940, details the struggles of Oklahoma tenant farmers, the Joad family, as they migrate to California during the Great Depression and depicts the plight of migrant workers, notes EBSCO and Britannica. The book was a bestseller in 1939 and remains a significant work of American literature -
The Wizard of Oz premiered in movie theaters with sneak previews in June 1939, followed by a world premiere in Hollywood at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on August 15, 1939. The film then opened nationwide in the United States on August 25, 1939. -
The German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, marked the start of World War II and was a joint attack by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Slovak Republic. -
The "Four Freedoms" speech was a 1941 address by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that articulated four fundamental freedoms for which the United States would support its allies in World War II: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Delivered during his State of the Union address, the speech aimed to persuade Americans to support increased U.S.