The World in 1920 the year the saloons closed

Tennessee became the 36th state to approve votes for women, the last one needed. A young lawmaker switched sides after a letter from his mother, and about 26 million American women gained the vote.

Life back then

On a January morning bartenders poured their stock into the gutter while crowds watched. Prohibition made selling alcohol a crime in the United States, and drinking moved into back rooms and homemade stills. Central Europe had a different problem with the price of things. Money in Germany and Austria bought less every month, so wages were spent the day they arrived. Getting anywhere still meant a horse, a tram or your own feet, and in most homes the evening ran on a kerosene lamp.

The year in 8 events

• 🕊️Jan 10 The Treaty of Versailles takes effect and the League of Nations comes into being.
• 🚫Jan 17 Prohibition starts in the United States. Making and selling alcohol is now against the law.
• 🏛️Apr 23 A new assembly meets in Ankara under Mustafa Kemal and claims to speak for Turkey.
• 🏅Aug 14 The Olympics open in Antwerp in Belgium. The five-ring flag flies over the games for the first time.
• ⚔️Aug 15 The Polish army turns back the Red Army outside Warsaw and saves the new republic.
• 🗳️Aug 26 The 19th Amendment is certified and American women win the right to vote.
• 📻Nov 2 KDKA in Pittsburgh reads out election results, the first scheduled radio broadcast for the public.
• 🕯️Dec 16 An earthquake shakes northern China and kills about 200,000 people.

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