1920s Timeline: Key Dates, Events And Milestones

The 1920s in order, one year at a time, from 1920 to 1929.

Each year gives the headline of the year, the news that mattered, and the music, screen and sport people remember.

Useful for quizzes, school projects, reminiscence sessions and milestone birthday cards.

1920

• The first Remembrance at the Cenotaph and a country still counting its losses.
• The Unknown Warrior was buried in Westminster Abbey on 11 November and the permanent Cenotaph was unveiled the same day.
• The Government of Ireland Act was passed in December.
• The League of Nations held its first meeting in January.
• Dance bands and ragtime filled the ballrooms; jazz was arriving from America.
• Cinema was silent, with live piano or organ accompaniment.
• The Antwerp Olympics were held in August; Britain won fifteen golds.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1920

1921

• A miners' lockout, mass unemployment and the first British Legion poppy appeal.
• The first Poppy Appeal was held in November by the newly formed British Legion.
• The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed in December.
• Unemployment passed two million during the year.
• The census of 1921 was taken in June.
• Dance halls were booming and the foxtrot was the dance everyone learned.
• The Kid, Chaplin's first full-length film, was released.
• Tottenham Hotspur won the FA Cup.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1921

1922

• The BBC's first broadcast, the Austin Seven and Tutankhamun's tomb.
• The British Broadcasting Company made its first daily broadcast on 14 November.
• Howard Carter found the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb in November.
• The Irish Free State was established in December.
• Bonar Law became Prime Minister in October.
• The BBC's first broadcasts included music, talks and news read twice in different speeds.
• Nosferatu was released in Germany.
• Huddersfield Town won the FA Cup.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1922

1923

• The White Horse Final at Wembley and the first Radio Times.
• Stanley Baldwin became Prime Minister in May.
• The Duke of York, later George VI, married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in April.
• Hyperinflation in Germany dominated foreign news.
• The Radio Times was first published in September, listing what the wireless would play.
• Safety Last!, with Harold Lloyd hanging from a clock, was released.
• The first FA Cup final at Wembley on 28 April drew a crowd far beyond capacity, cleared by a policeman on a white horse.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1923

1924

• The first Labour government, the Empire Exhibition and the Chariots of Fire Olympics.
• Ramsay MacDonald formed the first Labour government in January; it fell in October.
• The British Empire Exhibition opened at Wembley in April and was opened by George V in the first royal broadcast.
• Lenin died in January.
• 'Rhapsody in Blue' was first performed in New York in February.
• Sherlock Jr. and The Thief of Bagdad were released.
• Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell won golds at the Paris Olympics, later the subject of Chariots of Fire.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1924

1925

• The Charleston, the return to the gold standard and a summer of dance halls.
• Britain returned to the gold standard in April, which made exports dearer and hit the coal industry.
• A coal subsidy in July put off a strike for nine months.
• John Logie Baird transmitted the first moving television images in October.
• The Charleston arrived from America and became the dance craze of the year.
• The Gold Rush and Battleship Potemkin were released.
• Sheffield United won the FA Cup.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1925

1926

• The General Strike, the birth of Elizabeth II and Baird's public television demonstration.
• The General Strike ran from 4 to 12 May, in support of the miners, who stayed out for months afterwards.
• Princess Elizabeth, later Elizabeth II, was born on 21 April.
• The Central Electricity Board was set up to create the national grid.
• The Imperial Conference set out the framework that became the Commonwealth.
• Dance bands and jazz were the sound of the ballrooms.
• John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television in January.
• Bolton Wanderers won the FA Cup.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1926

1927

• The BBC became a corporation, talking pictures arrived and the FA Cup went to Wales.
• The British Broadcasting Corporation was created by royal charter on 1 January.
• Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic in May.
• A total solar eclipse crossed northern England on 29 June and drew huge crowds.
• The Jazz Singer, released in America in October, brought synchronised song to the cinema.
• The Jazz Singer effectively ended the silent era.
• Cardiff City won the FA Cup, the only time it has left England.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1927

1928

• Votes for all women, penicillin discovered and the Thames flood.
• The Representation of the People Act in July gave women the vote at twenty-one, the same as men.
• Alexander Fleming noticed the effect of penicillin mould in September.
• The Thames flood in January killed fourteen people in London.
• Emmeline Pankhurst died in June, weeks before the Act passed.
• Dance bands, jazz and the last of the music halls shared the evening.
• Steamboat Willie introduced Mickey Mouse with synchronised sound in November.
• Blackburn Rovers won the FA Cup.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1928

1929

• Britain's first talkie, a second Labour government and the Wall Street Crash.
• The Wall Street Crash in late October began the Great Depression.
• Ramsay MacDonald formed a second Labour government after the May election, the first in which all women could vote.
• Margaret Bondfield became the first woman cabinet minister.
• Talking pictures put orchestras and cinema organists out of work within a couple of years.
• Blackmail, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, became Britain's first full talking picture.
• Bolton Wanderers won the FA Cup.
• Full year page: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1929

How to use this timeline

• Quiz round: read an event and ask for the year, or read a year and ask for what happened.
• Reminiscence: start at the year someone left school and read forwards.
• Milestone birthday: read the timeline from their birth year to the year they turned 18.
• Anyone born in 1920 turns 50 in 1970, 60 in 1980 and 70 in 1990.

Shop prints and posters

How to write it so it lands

• Read the timeline alongside the decade history guide: one gives the order, the other gives the story.
• For a birthday card, pick the one event from their birth year that still gets a reaction.
• Years rarely change neatly at the decade line. Check the year either side before setting a quiz question.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 1920
• Look back to 1921
• Look back to 1922
• Look back to 1923
• Look back to 1924
• Look back to 1925
• Look back to 1926
• Look back to 1927
• Look back to 1928
• Look back to 1929
• 1920s history: events, politics and culture
• 1920s calendar: year by year
• 1920s music: songs, genres and trends
• 1920s films and directors
• 1920s books, films and TV
• 1920s books: novels and authors
• 1920s art: artists and styles
• 1920s fashion: styles, designers and trends
• 1920s food: dishes, restaurants and trends
• 1920s travel: destinations and holidays
• 1920s technology: gadgets and computers
• 1920s shopping guide: what to buy
• 1920s games: board, card and video
• 1920s trivia: fun facts
• 1920s quiz: questions and answers
• The 1920s: the whole decade
• The decade after: the 1930s
• All decade guides in one place
• Card messages by occasion: every guide in one place
• Card hub: cards, badges and messages by occasion
• Decade history by era
• Decade calendars: every year from 1920
• Decade timelines: key dates and events by era
• Decade music: songs, genres and trends
• Decade films: best movies and directors
• Decade books: novels, authors and reading trends
• Decade art: artists, styles and trends
• Decade fashion: styles, designers and trends
• Decade food: dishes, restaurants and eating trends
• Decade travel: destinations and holidays
• Decade technology: gadgets and computers
• Decade shopping guides
• Decade games: board, card and video games by era
• Decade trivia: fun facts by era
• Decade quizzes: questions and answers by era
• Decade trivia game: play for points
• Decade quiz: test your memory
• Shop art prints and posters
• Shop greetings cards
• Shop birthday cards
• Shop funny cards
• Milestone birthday cards
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Retro party supplies
• Victorian and vintage parlour games
• Village fete and church hall games
• Card games your nan taught you
• Traditional British party games
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Birthday cards for kids
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What are the key dates of the 1920s?

The timeline above runs from 1920 to 1929, with the headline events of each year in order. The first Remembrance at the Cenotaph and a country still counting its losses.

What happened in 1920?

The first Remembrance at the Cenotaph and a country still counting its losses. There is a full page for 1920 at /blogs/news/look-back-to-1920.

Are the dates accurate?

Yes. Every date, name and event on this page is real and comes straight from our year-by-year pages, so the timeline and the year pages always agree.

Can I use this for a quiz or a school project?

Yes, freely. Print it, read it out, copy it - no permission needed. We make greeting cards, prints and pin badges; these pages are free.