1920s Trivia: Fun Facts From The Decade

Trivia from the 1920s, all of it dateable and checkable.

Every fact below has its year in brackets, so you can read the fact out, hide the year and use it as a quiz round - or leave the year in and use it for a birthday card or a reminiscence session.

For the same decade laid out year by year, use the 1920s calendar linked at the bottom.

Years covered in the 1920s

• 1920 - The first Remembrance at the Cenotaph and a country still counting its losses. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1920
• 1921 - A miners' lockout, mass unemployment and the first British Legion poppy appeal. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1921
• 1922 - The BBC's first broadcast, the Austin Seven and Tutankhamun's tomb. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1922
• 1923 - The White Horse Final at Wembley and the first Radio Times. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1923
• 1924 - The first Labour government, the Empire Exhibition and the Chariots of Fire Olympics. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1924
• 1925 - The Charleston, the return to the gold standard and a summer of dance halls. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1925
• 1926 - The General Strike, the birth of Elizabeth II and Baird's public television demonstration. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1926
• 1927 - The BBC became a corporation, talking pictures arrived and the FA Cup went to Wales. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1927
• 1928 - Votes for all women, penicillin discovered and the Thames flood. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1928
• 1929 - Britain's first talkie, a second Labour government and the Wall Street Crash. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1929
• That is every 1920s year we have written up so far: 1920 to 1929.

News facts from the 1920s

• The Unknown Warrior was buried in Westminster Abbey on 11 November and the permanent Cenotaph was unveiled the same day. (1920)
• The first Poppy Appeal was held in November by the newly formed British Legion. (1921)
• The British Broadcasting Company made its first daily broadcast on 14 November. (1922)
• Stanley Baldwin became Prime Minister in May. (1923)
• Ramsay MacDonald formed the first Labour government in January; it fell in October. (1924)
• Britain returned to the gold standard in April, which made exports dearer and hit the coal industry. (1925)
• The General Strike ran from 4 to 12 May, in support of the miners, who stayed out for months afterwards. (1926)
• The British Broadcasting Corporation was created by royal charter on 1 January. (1927)
• The Representation of the People Act in July gave women the vote at twenty-one, the same as men. (1928)
• The Wall Street Crash in late October began the Great Depression. (1929)

More from the news

• The Government of Ireland Act was passed in December. (1920)
• The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed in December. (1921)
• Howard Carter found the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb in November. (1922)
• The Duke of York, later George VI, married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in April. (1923)
• The British Empire Exhibition opened at Wembley in April and was opened by George V in the first royal broadcast. (1924)
• A coal subsidy in July put off a strike for nine months. (1925)
• Princess Elizabeth, later Elizabeth II, was born on 21 April. (1926)
• Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic in May. (1927)
• Alexander Fleming noticed the effect of penicillin mould in September. (1928)
• Ramsay MacDonald formed a second Labour government after the May election, the first in which all women could vote. (1929)

Television and film in the 1920s

• Cinema was silent, with live piano or organ accompaniment. (1920)
• The Kid, Chaplin's first full-length film, was released. (1921)
• Nosferatu was released in Germany. (1922)
• Safety Last!, with Harold Lloyd hanging from a clock, was released. (1923)
• Sherlock Jr. and The Thief of Bagdad were released. (1924)
• The Gold Rush and Battleship Potemkin were released. (1925)
• John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television in January. (1926)
• The Jazz Singer effectively ended the silent era. (1927)
• Steamboat Willie introduced Mickey Mouse with synchronised sound in November. (1928)
• Blackmail, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, became Britain's first full talking picture. (1929)

Music in the 1920s

• Dance bands and ragtime filled the ballrooms; jazz was arriving from America. (1920)
• Dance halls were booming and the foxtrot was the dance everyone learned. (1921)
• The BBC's first broadcasts included music, talks and news read twice in different speeds. (1922)
• The Radio Times was first published in September, listing what the wireless would play. (1923)
• 'Rhapsody in Blue' was first performed in New York in February. (1924)
• The Charleston arrived from America and became the dance craze of the year. (1925)
• Dance bands and jazz were the sound of the ballrooms. (1926)
• The Jazz Singer, released in America in October, brought synchronised song to the cinema. (1927)
• Dance bands, jazz and the last of the music halls shared the evening. (1928)
• Talking pictures put orchestras and cinema organists out of work within a couple of years. (1929)

Sport in the 1920s

• The Antwerp Olympics were held in August; Britain won fifteen golds. (1920)
• Tottenham Hotspur won the FA Cup. (1921)
• Huddersfield Town won the FA Cup. (1922)
• The first FA Cup final at Wembley on 28 April drew a crowd far beyond capacity, cleared by a policeman on a white horse. (1923)
• Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell won golds at the Paris Olympics, later the subject of Chariots of Fire. (1924)
• Sheffield United won the FA Cup. (1925)
• Bolton Wanderers won the FA Cup. (1926)
• Cardiff City won the FA Cup, the only time it has left England. (1927)
• Blackburn Rovers won the FA Cup. (1928)
• Bolton Wanderers won the FA Cup. (1929)

Everyday life in the 1920s

• Housing schemes promised homes fit for heroes after the war. (1920)
• Coal disputes meant shortages and short time in many industries. (1921)
• The Austin Seven was launched and made cars affordable to more families. (1922)
• Wireless licences grew quickly through the year. (1923)
• The Empire Exhibition drew millions of visitors over two years. (1924)
• Flapper dresses, bobbed hair and shorter hemlines were everywhere in the cities. (1925)
• Volunteers drove buses and trains during the strike, and the country was sharply divided. (1926)
• The first automatic telephone exchanges were being installed. (1927)
• The flapper vote was the newspapers' nickname for the new women voters. (1928)
• Unemployment began rising again as the Depression took hold. (1929)

How to use these as a quiz round

• Read the fact without the year and ask for the year - closest answer wins the point.
• Ten facts makes a round. Mix news with television and music so nobody sweeps it.
• For a care home or reminiscence session, use the everyday life facts first - they get the most talk.
• Anyone born in 1920 turns 50 in 1970, 60 in 1980 and 70 in 1990.

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How to write it so it lands

• Hide the bracketed year and you have a guess-the-year round ready to go.
• For a card, use the year they were born rather than the decade.
• In a reminiscence session, stop on whatever gets a reaction rather than finishing the list.

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 calendar: year by year
• The 1920s: the whole decade
• Victorian and vintage parlour games
• Village fete and church hall games
• Card games your nan taught you
• Traditional British party games
• Decade history: key events, politics and culture by era
• Decade books: best novels, authors and reading trends
• Decade calendar: every year from 1920
• Decade trivia: fun facts by era
• Decade trivia game: play for points
• Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
• Decade recipes: dishes and food trends by era
• Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
• Decade fashion: clothes, hair and accessories by era
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Retro party supplies
• Guess the year quiz
• Care home reminiscence quiz
• Milestone birthday cards
• 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 some fun facts about the 1920s?

The first Remembrance at the Cenotaph and a country still counting its losses. The lists above give the news, television, music, sport and everyday facts for every year from 1920 to 1929, each with its date.

What good 1920s quiz questions are there?

Any fact on this page works as a question if you read it out and ask for the year. Ten of them makes a round, and the answers are already in the brackets.

Where do these facts come from?

They are the same checked facts used on our year pages - real, dateable events only. The official UK singles chart begins in November 1952, so earlier years list popular songs rather than chart positions.

Do you sell anything to do with this decade?

We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK, including milestone birthday cards. This page is free to read and free to copy.