Look Back To 1928: What Happened That Year

Votes for all women, penicillin discovered and the Thames flood.

Here's 1928 in full - the music, the news, the screen, the sport and the ordinary details. Good for a birthday card, a party quiz round or a reminiscence session.

Popular music in 1928

• Dance bands, jazz and the last of the music halls shared the evening.
• Radio sets with loudspeakers meant the family listened together rather than through headphones.
• Sheet music was still the measure of a popular song.

In the news in 1928

• 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.

On screen in 1928

• Steamboat Willie introduced Mickey Mouse with synchronised sound in November.
• British cinemas began converting to sound.
• Baird demonstrated colour and transatlantic television transmission.

In sport in 1928

• Blackburn Rovers won the FA Cup.
• Everton won the league, with Dixie Dean scoring sixty goals in the season.
• The Amsterdam Olympics were held in the summer.

Everyday life in 1928

• The flapper vote was the newspapers' nickname for the new women voters.
• The Austin Seven and the Morris Minor made small cars more common.
• Electricity supply was being standardised under the new grid.

If you were born in 1928

• Anyone born in 1928 was eleven when the Second World War began.
• They were born the year all women got the vote.
• Anyone born in 1928 turns 30 in 1958, 40 in 1968, 50 in 1978, 60 in 1988 and 70 in 1998.
• For a milestone card, the strongest line is usually the number one from the week they were born rather than the year's biggest events - it's personal, and it takes two minutes to find.
• For a reminiscence session, read one section at a time and stop on whatever gets a reaction. The point is the conversation, not the facts.

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How to write it so it lands

• The number one from the week they were born beats the year's headlines on a card.
• Read one section at a time in a reminiscence session and stop where the conversation starts.
• Use it as a guess-the-year round by reading three facts and hiding the date.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 1929
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• Look back to 1926
• Look back to 1925
• The 1920s: the whole decade
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• Village fete and church hall games
• Card games your nan taught you
• Traditional British party games
• The 2020s so far
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• The 1980s: the whole decade
• The 1970s: the whole decade
• The 1960s: the whole decade
• The 1950s: the whole decade
• The 1940s: the whole decade
• The 1930s: the whole decade
• 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
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• Decade art: artists, styles and trends by era
• Decade books: best novels, authors and reading trends
• Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
• Decade fashion: clothes, hair and accessories by era
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• Milestone birthday cards
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• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

When did women get equal voting rights in Britain?

1928, when the Representation of the People Act lowered the voting age for women to twenty-one.

When was penicillin discovered?

September 1928, when Alexander Fleming noticed mould killing bacteria in a petri dish at St Mary's Hospital.

How old is someone born in 1928?

Subtract 1928 from the current year. They turn 40 in 1968, 50 in 1978, 60 in 1988 and 70 in 1998.

Do you sell anything to do with this year?

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