The 1920s Science and Technology: Chronology
The 1920s Science and Technology: Chronology
1920: Ex-U.S. Army officer John Thompson patents his machine gun, later nicknamed the "tommy gun."
1920: October 27 The U.S. Department of Commerce issues a license to KDKA, the first commercial radio station in America.
1921: Thomas Midgley Jr. invents an improved gasoline by adding tetraethyl lead. It is marketed as Ethyl gasoline.
1921: August 23 The British R38 dirigible breaks in half, resulting in the deaths of forty-eight passengers. It is the worst aviation disaster to date.
1922: A team of scientists at Johns Hopkins University discovers vitamin D in cod liver oil.
1922: William Howell discovers heparin, which will be used as an anticoagulant (a substance that prevents the clotting of blood) in blood transfusions.
1922: February 27 U.S. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover convenes a national conference of radio, telephone, and telegraph experts.
1922: December The Toll of the Sea, the first feature-length Technicolor motion picture, is released.
1923: Electrical engineer Edwin H. Armstrong constructs the first FM radio.
1923: Two U.S. Army pilots perform the first in-air refueling operation.
1923: Inventor and manufacturer George Eastman produces 16mm film for use by the general public, beginning the era of home movies.
1924: Transatlantic radio transmission of still photographs begins.
1924: American Telephone and Telegraph and General Electric unite their research divisions to form Bell Telephone Laboratories (also known as Bell Labs).
1925: Electrical engineer Vladimir Zworykin applies for a patent for color television.
1925: Pathologist George H. Whipple demonstrates that iron is an essential element in red blood cells.
1925: A microfilm camera is patented. It is used by banks to produce miniature copies of checks.
1926: The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) forms a "network" by linking twenty-four radio stations.
1926: The introduction of the mule-drawn cotton stripper marks the end of the labor-intensive practice of picking cotton by hand.
1926: A voiceprint machine, or voice coder, is developed by Bell Labs which can analyze the frequency (pitch) and energy content of speech.
1926: Chemist James B. Sumner demonstrates that enzymes are proteins and that they assist biochemical reactions in the body.
1926: Vitamin B1 is discovered.
1926: February 18 Microbe Hunters, by Paul de Kruif, is published and becomes one of the most popular books on bacteriology ever written.
1926: March 16 Scientist Robert H. Goddard launches the first rocket propelled by liquid fuel.
1926: August 6 Don Juan, the first feature-length motion picture with synchronized music and sound effects, premieres.
1927: J. A. O'Neill invents the first magnetic recording tape.
1927: February 23 The U.S. Congress creates the Federal Radio Commission.
1927: April 7 American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) sponsors the first successful demonstration of television, in the Washington, D.C. office of Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover.
1927: May 20–21 Charles A. Lindbergh makes the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
1927: October The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length motion picture with sequences that include singing and dialogue, premieres.
1927: December Henry Ford introduces the Model A automobile.
1928: Respiratory specialists Philip Drinker and Louis Shaw invent the "iron lung" as an aid to breathing.
1928: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M) Company markets cellophane tape as Scotch tape.
1928: Richard E. Byrd establishes a base in Antarctica from which he flies over the South Pole.
1928: Vitamin C is discovered.
1928: General Electric and New York radio station WRNY make the first primitive efforts at television broadcasting.
1929: The Dunlop Rubber Company develops the first foam rubber.
1929: July 17 Robert Goddard launches the first instrumented rocket, complete with camera, barometer, and thermometer.