The 1920s Science and Technology: Chronology

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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.

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