The 1920s in five headlines

1920

The Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors, came into effect on 17 January 1920. The Volstead Act provided enforcement mechanisms for the ban. Prohibition lasted until 1933 and gave rise to widespread bootlegging, speakeasies, and the growth of organised crime figures such as Al Capone.

1922

In January 1922, Dr Frederick Banting and Charles Best successfully treated a 14-year-old diabetic patient, Leonard Thompson, with insulin at Toronto General Hospital. The discovery transformed diabetes from a near-certain death sentence into a manageable condition. Banting was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine the following year.

1925

Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush, released in 1925, became one of the most celebrated silent films ever made. The film features iconic scenes including the shoe-eating sequence and the bread-roll dance. Chaplin himself later said it was the film he most wanted to be remembered by.

1926

On August 6, 1926, Gertrude Ederle of New York became the first woman to swim the English Channel, completing the crossing in 14 hours and 31 minutes — nearly two hours faster than the men's record. She was greeted by a ticker-tape parade in New York City and became an instant international celebrity. Her achievement was celebrated as a triumph for women's athletic capability.

1928

Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming observed on 3 September 1928 that a contaminating mould, later identified as Penicillium notatum, had killed surrounding bacteria on a culture plate. He published his findings in 1929 but the antibiotic was not developed into a practical medicine until the 1940s when Howard Florey and Ernst Chain refined the process. The discovery is considered one of the most important in medical history.