January 20th in History

“January 20th is an important day in history. It is an important day because Prohibition took effect, the National Board of Censorship was created, the United States Senate allowed the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base, United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President, and that the stock markets fall.

Prohibition succeeded in cutting overall alcohol drinking, and use during the 1920s. Pre-prohibition levels stayed low until the 1940s. Criticism remains that prohibition led to unplanned results such as the growth of urban crime organizations.

Prohibition lost assistance from Americans every year because it was in force while losing tax revenue that local state and the federal government really needed after the Great Depression which began in 1929. In the 19th century, alcoholism, family violence, and saloon-based political dishonesty led activists to end the liquor and beer trade. This led some communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to introduce Prohibition. Supporters that were called drys, presented it as a win for public morals and health. Anti-prohibitionists called wets talked bad about the alcohol ban as trespassing mainly rural Protestant ideas on the central feature of urban, immigrant and Catholic life. (“Prohibition Takes Effect throughout the United States, Jan. 16, 1919”) The 18th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes,” is confirmed by Congress on this day in 1919. In the early 19th century the prohibition of alcohol began when Americans worried about the bad effects of drinking began forming sober societies. By the late 19th century, these groups had become a powerful political force, campaigning on the state level and calling for total national self-restraint. The 18th Amendment was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification (“Prohibition Is Ratified by Congress”).

The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was created in 1909. The New York Board became the National Board of Censorship when it took the place of local boards in different cities. In 1916 the name was changed to the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures marking a fundamental change of policy, the board would no longer allow standards of decency in motion pictures. Its main responsibility became the education of the viewing public, it published reviews and recommended movies which were considered by the reviewers to have achieved distinction. The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was originally a committee controlled by fourteen really good people from the fields of social work, religion, and education. In 1909 they were brought by Charles Sprague Smith under the endorsement of the People’s Institute of New York to make recommendations to the Mayor’s office concerning arguable films. Over the next five years, the committee made its work a lot bigger and changed its name lots times. From the New York Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures to the National Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures, and then in 1916, to the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures (“National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Records” ). The purpose of the corporation is to promote excellence in the film through public recognition of exceptional film making achievements. The corporation annually screens over 250 feature films and over 60 student-made short films and presents awards and grants honouring the most outstanding. In keeping with its own century-old history protecting freedom of expression in film, the corporation also honours in film history and in freedom of expression (Guidestar).

On October 24, 1929, The stock market crash lasted four days. It was the worst decline in U.S. history. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 25 percent. It lost $30 billion in market value. The 1929 stock market crash lost the equivalent of 396 billion dollars today. It costed more than the total cost of World War 1. It destroyed belief in Wall Street markets and led to the Great Depression. Many people think it started with the October 24 crash. The market fell 10 percent in March But it really began months earlier. The first day of the crash was Black Thursday. The Dow opened at 305.85. It immediately fell 11 percent, signalling a stock market correction. Trading was triple the normal volume. Wall Street bankers excitedly bought shares to prop it up. The strategy worked. By the end of the day, the Dow was down 2 percent. On Friday, October 25, the positive momentum continued. The Dow rose 1 percent to 301.22. On saturday a short trading day removed that gain. The Dow closed at 298.97. The Dow fell 13 percent to 260.64 on Black Monday, October 28. The next day was Black Tuesday. The Dow fell 12 percent to 230.07. Panicked investors sold 16,410,310 shares (“Worst Stock Market Crash in U.S. History”). Black Tuesday hit Wall Street as investors traded about 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in one day on October 29, Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors. America and the rest of the industrialized world spiralled downward into the Great Depression after Black Tuesday, the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world up to that time (“Stock Market Crash of 1929”).

The Persian Gulf war began in 1991 with a massive U.S. led air offensive known as Operation Desert Storm. The U.S. was partnered by troops sent by NATO allies as well as Egypt and several other Arab nations. The coalition effort got an advantage from the latest military technology, including stealth bombers, cruise missiles, “smart” bombs with laser direction systems and glowing night bombing equipment. The Iraq air force was either destroyed early on or preferred out of combat under the relentless attack. After 42 days of relentless attacks by the allied coalition in the air and on the ground, President Bush declared a ceasefire on February 28, by that time most Iraq forces in Kuwait had either backed down or ran away. Though the Persian Gulf War was initially considered an unqualified success for the international coalition, simmering conflict in the troubled region led to a second Gulf War, known as the Iraq War that began in 2003 (“HISTORY Vault: Operation Desert Storm”) The United States Senate allowed the Navy to lease Pearl Harbour as a naval base On January 20, 1887. Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbour was purchased for joint Army and Navy use in the development of military aviation in the Pacific In 1917 (Pearl Harbour (Japanese View)).

On January 25, 1924, the first Winter Olympics kick off in the Alpine village of Chamonix, France. Originally named as “International Winter Sports Week,” the Chamonix games were held in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics, held in Paris and 258 athletes from 16 nations, competed in of 18 events. In the opening ceremonies, held on January 25, the athletes gave the oaths of their strong beliefs to Gaston Vidal, France’s under-secretary of state for physical education. They then marched with their teams in a parade from Chamonix’s City Hall to the Olympic ice skating rink. After Vidal declared the opening of the games in front of around 5,000 spectators, 150 athletes took to the ice for a celebration (“First Winter Olympics Begin in Chamonix, France”). The Chamonix Games were originally staged as International Winter Sports Week, a meet sponsored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but not sanctioned as an official Olympic Games. Well-organized and equipped with new facilities, the event was a success and led the IOC to amend its charter in 1925, establishing the Winter Games. Chamonix was afterwards known as the first Winter Olympics. Some 250 athletes representing 16 countries attended the Games, competing in 16 events. The 11 female athletes competed in the figure skating competition, the only sport open to women until they added the Alpine combined in the 1936 Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (“Chamonix 1924 Olympic Winter Games”).

During the 1980s there was a personal computer called The Apple Lisa. This personal computer was designed at Apple Computer Inc.. Officially, “Lisa” stood for “Local Integrated Software Architecture”, it was also the name of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ daughter. The Lisa project was started at Apple in 1978 and became a project to design a powerful personal computer with a graphical user interface that would be targeted toward business customers. In September 1980, Steve Jobs was forced out of the Lisa project, so he joined the Macintosh project instead. Contrary to popular belief, the Macintosh is not a direct descendant of Lisa, although there are clear similarities between the systems and the final revision, the Lisa 2/10, was modified and sold as the Macintosh XL (“Apple Lisa”). “A Lisa is a computer that was sold by Apple from 1983 to 1985. It represented much of the technology that eventually appeared in Macintosh, such as a one-button mouse, graphic user interface (pull-down menus, windows, desktop metaphor) bitmapped graphics, and integrated applications. In January 1985, Lisa became a “Macintosh XL.” After the inventory decreased and write-downs were avoided, it was discontinued in April 1985” (“The Apple Lisa Handbook”).

In conclusion, January 20th had a few important days, but some of the days were a few days before or after. A few of these things didn’t really affect people but some of them did. One of the things that affected people is the stock market crash. The other thing that affected people is Operation Desert Storm. A few of the things that happened are still going on. The Olympics are still going on and there are a lot more people than just 250 athletes. Apple Computers are still a thing and lots of people use them. Every day has important events but some days may have more than others.”

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