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Click on a hyperlink in the timeline to learn more about a subject. |
Milwaukee Timeline 1912-1945
1912
Suffrage Button
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World News: RMS Titanic Sinks
Also: Republic of China Formed, Piltdown Man Fraud, Royal Flying Corps Forms in England US News: Arizona and New Mexico Become States Also: Duke Kahanamoku of Hawaii Brings Surfing to Mainland US, Oreo Cookie First Introduced Milwaukee News:Schrank Shoots Theodore Roosevelt Near Gilpatrick Hotel Also: Wisconsin Voters Do Not Give Women The Vote, First National Bank Building Started, Schlitz Pavilion Turned into Community Center in Attempt to End Juvenile Delinquency |
1913
Brewers Image Courtesy Borchertfield.com
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World News: Mexican General V Huerta Takes Power
Also: Suffragette Davison Struck at Derby, Greek King George I Assassinated, Zipper Patented US News: Federal Personal Income Tax Introduced Also: Women's Suffrage Parade in Washington DC, NYC Grand Central Terminal Opens Milwaukee News: American Assoc Milwaukee Brewers Win First Pennant Also: Marquette U School of Medicine First Graduates, Whitefish Bay Resort Closes, Metropolitan Sewage Commission Formed, First Community Christmas Tree Lit, Iron & Steel Is City's Chief Industry |
1914
Bucyrus steam shovel in Panama Canal, image courtesy Caterpillar Inc.
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World News: Panama Canal Opens
Also: Archduke of Austria Assassinated-WWI Begins, Shackleton Voyage to Antartica US News: Pres. Wilson Proclaims Mother's Day a Holiday Also: Weegham Park (Wrigley Field) Constructed, Militia Attacks Strikers at Ludlow in Colorado Milwaukee News: Muirdale Sanatorium in Wauwatosa Opens Also: New Northwestern Mutual Life Building Opens, Mt. Sinai Hospital Moves to New Building at 12th and Kilbourn, Falk Company Supplies Gears for Panama Canal Locks |
1915
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World News: Lusitania Sunk By German U-Boat
Also: Germany Uses Poison Gas, Second Battle of Ypres, Turkey Commits Armenian Genocide US News: Alexander Graham Bell Makes First Long-Distance Phone Call Also: US Coast Guard Founded, 1 Millionth Model T Built Milwaukee News: Milwaukee Mile Holds Its First 100-Mile Auto Race Also: First Electric Blender Invented in Racine, Riverside Park Becomes New Home for the Mens Milwaukee Curling Club, Muirdale Sanatorium Opens To Treat TB Patients |
1916
Wonderland Park
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World News: WWI Battle of Verdun
Also: Trans-Siberian Railroad Connects Moscow with Vladivostok, Uprising in Ireland US News: US Cavalry Chases Pancho Villa Into Mexico Also: Boy Scouts of America Incorporated, Piggly Wiggly- First Self-Service Grocery Store Milwaukee News: Daniel Hoan Elected Mayor for First Term Also: Coast Guard Station Moved to McKinley Marina, Golda Meir Graduates from North Division High, Last Year of Operation for Wonderland Park, Milwaukee Enterprise Newspaper Created |
1917
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World News: Civil War in Russia Ends Rule of the Czars
Also: Constitution of Mexico Approved, National Hockey League founded in Canada US News: United States Enters World War I Also: First Pulitzer Prizes Awarded, Zimmerman Note Outrages Public, Boys Town Established Milwaukee News: Anarchist Bomb Explodes in Police Station Killing Ten Also: Wisconsin Is First State to Number Highways, Kappa Beta Gamma Sorority Founded, First Wadham's Gas Station Pagoda Built, Anti-Draft Rallies, Pabst Theater Suspends All German Plays |
1918
Milwaukee Free Press
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World News: Great War (WWI) Ends
Also: Poland Reformed as Independent Nation, Spanish Flu Pandemic, Zuiderzee Dike Begun US News: U.S. Regular Air Mail Begins Also: Standard Time Act Officially Establishes Time Zones, Pulitzer Prizes Debut, GM Buys Chevrolet Milwaukee News: Berger Re-Elected to U.S. Congress -Refused House Seat Also: Wells Street Power Plant Becomes First U.S. Power Station to Use Pulverized Coal, German Theater Suspends Its Season, Only 400 Students Take German in School Compared to 30,000 Two Years Earlier |
1919
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World News: Treaty of Versailles Signed
Also: Micronesia and Marshall Islands Granted to Japan, Massacre at Amritsar in India US News: U.S. Federal Prohibition Outlaws Manufacture of Beer Also: White Sox World Series Scandal, Boston Molasses Disaster, Sir Barton first Triple Crown winner Milwaukee News: First Milwaukee County Public Airport at Currie Park Also: White Star Yeast Renamed Red Star Yeast, Normal School Moves to Eastside Campus, Briggs & Stratton Acquires A.O. Smith Motor Wheel Engine, Polar Bear "Zero" Born At Milwaukee Zoo |
1920
Lake Fisheries
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World News: League of Nations Established
Also: Outbreak of Bubonic Plague in India, Pancho Villa Retires, Ottoman Empire Dissolved US News: 19th Amendment Passes Giving U.S. Women the Vote Also: U.S. Census Reports Population Above 100 Million People, Charles Ponzi's Scheme Collapses Milwaukee News: City Begins to Evict the Kashubes from Jones Island Also: First Milwaukee Traffic Lights Installed, Typhoid and Diptheria Immunization for Children, Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company Introduces Motor Coach Service |
1921
1912 A.O. Smith Co. Ad
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World News: Germany Experiences Extreme Inflation
Also: Mussolini Forms Italian Fascist Party, Albert Einstein Wins Physics Nobel Prize US News: National Quotas on Immigration Also: U.S. Figure Skating Association Formed, Tomb of the Unknowns Dedicated at Arlington Milwaukee News: A.O. Smith Builds First Fully Automated Assembly Line Also: Metropolitan Sewerage District Established, Master Lock Company Founded, Garden Homes Project is First American Low Cost Public Housing Cooperative |
1922
Downtown Gimbel's Store
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World News: Russian Civil War Ends
Also: Tutankamen's Tomb Explored, Irish Free State Formed as British Dominion US News: Teapot Dome Scandal Rocks Federal Cabinet Also: California Grizzly Bear Extinct, Insulin Discovered, Reader's Digest First Published Milwaukee News: Gimbel's Dept. Store Opens First Radio Station in City Also: First Milwaukee Policewomen Hired, All Milwaukee Steetlights Electrified, Grocery Store Roundy, Peckham & Dexter Co. Introduce Their Own Private Brand Label, City Begins Expansive Annexation |
1923
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World News: 100,000 People Die in Japanese Earthquake
Also: Mt Etna Erupts, Pancho Villa Assassinated, France and Belgian Occupy German Ruhr US News: US President Harding Dies in Office Also: Appalachian Trail Opens First Section, Time Magazine Debuts, Harlem's Cotton Club Opens Milwaukee News: Milwaukee Bears of Negro National League Baseball Also: Milwaukee Area Technical College Moves to New Building on 6th Street, Cruiser USS-Milwaukee Commissioned |
1924
Milwaukee Sentinel Robbery Coverage
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World News: France Hosts First Ever Winter Olympic Games
Also: Vladimir Lenin Dies, Canadian National Hockey Leaugue Expands to the U.S. US News: J. Edgar Hoover Heads the Bureau of Investigation Also: Indian Citizenship Act, Leopold and Loeb Murder Student, First Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Milwaukee News: First Milwaukee Bank Robbery at Northwestern National Also: First Milwaukee African-American Police Officer Hired, Marquette University Football Stadium Completed, Record of Twenty Inches of Snow in 24 Hours Over February 4-5 |
1925
Monkey Island
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World News: Unemployment Insurance Act Passed in England
Also: Hitler's Mein Kampf Published, Sergei Eisenstein Makes Potemkin Film US News: Scopes Monkey Trial Decided Also: Texas & Wyoming Inaugurate First Women Governors, Dog Sled Delivers Serum to Nome, AK Milwaukee News: Monkey Island Addition to Washington Park Zoo Also: Jones Island Sewage Plant Completed, Wunder Hall Completed as Concordia College Grows, City Hall's Eleven-Ton Bell Goes Silent as Its Vibrations are Weakening Foundation |
1926
Eagles Club
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World News: First Assassination Attempt on Mussolini
Also: First World Table-Tennis Championship Held, League of Nations Abolishes Slavery US News: Troops Land in Nicaragua Also: Actor Rudolph Valentino Dies at 31, NBC Radio Forms, Colonial Williamsburg Restoration Milwaukee News: Milwaukee County Buys Hamilton Field For Public Airport Also: Last Season of Milwaukee Badgers Pro Football Team, Milwaukee Brewers Win 21 Straight Baseball Games, Eagles Club Constructed, Our Lady of Guadalope Mission Built |
1927
Lincoln Memorial Bridge
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World News: Greece Freed of Ottoman Occupation
Also: NHL's Toronto St Patricks Become Maple Leafs, German Economy Collapses US News: Charles Lindbergh Lands In Paris From New York Also: First Talking Movie "The Jazz Singer", Pan American Airlines Forms, Snowmobile Patented Milwaukee News: Lincoln Memorial Bridge Opens Also: Oriental Theater Opens, Air Mail Service to Chicago Begins, Mabel Raimey Graduates From Marquette University Law School and Becomes Wisconsin's First African-American Female Attorney |
1928
Milwaukee Public Library and Museum
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World News: Alexander Fleming Discovers Penecillin
Also: Chemico Works of Birmingham in England Develops Brylcreem, Stalin's First Five Year Plan US News: First Regular Television Programming Begins Also: First Mickey & Minnie Mouse Cartoon, First Machine-Sliced Bread, Hoover Elected President Milwaukee News: Bootlegging Raid at the Hotel Lincoln Also: Milwaukee Public Museum Expedition to Africa, Original St. Luke's Hospital Opens, Mayor Hoan Inaugurates Ten-Year Plan to Raze Run-Down Buildings, Milwaukee School of Agriculture Closes |
1929
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World News: Global Economic Depression
Also: Jewish Agency for Palestine Forms, Unilever Forms by Merger, Trotsky Expelled from USSR US News: Great Depression Begins With Market Crash on Wall Street Also: Al Capone's Gang Commits St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Grand Teton Ntl Park Founded Milwaukee News: Victor Berger, Socialist and Congressman, Dies Also: Mount Mary College Opens, Harbor Breakwater Completed, North Milwaukee Consolidates Into City of Milwaukee, Federal Building Begins Large Building Addition, Burke Candy Founded |
1930
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World News: First Recorded Cure Using Penicillin
Also: First FIFA World Cup, Ghandi Salt March to the Sea, Selassie Becomes Emperor of Ethiopia US News: Frozen Foods First Marketed Also: Nestle Toll House Cookie Invented, Pluto Discovered, National Unemployment Reaches 8.9% Milwaukee News: Sacred Heart School of Nursing Opens Also: Atty Virginia North is First Female Prosecutor, Sociedad Mutualista Hispano-Azteca Founded, Transients Service Bureau Opens in an Armory as a Free Kitchen to Dispense Donated Food |
1931
Milwaukee County Courthouse
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World News: Empire of Japan Invades Manchuria
Also: Christ Monument Built in Rio de Janeiro, Auguste Piccard Reaches Stratosphere in a Balloon US News: Star Spangled Banner Made Official US National Anthem Also: Empire State Building Completed, First Clinical Use of Penicillin, Al Capone Imprisoned Milwaukee News: Current Milwaukee County Courthouse Completed Also: Milwaukee Adopts New Street Numbering System, First Year of the Nine High School City Basketball League |
1932
German-English Academy
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World News: Mayan Archaeological Site of Calakmul Rediscovered
Also: Indian's First Test Cricket Match, 200,000 English Textile Workers Strike US News: Charles Lindbergh's Son Kidnapped Also: Franklin D. Roosevelt Elected President for the First of Four Terms, Zippo Lighter Invented Milwaukee News: Greenfield Park Opens the County's First Outdoor Pool Also: MSOE Expands Into the Former German-English Academy Building, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music Moves into the McIntosh-Goodrich Mansion |
1933
Only Whaleback Passenger Ship - SS Christopher Columbus
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World News: Adolf Hitler Becomes Chancellor of Germany
Also: Loch Ness Monster First Spotted, First Nazi Concentration Camp Constructed US News: 21st Amendment Passes in December and Repeals Prohibition Also: "King Kong" Premiers, FDR Launches New Deal, Monopoly Game Invented, Gold Standard Ends Milwaukee News: Mayor Hoan Organizes a National Conference of Mayors Also: Number of Employed Milwaukeeans Falls 75%, SS Christopher Columbus Ends Passenger Service, 3.2% Beer Legalized Nationwide on April 7 Ahead of Prohibition Repeal |
1934
Exterior of Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco
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World News: Mao Zedong's Long March
Also: Great Terror in Soviet Union, Hitler Bloodily Purges Nazi Party, Dionne Quintuplets Born US News: Alcatraz Prison Opens Also: Monopoly Game Created, Max Baer Becomes Boxing Champ, Dust Bowl in Plains States Milwaukee News: Children Immunized City-Wide for Scarlet Fever Also: Record High of 105 Set on July 24th, City Award Grand Prize From National Safety Council and Barred From Competition in the National Health Conservation Contest to Give Other Cities a Chance |
1935
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World News: Germany Passes Anti-Jewish Nuremberg Laws
Also: First Electronically Scanned Television Service Started in Berlin, Persia Becomes Iran US News: U.S. Passes the Social Security Act Also: Babe Ruth Retires from MLB, First Beer Available in Cans, Alcoholics Anonymous Founded Milwaukee News: Work on Parklawn Housing Project Begins Also: Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha Train Service Starts, Welfare Costs Make Up Half the County Budget, Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp Introduces New Lightweight Hammer-Drill |
1936
April 6, 1936 Cover
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World News: King Edward Abdicates British Throne
Also: Italy Annexes Ethiopia, Tasmanian Tiger Extinct, Spanish Civil War Begins US News: Jesse Owens Wins 4 Gold Medals at the Olympics in Berlin Also: Hoover Dam Completed, Carnegie Publishes "How to Win Friends and Influence People" Milwaukee News: Mayor Hoan Appears on the Cover of Time Magazine Also: Alverno Teachers College Opens, First Oil Tanker Docks in Milwaukee, Air Advocate Billy Mitchell Dies |
1937
Milwaukee Auditorium - Main Hall Seats 10,000
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World News: First Long Term Use of Insulin to Control Diabetes
Also: Japan Invades China, Britain Introduces 999 Emergency Telephone Number US News: Hindenburg Bursts into Flames over New Jersey Also: Golden Gate Bridge Opens, Chester Carlson Patents Copying Machine, Earhart Disappears Milwaukee News: Allis-Chalmers Introduces the "Model B" Tractor Also: Explosion at the Krause Milling Co, Allen-Bradley Employees Form Union - Local 1111, Hall of Health Exhibit at Auditorium Draws 100,000+ People, Cardinal Strich College Opens, Carmex Invented |
1938
October 31, 1938 Milwaukee Sentinel
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World News: Hitler and Nazi Party Annexes Austria
Also: Oil Found in Saudi Arabia in Commercial Quantities, Kristallnacht, Volkswagen Beetle First Sold US News: U.S. National Minimum Wage Enacted at Twenty-Five Cents Also: March of Dimes Founded, "War of the Worlds" Radio Drama Airs Milwaukee News: Toy Loan Project Opens Also: Over 7,000 People Play Bingo At the Milwaukee Auditorium, Marquette University Opens First Women's Dorm the Alumnae House, Town of Lake Octagonal Water Tower Built |
1939
Packers End Don Hutson
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World News: Germany Invades Poland and World War II Begins
Also: Earthquake in Chile Kills 30,000, Helicopter Invented, British White Paper Issued US News: "Gone With the Wind" and "Wizard of Oz" Premier Also: U.S. Little League Formed, Batman Debuts in DC Comics, Rice Krispie Treats Invented Milwaukee News: Packers Win NFL Title Game Held At WI State Fair Park Also: Greatest Depth of Atlantic Ocean Discovered by USS Milwaukee and Named "Milwaukee Deep", Ninth Consecutive Year the City Wins the National Traffic Safety Award |
1940
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World News: France Surrenders to Germany
Also: Winston Churchill Becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Trotsky Assassinated US News: Hattie McDaniel Is First African-American to Win Academy Award Also: Nylon Stocking Introduced, American Negro Theater Organized in Harlem, First McDonald's Milwaukee News: Daniel Hoan Defeated in Election by Carl Zeidler Also: After Eight Suicides Wire Mesh is Installed Around Inside of City Hall |
1941
General Billy Mitchell
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World News: Germany Invades Russia
Also: Nazi Rudolf Hess Peace Mission to Britain, Siege of Leningrad, Bismarck Sunk US News: Japan Attacks U.S. At Pearl Harbor Also: Mt. Rushmore Finished, Glen Miller's "Chattanooga Choo Choo" Hits #1, Jeep Invented Milwaukee News: Milwaukee County Airport Renamed Gen. Mitchell Field Also: 71,000 Milwaukee Youths Register For Draft |
1942
Doolittle planes-Image from National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
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World News: Bataan Death March
Also: Anne Frank Goes into Hiding, Japanese Empire Reaches Furthest Expansion US News: Doolittle Raid Bombs Tokyo Also: Daylight Saving Time Adopted, Grand Coulee Dam Finished, Manhattan Project Begins Milwaukee News: Mayor Carl Zeidler Enlists in the U.S. Navy and is KIA Also: Leon's Frozen Custard Opens, City Council of Defense Practices Blackout |
1943
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World News: German 6th Army Surrenders to End the Battle of Stalingrad
Also: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Italy Leaves Axis Powers and Joins the Allies US News: Rockwell's Rosie the Riveter Appears on Saturday Evening Post Also: Meat, Butter & Cheese Rationed, FDR Freezes Wages, Prices and Employment Milwaukee News: Public Works Department Employees Strike For a Month Also: Cardinal Stritch College Opens Innovative Reading Program, Two-way Radio Systems Installed for Police and Fire Depts, Curfew Adopted to Reduce Juvenile Delinquency |
1944
June 12, 1944 Stars and Stripes Liberation Issue
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World News: Allied Forces Land at Normandy Beach in France
Also: Paris Liberated, Hitler Assassination Attempt, Biro Ball Point Pens First Sold, Soviets Invade Finland US News: Elizabeth Taylor Stars in Film "National Velvet" Also: P-59 is First US Jet Fighter, "Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" Debut on CBS Radio Milwaukee News: Milwaukee Chicks Win AAGPBL Pennant Also: Due to Rationing the State Fair Cream Puff is Unavailable, Leroy Simmons Voted First Black Assemblyman in Milwaukee, First International Holiday Folk Fair Held |
1945
Gertie The Duck statue on the Wisconsin Ave. bridge over the Milwaukee river
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World News: Germany, Then Japan, Surrenders to End WWII
Also: Nuclear Weapons Dropped on the Cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan US News: Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Dies in Office Also: Microwave Oven Patented, Flight 19 Disappears Over the Bermuda Triangle Milwaukee News: Gertie the Duck Nests Under Wisconsin Avenue Bridge Also: St. Francis Seminary Celebrates 100 Years Since Founding, Seventy-Seven Milwaukee Plants Produced Parts for Atomic Bomb That Ended World War II |
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Some Sources: |
Milwaukee Sentinel Archives, Milwaukee Journal Archives, National Archives, linkstothepast.net, business sites Anderson, Harry and Olson, Frederick. Milwaukee, At the Gathering of the Waters. Tulsa: Continental Heritage Press, 1991, Print Edition Lankevich, George. Milwaukee: A Chronological & Documentary History. New York: Oceana Publications, 1977 The majority of images are from the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear |
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