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    • Milwaukee History Timeline >
      • Milwaukee History Timeline 1846-1879
      • Milwaukee History Timeline 1880-1911
      • Milwaukee History Timeline 1912-1945
      • Milwaukee History Timeline 1946-1979
      • Milwaukee History Timeline 1980-2013
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1846-1879>
    1880-1911>
        1912-1945>
            1946-1979>
                1980-2013>



Click on a
hyperlink in the timeline to learn more about a subject.
Milwaukee Timeline 1912-1945

1912

Picture
Suffrage Button
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: Theodore Roosevelt Shot Outside Gilpatrick Hotel
Also: Wisconsin Voters Do Not Give Women The Vote, First National Bank Bldg Started


1913

Picture
Brewers Image Courtesy Borchertfield.com
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: First Graduates from Marquette University School of Medicine, Metropolitan Sewage Commission Formed


1914

Picture
Bucyrus steam shovel in Panama Canal, image courtesy Caterpillar Inc.
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

Picture
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


1916

Picture
Wonderland Park
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

Picture
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

1918

Picture
Milwaukee Free Press
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

Milwaukee News: Victor Berger Elected to Congress
Also: Wells Street Power Plant Becomes First U.S. Power Station to Use Pulverized Coal


1919

Picture
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 Zoo 


1920

Picture
Lake Fisheries
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

Picture
1912 A.O. Smith Co. Ad
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


1922

Picture
Downtown Gimbel's Store
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


1923

Picture
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

Picture
Milwaukee Sentinel Robbery Coverage
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

Picture
Monkey Island
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 


1926

Picture
Eagles Club
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

Picture
Lincoln Memorial Bridge
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

Picture
Milwaukee Public Library and Museum
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 


1929

Picture
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


1930

Picture
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


1931

Picture
Milwaukee County Courthouse
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

Picture
German-English Academy
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

Picture
Only Whaleback Passenger Ship - SS Christopher Columbus
World News: Adolf Hitler Becomes Chancellor of Germany
Also: Loch Ness Monster First Spotted, First Nazi Concentration Camp Constructed

US News: 21st Amendment Ends 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


1934

Picture
Exterior of Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco
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


1935

Picture
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

Picture
April 6, 1936 Cover
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


1937

Picture
Milwaukee Auditorium - Main Hall Seats 10,000
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 Over 100,000 People


1938

Picture
October 31, 1938 Milwaukee Sentinel
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

Picture
Packers End Don Hutson
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 


1940

Picture
World News: France Surrenders to Germany
Also: Winston Churchill Becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Trotsky Assassinated

US News: First McDonald's Opens
Also: Nylon Stocking Introduced, American Negro Theater Organized in Harlem

Milwaukee News: Daniel Hoan Defeated in Election by Carl Zeidler
Also: 


1941

Picture
General Billy Mitchell
World News: Germany Invades Russia
Also: Nazi Rudolf Hess Peace Mission to Britain, Seige of Leningrad, Bismarck Sunk

US News: Japan Attacks U.S. At Pearl Harbor
Also: Mt. Rushmore Completed, Glen Miller's "Chattanooga Choo Choo" Reaches #1, Jeep Invented

Milwaukee News: Milwaukee County Airport Renamed Gen. Mitchell Field

Also: 


1942

Picture
Doolittle planes-Image from National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
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: 


1943

Picture
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: 
Also: Cardinal Stritch College Opens Innovative Reading Program


1944

Picture
June 12, 1944 Stars and Stripes Liberation Issue
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

Picture
Gertie The Duck statue on the Wisconsin Ave. bridge over the Milwaukee river
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: 



Some Sources:



Milwaukee Sentinel Archives, Milwaukee Journal Archives, National Archives, www.linkstothepast.net
Anderson, Harry and Olson, Frederick. Milwaukee, At the Gathering of the Waters. Tulsa: Continental Heritage 
     Press, 1991, Print Edition
Gurda, John. The Making of Milwaukee. Milwaukee: Milwaukee County Historical Society, 1999, Print
The majority of images are from the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear

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