The WCTU installed this public water fountain in the center of my home town of Reading, Pennsylvania.
Human beings have been drinking fermented alcoholic beverages since prehistoric times.
By the 18th century, potent distilled liquor was cheap and readily available, and white, male North American colonists were among the heaviest drinkers the world had ever seen.
After US independence, religious and civic groups began to campaign for temperance, meaning more moderate use of alcohol. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the push was on for full Prohibition.
Less than four years had passed from the moment that Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts first won national attention with this tart telegram to AFL chief Samuel Gompers and his taking the oath of office as the 30th President of the United States.
“Silent Cal,” as he was known, did not have the style of a conventional politician, yet he led a reasonably popular and accomplished administration.
You can listen to “Charisma” from How to Steal an Election on Spotify here.
“At the Jazz Band Ball” Composed in 1917 by Nick LaRocca and Larry Shields. Public domain. Performed by the US Coast Guard Band. Public domain recording. Source.
Period postcard photo, showing the rock formation that gives “Teapot Dome” its name.
Following the Veterans’ Bureau scandals, the Senate investigation into the Teapot Dome drilling leases reveals blatant corruption in the Interior Department.
The Black Sox baseball scandal broke at about the same time. This series of revelations made a generation of young Americans cynical and skeptical of their elders.
The Harding Administration got off to a good start, but by early 1923 signs of corruption became hard to ignore.
The President never publicly acknowledged the problem, but he fretted in private. His anxieties may have contributed to his death in August, probably the result of a heart attack.
Symphony No. 3 in E♭ Major Composed in 1804 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain. Performed by The Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.
“Yes! We Have No Bananas” Composed in 1923 by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn. Public domain.
In 1917, the first jazz record, recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, an all-white musical group from New Orleans, played a major role in introducing jazz to white America. It became the first million-selling record in history.
African-American musicians didn’t get record deals back then, but African-American military bands took the sound of jazz to Europe during the war. After the Armistice, jazz swept the world, bringing a number of African-American musicians and singers to prominence, most notably Louis Armstrong.
“Livery Stable Blues” Composed in 1917 by Ray Lopez and Alcide Nunez. Public domain. Performed by The Original Dixieland Jass Band. Public domain recording. Thank you, Adam Cuerden. Source.
Rhapsody in Blue Composed in 1924 by George Gershwin. Public domain. Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.
Original sheet music cover for “The Jelly Roll Blues.”
Jazz music was born in New Orleans out of a combination of marching band music, spirituals, blues, and ragtime.
Jazz is by its nature improvisational, more a style of performance than of composition. You can’t learn it from sheet music. It might have remained an obscure regional music if not for the invention of the phonograph.
“There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight” Composed in 1896 by Theodore August Metz and Joe Hayden. Public domain.
“The Washington Post” Composed in 1889 by John Philip Sousa. Public domain. Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.
“The Stars and Stripes Forever” Composed in 1896 by John Philip Sousa. Public domain. Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.
“The Liberty Bell” Composed in 1893 by John Philip Sousa. Public domain. Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.
“Maple Leaf Rag” Composed in 1899 by Scott Joplin. Public domain. Performed by William J. Leslie and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-2.5 license. Source.
“Magnetic Rag” Composed in 1899 by Scott Joplin. Public domain. Public domain recording. Source.
“The Entertainer” Composed in 1902 by Scott Joplin. Public domain.
“Alexander’s Ragtime Band” Composed in 1910 by Irving Berlin. Public domain.
“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” Traditional. Public domain.
“The Memphis Blues” Composed in 1912 by W.C. Handy. Public domain. Performed by the Victor Military Band in 1914. Public domain recording. Source.
“The St. Louis Blues” Composed in 1914 by W.C. Handy. Public domain.
“When the Saints Go Marching In” Traditional. Public domain.
“The Memphis Blues” Composed in 1912 by W.C. Handy. Public domain.
Soong Mei-ling and her husband, Chiang Kai-shek, on the cover of TIME magazine in 1931.
Labor unrest broke out in China after the Great War, as it did in many places, but in China it had a strong nationalist component. As the warlords fought each other to exhaustion, the United Front was ready to make its move to take control of the country.
But Sun Yat-sen’s death complicated the picture. Who would lead the Kuomintang? Candidates included party chair Wang Jingwei and KMT military commander Chiang Kai-shek, who had the added advantage of being Sun’s brother-in-law.
醉漁唱晚 (The Evening Song of the Drunken Fisherman) Composed in 1876 by 天聞閣琴譜 (Tianwen Ge Qinpu). Public domain. Performed by Charlie Huang. Used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Source.
二泉映月 (The Moon Reflected in the Second Spring) Composed c. 1950 by 阿炳 (Abing). Public domain. Performed by 张沛坚 (Zhang Peijian). Used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Source.
A signing ceremony at the Washington Naval Conference.
As President of the United States, Warren Harding made some very good Cabinet appointments, and some very bad ones. His best was Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes, who surprised the world by calling for substantial reductions in the sizes of the Allied navies.
Meanwhile, in the city of Tulsa, an accident in an elevator becomes the worst incident of racial violence in US history: The Tulsa Massacre.
“Ain’t We Got Fun?” Composed in 1920 by Richard Whiting, lyrics by Raymond Egan and Gus Kahn. Performed by Billy Jones. Public domain recording. Source.
This modern photograph shows a preserved section of wall from the Jallianwala Bagh of 1919, still pockmarked from the bullets used in the massacre.
In 1915, Gandhi returned to India. He needed some time to get acquainted with his home country, after living abroad for two decades.
The British government spoke of granting India more self rule, but in 1919, when a British officer ordered a massacre of hundreds of peaceful, unarmed Indian civilians in Amritsar, it was for many people in India the last straw. The nationalist movement would settle for no less than full independence.
