A century ago, regular radio broadcasts were on the rise, and people began tuning in to entertainment and news from around the world. Paris played host to the 1924 Summer Olympics, advancements in aviation were being made on several fronts, automobiles were becoming more prevalent (and dangerous), and prohibition in the U.S. was still in full swing. Students were using tablets made of slate, and “computers” were human beings that operated calculating machines. Below, a handful of images of some of the events and sights around the world in the year 1924.
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Children listen to a battery-powered radio receiver that is set on a table in a swimming pool in Washington, D.C., in July of 1924. #
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Men work high above ground, painting the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on July 29, 1924. #
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Women assemble telephones in a London factory in 1924, following the introduction of automatic telephone exchanges. #
Hulton-Deutsch Collection / Corbis / Getty Read more -
Two cars at a time run through the Auto Wash Bowl to clean the mud and dirt from the wheels and axles. This new method of washing automobiles is seen in Chicago, Illinois, on September 20, 1924. #
Underwood Archives / Getty Read more -
A contestant seen in mid-air during a ski-jump event in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in January of 1924. #
Topical Press Agency / Getty Read more -
Original caption: "Photo shows Duke Kahanamoku, Charles Pung, Pua Kealoha, Johnny Weissmuller, Harold Kruger, and Jack Robertson, certain point winners for Uncle Sam in the swimming event at the (1924) Paris Olympics." #
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Raúl Pescara's 16-bladed helicopter leaves the ground at Issy les Moulineaux, France, to attempt the world endurance record in January of 1924. Pescara's flight set a new record, staying airborne for eight minutes, 13 4/5 seconds. #
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From May 13, 1924. Original caption: "Teddy Roosevelt, 3d, at circus." Ten-year-old Teddy was the grandson of the former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. #
Library of Congress Read more -
Men work on the propellers of the RMS Mauretania during her refitting in the dry dock at Cherbourg, France, in May of 1924. #
Firmin / Topical Press Agency / Getty Read more -
A portrait of a young, unidentified shoe shiner in City Hall Park, in New York City, on July 25, 1924. #
Lewis W. Hine / Buyenlarge / Getty Read more -
Original caption: "April 7, 1924 - Highland Park, Michigan. Crankshaft grinding department in the Ford plant at Highland Park." #
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Original caption: "Farmer Frank Zavistoski plows his four-acre plot of farmland at the corner of 164th Street and Sherman Avenue, with apartment buildings in the background, in the Bronx, New York City, New York, on the 4th of November, 1924. Zavistoski grows vegetables on the plot of land, as well as keeping chickens and cows." #
UPI / Bettmann / Getty Read more -
In this October 4, 1924, photo, President Calvin Coolidge throws out the ball for the opening game of the 1924 World Series, between the Washington Senators and the New York Giants, in Washington, D.C. #
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The USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) flies over Washington, D.C., with the U.S. Capitol visible in the background, in November of 1924. #
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Original caption: "Lake View women athletes Zilk, Sheffield, and Sheffield running and jumping over hurdles on a track, Chicago, Illinois, 1924." #
Chicago Sun-Times / Chicago Daily News collection / Chicago History Museum / Getty Read more -
A view of New York City's Two Bridges neighborhood, with the Brooklyn Bridge at right and the Manhattan Bridge at left, circa 1924. #
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Original caption: "From left: Nina Byron, Sybil Wilson, Ruth Fallows, Helen MacDonald, Grace Girard, and Yvonne Hughes, members of the Follies who have scored a sensational triumph here. They are appearing at the New Moulin Rouge Revue and all Paris is agog with their beauty and grace." #
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Original caption from December 17, 1924: "Picks him up at 25 miles an hour! If the modern auto or truck hits you don't worry. Equipped with this device you are simply given a free ride. This man even came from behind another car, was struck but not even scratched. The demonstration was given recently in Washington, D.C." #
Liibrary of Congress Read more -
U.S. government clerks use new calculating machines to determine the bonuses for World War I veterans, following the passage of the 1924 World War Adjusted Compensation Act, or "Bonus Act," compensating veterans for wages lost during their service. #
Buyenlarge / Getty Read more -
Benito Mussolini goes for a drive with his pet lion cub named Ras, in 1924. #
Keystone / Getty Read more -
A London police officer holds up the traffic in Parliament Street to allow members of parliament to get to the House of Commons on a rainy winter evening, December 2, 1924. #
Topical Press Agency / Getty Read more -
Warren Kealoha, Hawaiian Olympic swimmer (bottom, nearest to camera), swims with a crowd on a floating dock in the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., on August 7, 1924. #
Library of Congress Read more -
Chinese school children pose with their slate tablets in Peking (Beijing), circa 1924. #
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Original caption from Paris, France, in July of 1924: "This photo shows the radio station at the Colombes Stadium, by means of which spectators were able to follow the progress of the (Olympic) marathon race. Scouts along the route reported to this station by telephone, and a series of amplifiers carried the information to the thousands in the stands." #
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"The Radiogirls," adorned with antennas, appear in the revue "Alles per Radio" by Gustav Beer and Karl Farkas, in Ronacher, Vienna, circa 1924. #
Brandstaetter Images / Getty Read more -
A car loses a wheel at high speed on the Culver City Speedway in Los Angeles, California, in November of 1924. #
Topical Press Agency / Getty Read more -
Roland, an eleven-year-old newspaper carrier, seen in New Jersey in 1924. #
Lewis Wickes Hine / Library of Congress / Corbis / VCG / Getty Read more -
The 65-cm refractor telescope installed at the Berlin University Observatory in Babelsberg, Germany, circa 1924. #
Underwood Archives / Getty Read more -
Original 1924 caption, offshore near Detroit, Michigan: "This bootlegger is dumping his load of 'hooch' over the side of his little launch as the Federal boat nears in the pursuit." Prohibition was in effect in the United States from 1920 through 1933. #
Bettmann / Getty Read more -
Drivers pose beside their Piggly Wiggly grocery trucks along C Street, N.W., in Washington, D.C., circa 1924. #
Library of Congress Read more -
British mountaineer George Mallory is seen with Andrew Irvine at the base camp in Nepal, both members of the Mount Everest expeditions 1922 and 1924, as they get ready to climb the peak of Mount Everest in June of 1924. It is the last image of the men before they disappeared in the mountain. Mallory's body was later discovered on the mountain by an expedition in 1999. #
Associated Press / AP Read more -
Visitors look toward an eruption of Hawaii's Kīlauea volcano at Halemauʻmaʻu crater on May 22, 1924, as seen from Volcano House. #
Tai Sing Loo / NPS Photo / Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park Read more We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.
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