Ku Klux Klan: a white supremacist group that gained political and social clout in the Roaring Twenties. This organization held its origins in an anti-Unionist and racist KKK that spawned in the Reconstruction Era. The KKK of the Reconstruction Era was disorganized and never gained very many members. In the 1920's, the KKK reemerged on a national level.
Emergency Quota Act of 1921: This act of legislation put a cap on how many immigrants could enter the United States. Essentially, 3% of however many people of a certain nationality were in the US in 1910 were allowed to enter to United States each year. So, if there were 1,000,000 Russians coming in in 1910, then 1,000,000(.03) = 30,000 Russians were legally allowed to enter the US in the year 1921, and then another 30,000 in the year 1922, and so on.
Immigration Act of 1924: The Emergency Quota Act (EQA) favored "New Immigration" since many Eastern Europeans had entered the US by 1910, so the Immigration Act of 1924 reduced to cap of the EQA down to 2% and drew back the quota year to 1890, before many "new immigrants" had arrived.
Prohibition: the law against alcohol! (PS: it didn't last long)
Al Capone: a gangster in the 1920's. Al Capone himself isn't that important, but the trend of increased crime rates during the 1920's is. The rise of gangs was a reactionary movement to Prohibition is "bootleggers" grew businesses of shipping alcohol into the US.
Lindbergh Law: allowed the death penalty to be used in cases of interstate abduction.
John T. Scopes (+ Scopes Trial): JT Scopes was a high school biology professor who was sued for teaching evolution in schools. William Jennings Bryan testified against him, saying that teaching evolution was criminal. Clarence Darrow was JT Scopes' defending lawyer. In the end, the trial was inconclusive and Scopes was fined $100. This incident is an example of the stark Fundamentalism that was popular during the time.
Advertising: The new mass market economy of automobiles and movie stars brought a huge amount of people into the consumer market. In response, companies began to shift considerable funding towards advertisements.
Wright Brothers: first men to fly in an aircraft
The Radio Revolution: In the 1890's, wireless telegraphy is invented and its primary use is as a means of long distance communication during the Great War. Later on, this same technology was used to create the noise carrying radios.
The Birth of Nation: first full-length feature film that glorified the KKK of the Reconstruction era.
(There are many authors and musicians that may be worth remembering as well, but the list about is the main political/economic stuff)
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