Author: Adam DuVander

The first dinosaur eggs were discovered in 1923. That same year 100 years ago, the Hollywood Sign was inaugurated—though it originally read “Hollywoodland.”

Before we welcome a new year, we ought to look back at the many important events that happened exactly 100 years ago. These include coups d’état, wars, marriages, disasters, and strikes, among others, that still have a lasting impact on our world today.

View 1923 Events (100 Years Ago) in a full screen map

1923 Political Events of the U.S., Turkey & the Women’s Movement

As is often the case, many of the most important events of 1923 were political. In the U.S.:

• The Ku Klux Klan refused to publish a list of its millions of members, which was required by law.
• New York’s Moderation League was created to amend the definition of the “intoxicating liquors” prohibited by Prohibition. Members thought of this as a more achievable goal than repealing Prohibition altogether.
• Vice President Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th President following the sudden death of President Warren G. Harding in August.
• Coolidge then addressed Congress in the first radio broadcast from a U.S. President.

Yet, the U.S. isn’t the only country to face a multitude of changes. Turkey also faced monumental events in 1923, starting with the Treaty of Lausanne, which settled the boundaries of the modern Republic of Turkey and ended the Ottoman Empire after 624 years. Around the same time, Ankara became the capital of Turkey. Meanwhile, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and was elected as the first president of Turkey. The same year, İsmet İnönü was appointed as the first prime minister of Turkey.

The women’s movement was also being established around the world. The Egyptian Feminist Union, the first nationwide feminist movement in Egypt, was founded at the home of activist Huda Sha’arawi in March. In Iraq, the women’s movement started with the foundation of the Women’s Awakening Club.

Group the map by “Wars & Coups” to see the next most popular event category, or read on for education and culture insights from 1923.

Education & Culture

Events in this category from 1923 included marriages amongst the English monarchy. In April 1923, the current Queen Elizabeth’s mother, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, married future King George VI. The same year, King George VI’s cousin, Her Highness Princess Maud of Fife, was also wed.

Meanwhile, in the U.S.:

• The American Law Institute was incorporated.
• The Hollywood Sign, “Hollywoodland” was inaugurated in California… to promote a new housing development.
• Roy and Walt Disney founded The Walt Disney Company.
• Vladimir K. Zworykin filed a patent for “television systems.”
• Marcel Duchamp’s artwork The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (La mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires, même or The Large Glass) was completed.

Of course, then there’s the discovery that may have inspired a million movies, including one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time: dinosaur eggs. Near Flaming Cliffs, Mongolia, American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews was the first to come across these prehistoric artifacts, though this is far from the final first of the year.

Sports & Disaster

When it came to sports in 1923, interest in women’s participation grew following previous years’ Women’s World Games and Women’s Olympiads.

As a result, 1923 was the year of women’s track and field. In August, the first British Track & Field championships for women were held in London. The following month was the first American Track & Field championships for women in New Jersey.

1923 Disasters

However, the year wasn’t all good. Quite a few disastrous events took place in 1923, including Tokyo and Yokohama’s Great Kantō earthquake, which resulted in over 100,000 deaths.

While not as deadly, Mount Etna’s eruption in Italy destroyed the homes of 60,000 people.

For more on the Most Disastrous Natural Disasters, check out our post on the subject.

Visualize Past Years’ Events on a Map

While the events of 1923 are a century old, their impact can still be felt today. For example, today, Disney is one of the world’s largest and most well-known companies. The Hollywood sign remains a frequented tourist destination and dinosaur eggs are more popular than ever thanks to the Jurassic Park franchise.

But we also can’t forget older years past: 100 years since 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, and 1922.

With December comes a whole host of holidays: Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas. Yet, none of these celebrations bring quite the same frenzy, as that which takes place on the night of December 31st.

New Year’s Eve has many traditions to mark the beginning of a year: staying up until midnight, a countdown kiss, champagne, and those loud party horns… But what draws the most attention in the United States seems to be things that are dropped. Of course, the most popular of these is the large crystal ball in New York City’s Times Square.

But New York isn’t the only state with New Year’s ball drops—and many places drop objects other than balls, though those are certainly the most popular type, as the map below shows.

View New Year’s Eve Objects Dropped in a full screen map

Five States with the Most New Year’s Eve Drops

New York’s 12-foot, 32,000+ light Times Square Ball Drop may be the most recognizable of these events, but the Empire State organizes more than that on NYE. Many are smaller ball drops, but there’s also a giant ukulele, a ten-foot Gibson Guitar, and a tree made out of kegs. Even so, it’s not even the state with the most objects dropped.

• Pennsylvania – 59 objects dropped on NYE
• New York – 15
• Florida – 13
• North Carolina – 11
• Georgia – 11

Pennsylvania loves New Year’s Eve. Notably, two different cities in the Coal State (Shamokin and Wilkes-Barre) drop a chunk of coal that turns into a diamond at the bottom.

Then there are the PA cities with object drops that represent a homegrown product, such as the giant M&M or dove chocolate bar that’s dropped in Elizabethtown, where both are manufactured. Additionally, a tablet of Bayer aspirin has been dropped in Myerstown, where Bayer operates a manufacturing plant.

Moreover, Pennsylvania is home to a few historical object drops, including a Civil War-era bowling-ball-sized cannonball in Cornwall and Allentown’s liberty bell from the American Revolution.

For New York, Florida, and the rest of the U.S.’s ball drops, click around on the map above, because we’re moving on to the types of objects dropped.

Balls, Bologna, and Cheese Wedges: Types of NYE Objects Dropped

With 207 objects on the map, there are many more types other than the N.Y.C. Times Square Ball Drop on December 31st. So let’s take a look at some other common types of objects dropped.

Item type	Count
Ball	66
Food	43
Other	34
Animal	24
Transportation	11
Alcohol or nicotine	9
Shape	8
Clothing	7
Rock or mineral	5
Grand Total	207

Balls notwithstanding, food-related objects are most popularly dropped on New Year’s Eve (though there are two popcorn balls we categorized as food). Potatoes are a hot commodity. In the capital of Idaho, which is known for its potatoes, Boise residents have let a giant potato loose from various buildings downtown since 2014. One year, organizers even crowdfunded a new “Glowtato” with internal lighting. Elsewhere, there are also french fries and potato chip drops.

Many more of the edible objects dropped each NYE can be considered junk food: donuts, pretzels, an ice cream cake—and even a 100-pound stick of Lebanon bologna—which is later distributed to a local food bank and animal shelter following its drop in its Pennsylvania namesake.

Rivaling that comically large bologna is an 80-pound decorated cheese wedge in Plymouth, Wisconsin in a tribute to the region’s dairy industry, a 600-pound lit Moon Pie in Mobile, Alabama, and a very tall Pierogi.

And that’s not to mention the food subtypes: fruits, like the 200-pound tangerine that Brooksville, Floridians used to drop as an emblem of the citrus industry, and even the occasional candy, including a 100-pound yellow illuminated Peep in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where the producer is based.

For more of America’s delightful—If not a little strange—quirks, check out the World’s Largest Map of the World’s Largest Roadside Attractions.

Or, make it your New Year’s resolution to get more insights into your data with BatchGeo.

Your favorite morning beverage may actually be a form of protest—at least in American history. Before the American Revolution, coffee was defiantly adopted as an alternative to British tea. Its popularity has led it to be the national drink of the USA, along with Coca-Cola (and Pepsi), Mug Root Beer, and bourbon.

Many countries have an official—or unofficial—national beverage, whether due to popularity or that the drink(s) contains local ingredients or is served during traditional events.

However, some places struggle to settle on just one national drink, even unofficially, opting instead to be represented by multiple refreshments—or none at all, as you’ll discover on the map below.

View National drinks in a full screen map

National Beverage Types

The 249 national drinks on the map above can be categorized into nine beverage types. The table below shows different types of the world’s national beverages, from beer and coffee to tea and wine.

Type of national drink	Number
Other alcohol	101
Tea	36
Coffee	25
Other	19
Beer	17
Soda	16
Wine	13
Milk or yogurt	13
Fruity	6

Though the worldwide drinking age varies widely, the top types are alcoholic.

Alcoholic National Drinks: Beer, Wine, & Other National Liquors

When it comes to these countries’ national drinks, most can be categorized as alcoholic beverages like liquor or mixed drinks.

Vodka

Many associate vodka with Russia, and it’s true that most Russians identify vodka as their national alcoholic beverage and consider their nation to be vodka’s birthplace… but another central European country believes they are the true point of origin of vodka. Poland considers vodka to be its national beverage and that it was the liquor’s birthplace in the 15th century. The Polish love vodka so much that their other popular drink, Krupnik, is based on vodka and honey.

While Estonia makes no claims to vodka’s heritage, its national drink, Viru Valge is vodka.

Check out the map to see Canada’s national drink, a version of a Bloody Mary that contains vodka, clam broth, and Worcestershire sauce called a Caesar, or to see the gin, and brandy-based national drinks.

Whiskey

Whiskey is most popular in Europe, with Ireland and Scotland each having a variation as their national beverage. Irish whisky is popular, meanwhile, Scotch whisky is by law required to be both produced in Scotland and aged in oak barrels for at least three years.

Of course, other countries have national drinks that contain whiskey, such as the U.S. and Laos, which you can find on the map, along with those based on rum, tequila, or mixed drinks and cocktails like Puerto Rico’s Pina colada and Argentina’s Fernet con cola.

Beer & Wine

There are 17 countries with beer as their national drink. Five are African countries, with Botswana, Burundi, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe having various beers, like Botswana’s Chibuku Shake Shake. And though South Africa has no official drink, beer is common. While the U.S. hasn’t claimed a beer for one of its four national drinks, you can still check out Where U.S. Beer is Brewed.

As for wine, it’s most popular in European countries, including France, which has just two national drinks: red wine and Champagne. Sort the map by the Wine type to see them all, along with popular non-alcoholic types like tea and coffee. Otherwise, let’s move on to other countries like the U.S. and France who just couldn’t choose one—beverage that is.

Italy & Others’ Multiple National Drinks

Like the United States and France, many countries (62 to be exact) have multiple national drinks. These multi-national beverage countries make up almost 62% of the national drinks. One country even has five national beverages (Italy)…

• Cappuccino
• Espresso
• Grappa
• Chinotto
• Wine

Note two different types of coffee as a national drink, along with Chinotto. Chinotto is a soda made with myrtle-leaved orange tree fruit’s juice.

And while Sudan has no official drink, Aradaib (tamarind), Araqi, Gongolez (baobab drink), Hulu-Murr (spiced sorghum beverage), and Roselle tea are all popular. Meanwhile, Eritrea, India, Malta, Singapore, and the United States each have four drinks representing them.

Check out the map to see the countries with two or three national drinks. And for more national statistics, don’t miss our maps of the 317 national foods, national animals, or national sports of every country.