George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Let’s do our best to avoid that, starting by looking at major events from 100 years ago.

Between January and December of 1924, 87 political, sporting, criminal, technological, educational, social, cultural, and more events occurred in the U.S. and internationally that have repercussions today.

View 1924 events in a full screen map

The US’s Political, Social, and Cultural Events

Nellie Tayloe Ross, Calvin Coolidge (both public domain)

Of the 87 major events that took place 100 years ago, 24 are focused on one country: the United States. The most common categories of these U.S.-based events are political, social, and cultural.

Several of the political events surrounded the 35th presidential election, which took place in November of 1924. Democrats nominated John W. Davis of West Virginia for President in July of 1924. However, Republican Calvin Coolidge would go on to defeat both him and Progressive Robert M. La Follette Sr. in November. While not presidential, Wyoming also notably elected the U.S.’s first woman governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross, the same month.

The year was also significant for Greek life and other clubs. For example:

• In Omaha, Nebraska, 14 teenagers founded the oldest Jewish youth fraternity (Aleph Zadik Aleph) as the Jewish community was typically not allowed into Greek fraternities.
• Four students of Loyola University Chicago founded the religious Alpha Delta Gamma fraternity.
• Ralph C. Smedley founded The Toastmasters Club in order to improve the communication skills of the young men under his charge at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California.

There were also two of each of the following types of events that year in the U.S.: disaster, crime, business, and art and music. Check out the rest of the U.S.’s events on the map before moving on to the ones that occurred internationally in 1924.

Major International Incidents

While 24 major 1924 events took place in the U.S., the majority (63) happened internationally, especially politically in the United Kingdom.

In January, Ramsay MacDonald became the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. One month later, the United Kingdom recognized the Soviet Union. Additionally, in October of 1924, the British press published the Zinoviev letter, a directive from Grigory Zinoviev, head of the Communist International in Moscow, to the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Meanwhile, multiple technological advancements were made in the U.K. In London, the Royal Greenwich Observatory broadcasted a radio time signal for the first time. Later that year, Harry Grindell Matthews attempted to demonstrate his “death ray.”

Even so, the U.K. was not the only non-U.S. country with many major events in 1924: France (6), Germany (5), and Italy (4). And while these may be from different countries, they fall into the same categories.

The 16 Categories of 1924 Events

We’ve mentioned the types before, but here’s the full breakdown of the 16 categories these major 1924 events fall into:

Category	No. of 1924 Events
Politics	36
Sports	6
Crime	5
Technology	4
Social & Culture	4
Education	4
Disaster	4
Conflict	4
Business	4
Exploration	3
Aviation	3
Art & Music	3
Science	2
Massacre	2
Historical	2
Nature	1

Sports is almost always a popular category, and 1924 was no different, especially considering it was an Olympic year. In January, the first Winter Olympics opened in Chamonix, France while the 1924 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies were held in Paris later in the year. During those Summer Olympics, Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi won the 1,500 and 5,000 m runs within two hours of each other.

The year was a big one for Canadian sports as well when Canada’s National Hockey League expanded to the United States for the first time with the inclusion of the Boston Bruins. Earl W. Bascom, rodeo cowboy and artist, also designed and made rodeo’s first one-hand bareback rigging at Stirling, Alberta, Canada the same year.

Group your data in a similar way when you map it with BatchGeo. And don’t miss what you can also learn from years past: 100 years since 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, and 1923.

Most people know that the Bald Eagle represents the United States. But can you name the national bird of Argentina or Luxembourg? A total of 114 countries are represented by one avian species or another—whether officially or unofficially. In fact, some have more than one! Despite a representation that feels unique, some countries have feathered friends in common. So let’s go over the world’s national birds, conveniently plotted on the map below.

View National birds in a full screen map

Official vs. Unofficial National Jays, Falcons, and Storks

Most of the 120 birds on the map are officially designated. Yet some hold only an unofficial status. In total, 91 are official national birds. The remaining 29—though not official—still have meaning to their associated countries. Let’s take a closer look at some of these unofficial birds.

Notably, most Caribbean countries have official national birds, that is, aside from Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican spindalis, also known as reina mora, may be native to the island country, yet it’s still only connected to Puerto Rico unofficially. These birds help in seed dispersal and plant reproduction, making them a key part of the Puerto Rican ecosystem. You can find the species all over the island.

Contrary to the U.S.’s official national bird (the Bald eagle), neighbor-country Canada’s own Canada jay remains unofficial. Canadian Geographic magazine suggested the bird should be validated, but the federal government has yet to acknowledge the proposal.

The 29 countries without an official national bird aren’t only made up of places like Puerto Rico and Canada that have no official national bird. Both Pakistan and Poland have official and unofficial national birds. The Chukar partridge has been officially designated in Pakistan, while the Shaheen falcon is only considered a heritage bird. Moreover, the Polish have anointed the White-tailed eagle officially, though the White stork has yet to be.

Group the map by “Official status” to learn more, because we’re flying to the most bird-happy nations.

Countries with Multiple National Birds

We’ve already mentioned two of the countries with multiple national birds, Pakistan and Poland. Yet there are four more countries that have multiple national birds:

• Trinidad and Tobago: 2 national birds
• Denmark: 2
• Aruba: 2
• Serbia: 2

Trinidad and Tobago’s multiple national birds include the Cocrico and Scarlet ibis, while Denmark’s are that of the Eurasian skylark and Mute swan (while not entirely mute, its name does derive from it being less vocal than other swan species). Aruba, on the other hand, is home to the Prikichi (also known as the Brown-throated Parakeet), along with the Shoco (Burrowing Owl).

As for Serbia, the country’s choices for national birds are the Griffon vulture and Eastern imperial eagle. Speaking of eagles…

Countries with the Same National Storks, Condors, and Eagles

Not only do countries like Aruba and Denmark have multiple national birds, some even share the exact same national bird. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, most of these countries with the same national bird are located near each other, or right next door.

Bird	No. of countries with this national bird
White stork	4
Andean condor	4
Golden eagle	3
African fish eagle	3
Turquoise-browed motmot	2
Saker falcon	2
Eurasian oystercatcher	2
Common nightingale	2
Barn swallow	2

What do Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine have in common, other than their borders? Their national bird is the White stork, though, it’s only officially so in Lithuania. Like the White stork, the Andean condor is the national bird of four countries: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador. It’s officially recognized in all four countries.

Meanwhile, two more species of national birds, both eagles, are represented by three countries. Specifically, Albania, Mexico, and Scotland have the Golden eagle to represent them, albeit it’s unofficial in Scotland. And then there’s the African fish eagle, the national bird of Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe; all are official.

The Turquoise-browed motmot, Saker falcon, Eurasian oystercatcher, Common nightingale, and Barn swallow are the national birds of two countries.

Want less flying and more running? Check out the National Animals of Every Country on a Map, which includes mythical animals like the double-tailed lion.

The Guinness Book of World Records lists world records both of human achievements and the extremes of the natural world. This can be anything from the tallest living woman to the longest-airing sitcom—or the largest running events.

The world’s largest running events are based on the number of registrants, not distance. The 10 largest had more than one million people registered. And while not all registrants will complete the race, it’s estimated that between 80 to 85% do. However, that doesn’t mean these large running events aren’t also long, with distances up to 87.6 kilometers.

View Largest running races in a full screen map

1+ Million People Registered for the 10 Largest Races

At least 20,000 people have registered in each of the world’s largest running events. In total, it’s been over 3.5 million. Yet the top 10 make up nearly 30% of that.

• Wings for Life World Run: 184,236 registrants
• A Run for the Pasig River: 116,086
• Bay to Breakers: 110,000
• Cursa El Corte Ingles: 109,457
• Royal Run: 93,620
• Broloppet / Broløbet: 92,266
• Vancouver Sun Run: 89,000
• City2Surf: 86,696
• Dam tot Damloop: 74,020
• Hong Kong Marathon: 73,070

The 2021 Wings for Life World Run was the largest race in the world. However, that’s not surprising, seeing as the race is global. Participants from all over the world start running at the same time in support of spinal cord research.

The Philippines’ 2010 A Run for the Pasig River has also had registrants in the hundreds of thousands. At one point, it even held The Guinness World Record for having the most participants in a racing event. Previously in 1986, San Francisco, California’s Bay to Breakers was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest footrace.

It’s also worth mentioning that Copenhagen is home to both the Royal Run and Broloppet which each have seen more than 90,000 registrants. The Royal Run was held in May of 2023 while Broloppet took place in June 2000.

Speaking of months, specifically May and June, this is the most common time these large races occurred. In addition to Royal Run, May has also held Wings for Life World Run and Bay to Breakers. June, on the other hand, was the month of not only Broloppet but Cursa El Corte Ingles as well.

You’ll have to check out the rest of the largest races’ registrants and months on the map because we’re moving on to distance.

Largest in Distance

The world’s “largest” races might have many meanings. While in this case, we’re talking about participation, we also have information about their distances. So let’s see the longest of these, starting with the Comrades Marathon.

In June of 2000, the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa saw 20,047 participants run 87.6 km (54.4 miles) in the annual Comrades Marathon. While that participation may seem low compared to the Wings for Life World Run or A Run for the Pasig River, it’s also the only ultramarathon (any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 kilometers) on the map.

Meanwhile, there are many (24) traditional marathons (42.195 km) with high participation from the Hong Kong Marathon to the Naha Marathon. Group the map by “Distance (km)” and filter by “87.6 – 30” to see them.

Where the Largest Races Take Place

We’ve mentioned the locations of some of the 10 largest races and longest races. But some countries are home to multiple of the world’s largest races.

• United States – 20 largest races
• Australia – 7
• United Kingdom – 5
• The Netherlands – 5
• India – 3

More of the largest races are held in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world. Among the most popular cities are Chicago, which is home to the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle, Chicago Marathon, and JPMorgan Corporate Challenge. Philadelphia and New York City also put on two of the largest races each: the Broad Street Run and Philadelphia Marathon along with the New York City Marathon (held in November) and New York City Half Marathon (held in March). California also is hosts to two, albeit in different cities: Bay to Breakers in San Francisco, which has the largest participation of any U.S.-based race, and the Los Angeles Marathon in L.A.

Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and India also have multiple large races. Get insights into your data’s most common locations when you make a map with BatchGeo.