Things which occurred in 1924:
- Adolph Hitler published the first part of his political tract "Mein Kampf" (my battle)
- Soviet leader Lenin died; Joseph Stalin became the new leader.
- Harold Abrahams of Britain came in first in the 100 metre dash at the 1924 Paris Olympics beating Charley Paddock of the United States with an Olympic record time of 10.6 seconds. Scotland's Eric Liddell set an Olympic and world record in the 400 metre race with a time of 47.6 seconds. Douglas Lowe won the 800 metres, a feat he would repeat in 1928. Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi won golds in four events in distance events.
- The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France.
- The Boston Bruins became the first professional hockey team.
- English novelist, E.M. Forster, published "A Passage to India". German novelist, Thomas Mann, published "The Magic Mountain".
- French physicist, Louis de Broglie, proposed the wavelength nature of particles.
- In the United States, Calvin Coolidge became president and J. Edgar Hoover was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation (later renamed F.B.I.).
- Douglas Fairbanks starred in "The Thief of Bagdad".
- Noel Coward made his name with the play "The Vortex". He shocked theatre-goers by daring to expose the problem of drug addiction. Coward also acted in the leading role.
Noel Coward with co-star Lilian Braithwaite in a scene from "The Vortex".
- George Gershwin composed the still popular "Rhapsody in Blue". It was first performed by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra in New York and from there swept the world.
- The new "art form" was surrealism.
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