1930

What Was Happening in 1930

The party's over — Wall Street's crash ripples into a global depression as the world braces for hard times.

Born in

By the Numbers in 1930

World Population

2.1B

UK Life Expectancy

51.2 years

US Life Expectancy

52.4 years

Gold Price (per oz)

$20.57

Dow Jones Index

28

US National Debt

16.8B

Sovereign Nations

56

How Much Did Things Cost in 1930?

ItemUKUS
Average house price£590$4,778
Average salary£200$1,368
Pint of milk2d$0.07
Loaf of bread4d$0.09
Dozen eggs1s 2d$0.45
Pint of beer5d$0.15
Cinema ticket6d$0.25

Technology and Inventions in 1930

Talking pictures had fully replaced silent film, and radio ownership was surging with the BBC and US networks broadcasting into millions of homes. Jet propulsion was being theorised, and early television experiments were underway. The first supermarkets began appearing in the US.

  • Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto using photographic plates at Lowell Observatory
  • The BBC begins experimental television broadcasts using John Logie Baird's system
  • 3M introduces Scotch Tape, the first transparent adhesive tape
  • Sliced bread, introduced in 1928, becomes widely available across the US

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