Year 1911 Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historical Events

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 1911. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, noteworthy inventions, historic firsts, sports facts, entertainment news, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. In 1911, William Howard Taft (R-Ohio) was the 27th U.S. president, and James S. Sherman (R-New York) was the nation’s 27th vice president.
2. The U.S. unemployment rate was 6.7%, and the nation’s inflation rate was 0.00%.
3. The average annual household income in the U.S. was $750, and hourly wages averaged 22 cents.
4. A first-class stamp cost two cents, and the average retail price for a gallon of gas was around 16 cents.
5. $1.00 in 1911 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $35.00 today. Back then, you could purchase 10 pounds of chuck roast, 50 first-class stamps, or 17½ pounds of sugar for $1.00.
6. American companies and brands established in 1911 included Autolite, ExxonMobil, GE Lighting, IBM, J. J. Newberry, Santikos Theatres, Sclafani Foods, StandardAero, and the Whirlpool Corporation.
7. Consumer products and brands launched during the year included Crisco, Mazola cooking oil, the Nivea skincare brand, Midol, processed cheese, and Sani Flush toilet bowl cleaner.
8. On January 18, aviation pioneer Eugene Burton Ely landed on the deck of the USS Pennsylvania, which was stationed in San Francisco Bay, making it the first time an aircraft landed on a ship.
9. On March 10, the Kansas legislature approved House Bill Number 906, the first “blue sky law” in the United States. (Just so you know, blue sky laws “are state laws that regulate the sale of securities and protect investors from fraud. The laws vary by state, but they typically require companies to register their securities offerings and sales.”)
10. On March 29, the United States Army adopted the M1911 pistol as its standard firearm.
11. On April 30, much of downtown Bangor, Maine, was destroyed by a fire ignited by sparks from a burning shed.
12. On May 15, the U.S. Supreme Court declared Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable monopoly” under the Sherman Antitrust Act and “ordered the company to be dissolved.”
13. On May 23, the main branch of the New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and East 41st Street opened. Today, the branch “contains an estimated 2.5 million volumes in its stacks.”
14. On May 30, the first Indianapolis 500 auto race took place. The winner was Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp car.
15. On August 8, Public Law 62-5 set the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435. The law went into effect in 1913.
16. On September 25, construction began on Fenway Park in Boston. Since 1912, the stadium has been home to the Boston Red Sox MLB team.
17. On October 24, Orville Wright remained in the air for nine minutes and 45 seconds in a glider, setting a world record that would remain for 10 years.
18. On November 3, Louis Chevrolet, Arthur Chevrolet, and William C. Durant started the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to compete with the Ford Model T.
19. On December 14, Roald Amundsen and his team of five Norwegian explorers became the first humans to reach the South Pole.
20. In 1911, cornflakes were being manufactured under more than 100 brand names—including Kellogg's.
21. Leon Leonwood Bean created the first pairs of “Bean Boots,” which were a type of “water-resistant duck boots.” (In 1912, Bean founded the L.L. Bean Company to market and sell his shoes.)
22. The National Coffee Association (NCA) was founded, “making it one of the oldest trade associations in the United States. The NCA is the largest and oldest trade organization representing the U.S. coffee industry.”
23. In 1911, Tennessee Williams, one of America’s greatest playwrights, was born. He wrote more than 25 full-length and many one-act plays, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), The Night of the Iguana (1961), and The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore (1963).
24. Ellen Swallow Richards passed away. She was “a pioneer in sanitary engineering and a founder of home economics in the United States. She was also the first woman to be admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”
25. Other famous and infamous people who passed away in 1911 were Carry Amelia Nation (controversial temperance advocate), Jack Daniel (entrepreneur), Milton Bradley (entrepreneur), David Graham Phillips (journalist), Will White (baseball player), and Williamina Fleming (astronomer).
26. Popular music artists and groups in 1911: Henry Burr, the Haydn Quartet, Ada Jones, Harry Macdonough, Billy Murray, the Peerless Quartet, Arthur Pryor’s Band, Blanche Ring, John Philip Sousa’s Band, Frank Stanley, Elise Stevenson, and Nat Wills
27. America’s favorite songs were Some of These Days (Sophie Tucker), Alexander’s Ragtime Band (Arthur Collins & Byron G. Harlan), and Come, Josephine, in My Flying Machine (Ada Jones & Billy Murray).
28. Popular movies included Comrades, Dante’s Inferno, The Baron, The Last Drop of Water, The Lonedale Operator, The Manicure Lady, and The Villain Foiled.
29. America’s favorite magazines were Life, The Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s, McClure’s, and Cosmopolitan.
30. Here are some sports facts from 1911: The Philadelphia Athletics won the World Series, Penn State and Princeton were the NCAA football champions, and Meridian was the winning horse in the Kentucky Derby.
31. In 1911 as well, the words "Advent wreath," "Air Force," "airmail," "Alzheimer’s disease," "anxiety attack," "clock-watcher," "coast-to-coast," "comic strip," "Eagle Scout," "hope chest," "life of Riley," "pie in the sky," "raw deal," "sanitizer," "strike zone," and "teachers college" all appeared in print for the first time.

References:

1. https://www.mclib.info/Research/Local-History-Genealogy/Historic-Prices/Historic-Prices-1910s/Historic-Prices-1911
2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1911
3. https://playback.fm/charts/top-100-songs/1911
4. https://www.flickchart.com/charts.aspx?year=1911
5. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-1911.html
6. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1911
7. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/year/1911.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1911_in_the_United_States
9. https://www.infoplease.com/year/1911
10. https://popculturemadness.com/1911-history-trivia-and-fun-facts/

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor