By Aaron Boyes and Sean Graham
When we started this humble tradition back in 2013, it was based on a frustration with seeing year in review think pieces and declarations of things like the word of the year being released in November – which always signalled to us that December didn’t count. So tough luck to all the inventions, birthdays, and monumental events that happen in the 12th month, you get overlooked because editors are impatient.
In the past couple years, however, we are pleased to see that that trend has started to reverse. This year, for instance, Spotify had enough restraint to avoid releasing Wrapped until December. Whether this signals that our frustration has become more widespread or that perhaps the algorithm overlords that now run our lives are getting better, there seems to be a greater recognition that the year isn’t over until it’s actually over.
Despite this move in that positive direction, our original motivation that we need time and historical context to truly understand what was important in any given year still holds true. A lot of things happened in 2024, but we won’t know the true implications of these for years to come, so we will refrain from commenting on them. 1924, on the other hand, has enough historical distance that we are ready to look back and determine the most important event of the year.
As always, we have set up a four brackets – Entertainment, Business, International, and the fan-favourite Potpourri – and selected 16 of the biggest events from 100 years ago. They will square off in head-to-head matchups until only one is left to be crowned the winner. (A full list of past winners and links to previous editions are included at the bottom of the post). As always, events that fall in the same category as winners of past years are not eligible and have not been included.
We hope that you enjoy this year’s version!
First Round
Entertainment Bracket
(1) Metro Pictures and Goldwyn Pictures Merge
v.
(4) First Winter Olympics
Aaron: The motion picture industry was big business in the 1920s and the desire for new movies kept studios busy. American businessmen Marcus Loew had established a studio in Hollywood but wanted to expand his offerings. In 1919 he purchased the Metro Pictures Corporation to enable a steady stream of films in his theatres. Then in 1924, Loew purchased Goldwyn Pictures. On April 17, 1924, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer company was incorporated. Its logo, the roaring lion, is an instantly recognizable symbol and one that starts numerous famous films, including Ben Hur, Gone with the Wind, and the James Bond series. In 2011, MGM declared bankruptcy protection and was ultimately purchased by Amazon.
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