99 Years Ago: What the World Looked Like When Michigan Last Won Five Straight vs Ohio State

When’s the last time Michigan beat Ohio State five times in a row? 

These two powerhouses will meet for the 121st time on Saturday, with the first edition of ‘The Game’ taking place all the way back in 1897. Sherrone Moore’s team won straight up as 19.5-point underdogs last year, and enter as 10-point underdogs this weekend.

But this year, the Wolverines are attempting to do something that they haven’t done in 99 years— beat the Buckeyes for a fifth straight time. Michigan recorded its fifth straight win vs Ohio State in 1926 and even got a sixth the following year, but has never strung together five in a row again since then. 

With so much time having passed, we thought it’d be fun to take a look at what the world looked liked during those years. Below is a breakdown of key events and moments in the world during the streak, followed by some additional context on some things that hadn’t even existed yet. 

Let’s take a look:

During the Win Streak

1922:

• The U.S. President was Warren G. Harding, and he served until 1923.
• King Tut’s tomb was discovered by Howard Carter in Egypt.
• The USSR (United Soviet Socialist Republics) was formed, also known as the Soviet Union.
• Benito Mussolini became Prime Minister of Italy.
• The first successful treatment of insulin was administered, taking place at Toronto General Hospital in Canada.
• The BBC (British Broadcasting Company) was founded in London, UK.
• Reader’s Digest was founded in the U.S. by DeWitt and Lila Bell Wallace.
• CFB Champion: California, Cornell, Princeton
• NFL Champion: Canton Bulldogs
• World Series Champion: New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants)

Howard Carter, English archaeologist, close to the golden sarcophagus of Tutankhamon in Egypt in 1922 (Photograph Harry Buront/Getty Pictures).

1923:

• Calvin Coolidge entered his first year as U.S. President, and served for the next six years.
• Time Magazine was founded in New York City, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden.
• The Hollywood sign went up, originally as “Hollywoodland”, serving as a temporary ad for a local real estate development.
• The New York Yankees won their first World Series title.
• CFB Champion: Illinois and Michigan
• NFL Champion: Canton Bulldogs
• World Series Champion: New York Yankees

The “Hollywoodland” register Los Angeles, CA in 1923 (Photograph by Getty Pictures).

1924:

• The first Macy’s Day parade was held in New York City.
• The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France.
• Marlon Brando— famously known for playing Vito Corleone in “The Godfather”— and George H.W. Bush— the 41st President of the U.S.— were both born this year.
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, commonly known as MGM Pictures, was formed; MGM has produced over 25 films that have each grossed over $244 million worldwide, and merged with Amazon in 2023.
• CFB Champion: Notre Dame
• NFL Champion: Cleveland Bulldogs
• World Series Champion: Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins)

February 3, 1924: The Canadian ice hockey workforce performs the U.S. for the gold medal on the Winter Olympics in France (Photograph by Allsport Hulton/Archive).

1925:

• F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “The Great Gatsby”— which went on to sell 30 million copies worldwide and still reportedly sells roughly 500,000 copies annually.
• Edwin Hubble discovered that galaxies exist beyond the Milky Way, presenting this to the American Astronomical Society.
• Walter Chrysler founded the automaker Chrysler; currently, approximately 120,000 Chrysler cars are sold every year in the U.S.
• Yogi Berra— universally agreed upon as one of the greatest Yankees players ever— and Margaret Thatcher— the UK’s first female Prime Minister as well the longest serving Prime Minister of the 20th century— were both born.
• CFB Champion: Alabama
• NFL Champion: Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals)
• World Series Champion: Pittsburgh Pirates

1926:

• Queen Elizabeth II was born, and would go on to become Queen of the United Kingdom until 2022.
• Erik Weisz, also known as “Harry Houdini”, passed away at 52 years old.
• Robert Goddard invented the first liquid-fueled rocket, paving the way for future advancements in spaceflight.
• U.S. Route 66 was built, spanning over 2,400 miles and running through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois.
• CFB Champion: Alabama, Stanford
• NFL Champion: Frankford Yellow Jackets
• World Series Champion: St. Louis Cardinals

The 1927 St. Louis Cardinals (Photograph by George Rinhart/Corbis by way of Getty Pictures).

1927:

• Philo T. Farnsworth conducted the first electronic TV transmission, by showing a straight line.
• AT&T President Walter Gifford and British General Post Office head Sir Evelyn P. Murray conducted the first transatlantic phone call, between New York City and London.
• Babe Ruth becomes the first player in MLB history to hit 60 home runs in a single season.
• Mount Rushmore began construction in the Black Hills of South Dakota and was completed 14 years later in 1941; it reportedly receives approximately two million visitors a year.
• The first non-silent movie, “The Jazz Singer”, is released.
• CFB Champion: Illinois, Yale
• NFL Champion: New York Giants
• World Series Champion: New York Yankees

Rushmore: Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.(Photograph by D.B. Bartruff/Getty Pictures)

Placing Issues in Context

• 1920: The NFL’s first season was in 1920 (as the American Professional Football Association), making the league six years old at the time of Michigan’s fifth consecutive win.
• 1920: Michigan’s fifth straight win also came six years into the Prohibition Era, a period where the production and sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal in the U.S.— lasting until 1933.
• 1928: Penicillin was discovered in 1928, just two years after the Wolverines recorded their fifth straight win against the Buckeyes; it wasn’t administered in humans until 1941.
• 1930: The first World Cup didn’t take place until four years after Michigan’s fifth straight win.
• 1939: The first NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament came 13 years after the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes for a fifth straight season.
• 1945: The Electronic Number Integrator and computer, widely considered as the first electronic/general-purpose computer, was invented 19 years after five straight wins from Michigan in the ‘The Game’.
• 1946: The NBA’s first season wasn’t until 20 years after Michigan’s fifth win vs Ohio State, and the league was known as the Basketball Association of America at the time.
• 1973: The first cell phone wasn’t invented until 1973— 47 years after the Wolverines recorded a fifth straight win vs. the Buckeyes.

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