Today 100 Years Ago – A Glimpse at April 29, 1925

History rarely moves in straight lines. On this very week a century ago, the world bustled with energy, uncertainty, and bold design. From the glittering banks of the Seine to the smoke-filled counting rooms of Berlin and the deal-making boardrooms of Detroit, April 28-30 1925 delivered headlines that still ripple into 2025.

1) Paris Throws Open the Gates to Modernity

The Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes debuts – April 28 1925

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What it was like: Picture 15,000 exhibitors, neon-bright pavilions, and visitors drifting along the Seine by boat, their eyes widening at an aesthetic no one quite had a name for yet. By nightfall on April 28, Paris had officially launched the six-month fair that would coin the term “Art Deco.”

Highlights

• National pavilions from 20 countries jostled for attention. The Soviet Union’s angular, red-and-white Konstantin Melnikov pavilion looked like it had dropped in from the year 2000.
• French designers flaunted curved chrome furniture, lacquered cocktail bars, and haute-couture gowns sparkling with geometric beadwork.
• Early electric lighting bathed the fair in a glow that felt futuristic to 1925 crowds still recovering from kerosene lamps.

Why it mattered: The exposition legitimized modern design as both commercial and artistic. Streamlined curves on a radio cabinet in 1925 would echo in everything from 1930s skyscrapers to the icons on today’s smartphones.

2025 flash-forward: Walk into any smart-home showroom today and you’ll find Deco DNA hiding in bold colors and symmetrical lines. A century on, our taste for sleek minimalism still traces back to that Parisian spring.

2) Germany Votes Old Blood into a New Office

Hindenburg declared president of the Weimar Republic – April 28 1925

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Berlin awoke on April 28 to newspaper boys shouting: “Hindenburg siegt!” Seventy-seven-year-old Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg had edged out Center Party candidate Wilhelm Marx in Germany’s first nationwide popular presidential election.

Key context

• The office existed only because sitting President Friedrich Ebert died suddenly in February.
• Many Germans yearned for “strong” leadership amid hyperinflation scars and political street brawls.
• Hindenburg, a monarchist war hero, offered reassuring nostalgia wrapped in a democratic ballot.

Foreshadowing: Few voters guessed their choice would eventually appoint Adolf Hitler as chancellor eight years later—proof that electoral decisions reverberate far past inauguration day.

2025 reflection: Europe’s 2020s see their own swings toward populism and veteran strongman images. The lesson from 1925? Democratic machinery works only when paired with vigilant citizens guarding its outcomes.

3) Detroit’s Biggest Cheque Ever Written

Dodge Brothers sold to Dillon, Read & Co. for a record $146 million – April 30 1925

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In a mahogany-paneled office overlooking Wall Street, investment bankers signed what the New York Times called “the largest cash transaction in industrial history.” Dillon, Read & Company bought Dodge Brothers, Inc. for an eye-watering $146 million (another $50 million for real estate), bringing the roaring-20s auto race into a new consolidation phase.

Why it stunned observers

• The Dodge firm was only 11 years old, founded by machine-shop brothers who supplied Henry Ford before building their own cars.
• The purchase price equaled roughly $2.5 billion in 2025 dollars, a reminder that mega-mergers aren’t purely a Silicon-Valley invention.
• The deal positioned Dodge to become part of Chrysler three years later, shaping the Big Three era that would dominate U.S. auto culture.

2025 mirror: Today’s headlines talk of EV startups being snapped up by legacy automakers, but the pattern—innovation, scale, acquisition—remains familiar. History repeats on four wheels, just with lithium instead of leaded gasoline.

Closing Thoughts

A century can feel like a gulf too wide to bridge, yet April 1925 hums with recognizable notes: cutting-edge design shows, anxious elections, and jaw-dropping corporate deals. Swipe on your AR glasses tonight and remember—those geometric lines, those political debates, and even that mid-price family sedan trace their lineage straight back to events that unfolded this very week, one hundred years ago.