18 August 1920: Women guaranteed the vote in the USA

On this day in 1920, Tennessee became the last state in America to give women the vote, more than half a century after Wyoming.

American women voting in the 1920s © National Photo Company/Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
(Image credit: © National Photo Company/Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

It may surprise you to learn (given the whole “no taxation without representation” thing) that the USA did not introduce universal suffrage when it threw off the yoke of an unjust monarchical system and declared itself a republic.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.