18. The First Miss American Pageant Took Place On The Atlantic City Boardwalk
By the second year of the contest, the organizers decided that they wanted to rename it “Miss America”, and open up the contest to women from anywhere in the United States – not just the east coast. Margaret Gorman attended and renamed her title from winning the Inter-City Beauties as the first “Miss America”. She competed in the beauty contest, and some people expected her to win again and defend her title, but it went to someone else.
Thousands of people attended this event, but it was still small in comparison to what would come later. Newspapers printed photos of the young ladies standing on the boardwalk, and people who attended had such a good time, that it spread like wildfire. Atlantic City prepared for a much bigger turnout the next year.
