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Sixteen-year-old Margaret Gorman claimed the Golden Mermaid trophy at the Atlant
Featured Event 1921 Event

September 8

Miss America Crowned: Margaret Gorman Wins in 1921

Sixteen-year-old Margaret Gorman claimed the Golden Mermaid trophy at the Atlantic City Pageant, sparking a tradition that would evolve into the nation's longest-running beauty contest. Officials soon crowned her the inaugural Miss America, establishing a cultural institution that shaped decades of American pageantry and media representation.

September 8, 1921

105 years ago

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