The Remarkable 20th Century

Highlights of the first decade include the Wright Brothers' flight, Teddy Roosevelt overseeing the construction of the Panama Canal, Thomas Edison inventing the motion-picture camera, and the devastating San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.

The second decade saw the First World War, the popularity of screen icons Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino, and the ill-fated maiden voyage of the HMS Titanic, as well as the emergence of Ty Cobb and Jack Dempsey as sports giants.

The twenties roared with flappers, Prohibition, and Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic the same year the movies learned to talk, courtesy of The Jazz Singer. In the sports world fans cheered Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Knute Rockne.

The bubble burst in 1929 when the stock market crashed, sending America in a Great Depression that lasted through most of the thirties. Across the Atlantic, Hitler and Mussolini grew more powerful and frightening. Hollywood released Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, and the economy was strengthened with FDR's New Deal.

The forties take us through World War II, from the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor to D-Day, from the Holocaust to the death of FDR. But the forties also gave us Bob Hope's USO tours, Frank Sinatra's crooning, sports greats Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams, as well as the establishment of the United Nations, the State of Israel, and the People's Republic of China.

The fifties saw the Korean War, the rise of Fidel Castro, and rising Cold War tensions. The Space Race began and landmark civil rights events were documented with Brown vs. the Board of Education and Rosa Parks' courageous refusal to go to the "back of the bus." It was the Golden Age of Television, motion picture gimmicks such as 3-D and Cinemascope, and the musical revolution of rock 'n' roll.