Top-rated
Tue, Aug 2, 2011
The first decade of the 1900s ushers in crucial inventions that will help shape the rest of the century. Communication gets a boost as a voice is transmitted wirelessly by radio for the first time. Shaving gets a new edge with the appearance of the safety razor blade. The first air conditioner takes the misery out of extreme heat and humidity. The vacuum cleaner stops rugs and carpets from taking a beating, and two brothers, the Wright Borthers, apply their skills as bicycle mechanics to build and fly the world's first airplane.
Top-rated
Tue, Aug 16, 2011
Mobsters, jazz, and turbulent economic times mark the 1920s. Silent film makes the transition to the talkies as sound comes to the silver screen. The refrigerator gets a makeover from the smartest man in the world; and pverty inspires a desperate inventor to come up with a winner called television. Criminals find that there's one less place to hide with the invention of the lie detector. And, the Space Age is launched when a rocketeer who refuses to give up finally unlocks the secret of liquid fuel.
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Tue, Aug 23, 2011
Though overshadowed by the Great Depression, there is no shortage of ingenuity in the 1930s. The two-way radio gets miniaturized, and the world's first portable walkie-talkie goe on the air. The electric guitar changes popular music forever, and commuters become a cash cow for cities when the parking meter is introduced. Copying by hand and mimeographs go the way of the Dodo with the invention of Xerography. The airplane gets a nimble little brother in the air as the helicopter makes its debut.
Top-rated
2011
The 1980s launch an unprecedented technological age that will continue into the next century. DNA profiling begins changing crime scene investigations for all time. Smokers find a helpful hand in kicking the habit through the nicotine patch. Network computing gets a giant boost around the world with the advent of the Internet. A teenager sees his future during a colonoscopy and develops the capsule endoscopy. And, the MIR space station kicks off a new age of space science.
Top-rated
2011
A new telescope named Hubble lets us see even further into the universe, revealing more of its majesty and mysteries. The wind up radio brings the outside world to the smallest villages in Africa. The Neurotrophic Electrode helps those with locked in syndrome get out through a computer interface. A young software engineer's wife gives birth to his daughter while he develops the camera phone in the waiting room. Pathfinder safely bounces to a stop on Mars thanks to an airbag system that puts cars airbag system to shame.