CHAPTER 29

Technological Developments

IN THIS CHAPTER

Summary: The period since 1900 was one of rapid technological developments. From new medical
discoveries to more sophisticated military technology to improvements in transportation, technology
dominated the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Labor-saving devices in the household increased
leisure time, and new forms of mass entertainment filled that leisure time. The space race increased
cold war tensions as the development of nuclear weapons raised new uncertainties.

Key Terms

deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
Helsinki Accords
Hubble Space Telescope
International Space Station
service industries
Sputnik

World War Firsts

World War I was the first conflict in which several new types of technology were used for the first
time. Airplanes were used in combat. Dirigibles, tanks, more sophisticated weaponry, and poison gas
also made their debut during the First World War. Radio technology was used during World War I for
communication purposes. After the war, radio was extended to commercial and private use. In 1920,
the first commercial radio broadcast was aired in Philadelphia. By 1930, millions of U.S. citizens
owned radios, which they used to listen to news, sportscasts, and serials (soap operas). Government
control of the airwaves in Europe made radio ownership less common on that continent.
World War II and the dropping of the atomic bomb ushered in a new scientific age. The Second