World War also added jet engines, tape recordings, and radar to its list of firsts.
Postwar Period
Technology assisted Europe in its recovery from the world wars. New equipment and improved seeds
increased agricultural yields, while modern industrial equipment increased production of textiles and
metal goods, including automobiles and appliances.
In the 1950s, scientific technology led British and U.S. scientists to discover the composition of
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) . Scientific farming based on genetics led to further improvements in
seeds and pesticides. Genetic research produced the first incident of animal cloning (a cloned sheep)
in Scotland in 1997.
Medical treatments and sanitation improved. New drugs, such as penicillin (discovered in 1928), as
well as immunizations against diphtheria and poliomyelitis lowered the death rate. X-rays, ultrasound,
and imaging assisted medical diagnoses. Indoor plumbing improved sanitation.
In 1949, the Soviet Union developed its own atomic bomb. From that time until the 1980s, both the
United States (1952) and the Soviet Union (1953) built hydrogen bombs and developed ever more
sophisticated weapons of war and defense. In 1972, as a result of the nuclear arms race, European
countries convened a conference on security issues in Helsinki, Finland. In 1975, the Helsinki
Accords called for contacts between nations on both sides of the Iron Curtain and also addressed the
issue of human rights.
Space Age
The twentieth century saw the exploration of new horizons in space. In 1957, the Soviet Union
launched Sputnik , the first satellite, and in 1961 sent the first manned flight into space. The United
States soon followed in the space race, succeeding in landing astronauts on the moon in 1969. In the
1970s, the United States and the Soviet Union cooperated in docking spacecraft and later cooperated
in work on the International Space Station . Cooperation between the United States and European
nations led to the development in 1990 of the Hubble Space Telescope , which is capable of
observing objects in remote areas of the universe. U.S. orbiter landings on Mars have provided
opportunities for investigation of potential landing sites on the Red Planet.
Entertainment Technology
The film industry created new opportunities for entertainment, especially after the addition of sound
in the late 1920s. By the early 1950s, television had begun to enter many homes in the West. In the
1970s, the entertainment industry born in Hollywood was surpassed by Bollywood, the name given to
the film industry based in Mumbai, India. Since the 1970s, India has ranked as the world’s largest film
producer.
Technology in the Information Age
As the world’s societies entered the twenty-first century, more and more of the world’s citizens were
linked by computer technology, cellular phones, video games, and electronic readers. Robots, first
used in Japan and adopted in Europe for use in mines and the automobile industry, increased