Richard Wasserman
Toffler’s three waves, and the fourth
wave if you believe we have entered
one

First Wave – Agricultural Phase (~8000 BC-1750 AD)

Second Wave – Industrial Phase (1750-1980)

Third Wave – Information Phase (1980-2000)

Fourth Wave – INSTANTANEOUS PHASE (2000-?)

Agricultural Phase – …people tended to live in
large, multigenerational households, with
uncles, aunts, in-laws, grandparents, or cousins
all living under the same roof, all working
together as an economic production unit--from
the "joint family" in India to the "zarduga" in
the Balkans and the "extended family" in
Western Europe. (Toffler, p. 28, 1980)
8000 BC
Cave art is particularly well
represented in the southeast coastal
region of Spain. These paintings
give clear indications of dress and
weapons, notably bows and
arrows, and of dancing and
hunting activities
(The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
6000 – 4500 BC
Archaeological evidence from
various sites on the Iberian
Peninsula suggests the
domestication of plants and
animals. The extreme rarity of
permanent settlements suggests a
relatively mobile population.
(The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1700 BC
Wind powered machine
developed by Babylonians
(Wikipedia)
1000 AD
Cash cropping and the modern crop rotation system where
land was cropped four or more times in a two-year period is
introduced in the Arab Empire. The Arab Empire introduced
agricultural innovations such as new forms of land tenure,
improvements in irrigation, a variety of sophisticated
irrigation methods, the introduction of fertilizers and
widespread artificial irrigation systems, the development of
gravity-flow irrigation systems from rivers and springs, the
use of noria and chain pumps for irrigation purposes, the
establishment of the sugar cane industry in the
Mediterranean, and experimentation in sugar cultivation
(Wikipedia)
4500 BC
The earliest farming takes place on
the Iberian Peninsula as established
by grains of cultivated barley found
in a cave site near Alicante, Spain.
Sedentary agriculture fosters
cooperation among communities
and the formation of villages
consisting of animal pens and huts
made from branches.
(The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1700
British Agricultural
Revolution begins in the
United Kingdom
(Wikipedia)
1712
Newcomen invented a
workable steam engine in
(Toffler, p. 25, 1980)




…people worked the soil (Toffler, p. 21, 1980).
…life was organized around the village
(Toffler, p. 21, 1980).
…the economy was decentralized, so that each
community produced most of its own
necessities (Toffler, p. 22, 1980).
drew their energy from "living batteries"-human and animal muscle-power--or from sun,
wind, and water…All First Wave societies thus
exploited energy sources that were renewable.
(Toffler, p. 25, 1980).

Industrial Phase - the nuclear family, the
factory-style school, and the giant corporation-became the defining social institutions (Toffler,
p. 30-31, 1980)
1752
Benjamin Franklin utilizes
a lightning rod to start
work with electricity
(Wikipedia - Agriculture)
1837
John Deere invents steel
plough
(Wikipedia - Agriculture)
1775
Benjamin Franklin
appointed first Postmaster
General by the Continental
Congress
(USPS)
1803-1806
Lewis and Clark
Expedition
(PBS)
1860-1861
Pony Express
(USPS)
1901
…the world's first billiondollar corporation--United
States Steel--appeared on
the scene, a concentration
of assets unimaginable in
any earlier period
(Toffler, p. 30, 1980)
1876
Throughout his life, Bell had been interested
in the education of deaf people. This interest
lead him to invent the microphone and, in
1876, his "electrical speech machine," which
we now call a telephone.
(The Franklin Institute)
1861-1865
Civil War - The Civil War was not fought exclusively,
as it seemed to many, over the moral issue of slavery
or such narrow economic issues as tariffs. It was
fought over a much larger question: would the rich
new continent be ruled by farmers or industrializers,
by the forces of the First Wave or the Second?
(Toffler, p. 23, 1980)
1973
Personal computer: Xerox
PARC
(Wikipedia - Industrial)
1955
the decade that saw white-collar
and service workers outnumber
blue-collar workers for the first
time. This was the same decade
that saw the widespread
introduction of the computer,
commercial jet travel, the birth
control pill, and many other highimpact innovations.
(Toffler, p. 14, 1980)




…put the tractor on the farm, the typewriter in the office, the
refrigerator in the kitchen. (Toffler, p. 22, 1980)
All Second Wave societies, by contrast, began to draw their
energy from coal, gas, and oil--from irreplaceable fossil
fuels…Fossil fuels formed the energy base of all Second Wave
societies. (Toffler, p. 25, 1980)
It (Second Wave) gave technology a womb, by inventing
machines designed to give birth to new machines in infinite
progression--i.e., machine tools. More important, it brought
machines together in interconnected systems under a single
roof, to create the factory and ultimately the assembly line
within the factory. (Toffler, p. 26, 1980)
Mass production, however, was meaningless without parallel
changes in the distribution system. (Toffler, p. 26, 1980)



Railroads, highways, and canals opened up the
hinterlands, and industrialism came "palaces of trade"-the first department stores. (Toffler, p. 27, 1980)
…attacks on patriarchal authority…the family no longer
worked together as a unit…Education of the child was
turned over to schools. Care of the aged was turned over
to poor-houses or old-age homes or nursing homes.
(Toffler, p. 28, 1980)
The so-called nuclear family--father, mother, and a few
children, with no encumbering relatives--became the
standard, socially approved, "modern" model in all
industrial societies, whether capitalism or socialist.
(Toffler, p. 28, 1980)




…mass education taught basic reading, writing, and
arithmetic…but beneath it lay an invisible or "covert
curriculum"…one in punctuality, one in obedience, and one in
rote, repetitive work. (Toffler, p. 29, 1980)
…the invention known as the corporation. Until then the
typical business enterprise had been owned by an individual,
a family, or a partnership. (Toffler, p. 30, 1980)
Together these three--the nuclear family, the factory-style
school, and the giant corporation--became the defining social
institutions of all Second Wave societies (Toffler, p. 30-31,
1980)
…concert halls began to crop up in London, Vienna, Paris,
and elsewhere (Toffler, p. 31, 1980)
Communication Phase – described by a one parent
or two working parent families; collaborative
teamwork with flexible hours and location in the
workplace; transportation includes automobiles
and planes (as well as trains and boats);
Communication quickly evolves from the
telephone and television through the personal
computer, cell phone, and wireless technology;
Students are being educated more and more
through digital means with ever more inclusion of
the personal computer
(Laureate, 2008)

1982
Camcorder: Sony
(Wikipedia – Industrial)
1981
IBM
The IBM PC - Home
Computer
(About.com - Inventors)
1984
Apple Macintosh
Compute
(About.com - Inventors)
1985
Microsoft Windows
(About.com - Inventors)
1994
Netscape Navigator 1.0 was
written
(Wikipedia - Computers)
1988
Prodigy began service
(Answerbag)
1992
Introduction of Windows
3.1
(Wikipedia - Computers)
1989
World Wide Web, invented
by Tim Berners-Lee
(Wikipedia - Computers)
1990
Introduction of Windows
3.0 by Microsoft.
Macintosh IIfx released
(Wikipedia - Computers)
1997
Internet Explorer 4.0 was
released.
(Wikipedia - Computers)

INSTANTANEOUS Phase – This phase I
describe as the movement beyond
communication and digital media to the aspect
of having the ability live anywhere on the
Earth (even in outer space) and be able to have
current interactions with others in real time.







With ever growing access to the internet, the speed of the internet is growing.
In the mid to late 90s, the standard modem was dial-up that eventually topped out
with 56 Kbps.
Napster arrived in 1998-99 which allowed members to freely download music and
other files from others through the internet. Broadband made this application
incredibly useful and powerful. However, they eventually were sued for
copyright infringement. This did not stop other programs like Limewire,
Gnuttella, Kazaa, etc from continuing to offer such a service (for free)
Following the broadband growth, followed wireless technology. Wireless
modems offered broadband access from just about everywhere.
This gave rise the eventual true anywhere wireless access offered by cell phone
companies on networks such as 3G and 4G.
In June 2007, the iPhone was released expanding the market for smartphones. This
gave the average consumer the basic personal computing operations in the palm of
their hand.
As of recently (2010), the FCC has started research to create a nationwide wireless
network.
2000
Y2K
1998
Google Search Engine
(Grew into the top Search
engine which now offers
multiple applications and
internet services
(Wikipedia – Internet)
1998
56K Modem Standard –
Beginning of Broadband –
Ever increasing rates
(Wikipedia – Modems)
1999
Napster makes file sharing
popular and drives the
broadband movement
(Wikipedia – File sharing)
June 29, 2007
The original (labeled retroactively)
iPhone was introduced in the United
States on
(Wikipedia – iPhone)
Social Networking
2002 
Friendster (2002)
Facebook (2004)
MySpace (2005)
Twitter (2006)
(Wikipedia – Social Networking)
2001
The mobile phone email system by
Research in Motion for their
Blackberry product was launched in
America.
(Wikipedia – Internet)
2010?
FCC begins plans to create a
nationwide plan for wireless
internet
(FCC – Wireless)
2008
United States Presidential Election
Utilized social networking to
campaign.
October 2003
The first commercial United States
3G network was by Monet Mobile
Networks…but this network
provider later shut down operations.
The second 3G network operator in
the USA was Verizon Wireless
(Wikipedia - 3G)
June 13, 2009
Iran Election Protests
Used Twitter to get out information
that was not exposed by press.
(Wikipedia – Iran Election Protests)
















3G. Wikipedia. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3g
Agriculture. Wikipedia. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_agriculture_and_food_technology
Agriculture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=02&region=eus
File Sharing. Wikipedia. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_file_sharing
Industrial Revolution. Wikipedia. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_historic_inventions
Inventors. About.com Retrieved (2010, March 21) from http://inventors.about.com/library/blcoindex.htm
iPhone. Wikipedia. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone
Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Evolution of Educational Technology in Society, Education, and the Workplace. Lecture
presented by Laureate Education, Inc.
Modems. Wikipedia. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_device_bit_rates
New Perspectives on The West. PBS. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/events/1800_1820.htm
Prodigy. Answer Bag. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/1883775
Social Networking. Wikipedia. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking
Telephone. The Franklin Institute Retrieved (2010, March 21) from http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/inventor/bell.html
Toffler, Alvin. (1980). The Third wave. New York: Bantam Books.
United States Postal Service. USPS. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from
http://www.usps.com/postalhistory/significantdates.htm?from=PostalHistory&page=Center_SignificantDates
Wireless. FCC . Retrieved (2010, March 21) from http://wireless.fcc.gov/
Strand 2: Technology
Key advances and innovations for each decade
1895-1899
(1831-1900) Television was not invented by a single inventor, instead many people working together and alone over the years, contributed to the evolution of
television…Work with electromagnetism---At the World's Fair in Paris, the first International Congress of Electricity was held. That is where Russian Constantin
Perskyi made the first known use of the word "television.“ (Television, 2010).
(1895) Radio owes its development to two other inventions, the telegraph and the telephone, all three technologies are closely related. Radio technology began
as "wireless telegraphy"…Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor, proved the feasibility of radio communication. He sent and received his first radio signal in Italy
in 1895...In addition to Marconi, two of his contemporaries Nikola Tesla and Nathan Stufflefield took out patents for wireless radio transmitters. Nikola Tesla is
now credited with being the first person to patent radio technology; the Supreme Court overturned Marconi's patent in 1943 in favor of Tesla. (Radio, 2010)
“The Bell and Howell company came into being in Chicago on New Year’s Day, 1907, when Don J. Bell, a young inventor, formed a partnership with Albert S. Howell. This company began by
specializing in projectors and cameras. Later it added a library of over one thousand 16mm silent films and some two hundred 16mm sound-on-film motion pictures…users of Bell and Howell
educational film library were supplied with a projector, a screen, and an operator.” (Saettler, p. 9, 2004)
“(1909) Alexander F. Victor had invented the Animatograph, the first portable projector that combined
a camera with sound-on-disc “ (Saettler, p. 99, 2004)
1900-1909
“To improve data processing of the 1900 census, Herman Hollerith adds an automatic card feed to his electric punched card tabulating
machine.” (HistoryofScience.com)
1900
The telegraph now connects most of the civilized world. (HistoryofScience.com)
The First Transmission of Speech over Radio Waves December 23, 1900 (History of Science.com 2010)
Probably the Earliest Concept for CRT Television June 18, 1908 (History of Science, 2010)
(1908) AT&T advertisement…"a clearing-house of standardization" that would ensure economy in "construction of equipment, lines and conduits, as
well as in operating methods and legal work," not to mention "a uniform system of operating and accounting." (Toffler, p.47, 1980)
1910-1919
(Charles) Urban founded the Kinemacolor Company in 1911 (Saettler, p. 100, 2004)
(Charles) Urban founded the Kinemacolor Company in 1911 (Saettler, p. 100, 2004)
“In 1911…The Edison Company began a series of educational films, known as Edison’s Library, on history and on natural and physical science.”
“In 1911…The Edison Company began a series of educational films, known as Edison’s Library, on history and on natural and physical science.”
(Saettler, p. 100, 2004)
(Saettler, p. 100, 2004)
“In 1912, the company (Victor Animatograph Company) produced the first portable lantern-slide-projector and made smaller, lighter slides. Other
achievements were the first 16mm projector, the first spring driven 16mm projector, and the first spring-driven 16mm cameras (which dispensed
with a tripod). Victor was prominent among those who first proposed 16mm film as the standard for educational film.” (Saettler, p. 99, 2004).
“Willard B. Cook was the organizer and chief executive of the Pathescope Company, which was organized in 1912.” (Saettler, p. 100, 2004)
“Willard B. Cook was the organizer and chief executive of the Pathescope Company, which was organized in 1912.” (Saettler, p. 100, 2004)
The Bureau of Commercial Economies founded in 1913 by Francis Holley. (Saettler, p. 101, 2004)
“By 1913, DeVry had begun to manufacture his famous E Model, DeVry Suitcase, 35mm projectors.” (Saettler, p. 53, 2004)
“By 1913, DeVry had begun to manufacture his famous E Model, DeVry Suitcase, 35mm projectors.” (Saettler, p. 53, 2004)
Teletype Invented 1914 (History of Science, 2010)
Educational Motion Pictures Bureau, Inc., organized in 1914, was the first producing company to issue teaching syllabi with their educational films.
The First Transcontinental Telephone Call January 25, 1915 (History of Science, 2010)
(Educational Films Corporation) was formed in New York city in 1915 by Earle W. Hammons. (Saettler, p. 100, 2004)
John R. Bray was the president of Bray Pictures Corporation which was incorporated in 1916. (Saettler, p. 101, 2004)
The Atlas Motion Picture Corporation was formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1916 and financially backed by Henry Ford. Released Ford Educational
Weekly and in 1920 The Ford Education Library was announced as ready for distribution. (Saettler, p. 101, 2004)
Harley L. Clarke and Forest Ray Moulton founded the Society for Visual Education in November 1919. (Saettler, p. 102, 2004)
1920-1929
The First Electronic Television Camera 1923 (History of Science, 2010)
(Fig. 4.6) First 16mm projector – 1923 model of the Victor Cine Projector (Saettler, p. 94, 2004)
The First Demonstration of Television January 26, 1926 (History of Science, 2010)
Invention of Magnetic Tape 1927 (History of Science, 2010)
(1927) - Bell Telephone and the U.S. Department of Commerce conduct the first long distance use of television that took place between Washington D.C. and
New York City on April 9th. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover commented, “Today we have, in a sense, the transmission of sight for the first time in the
world’s history. Human genius has now destroyed the impediment of distance in a new respect, and in a manner hitherto unknown.” (Television, 2010).
"Regular" Television Broadcasting May 11, 1928 (History of Science,
2010)
CBS September 1928 (History of Science, 2010)
1930-1939
Foundation of Texas Instruments May 16, 1930 (History of Science, 2010)
The First "Talking-Books" 1931
Congress establishes the talking-book program, intended to help blind adults who couldn’t read print. (History of Science, 2010)
An Electronic Machine for Searching Through Information December 29, 1931 (History of Science, 2010)
Public Television Broadcasting Begins 1932
The BBC begins public television broadcasting in England. (History of Science, 2010).
The First Machine to Perform Complex Scientific Calculations Automatically 1933 – 1934 (History of
Science, 2010)
The First Commercially Successful Electric Typewriter 1933 (History of Science, 2010)
Frequency Modulation (FM) 1933 – 1936 Edwin Howard Armstrong develops wide-band frequency modulation, FM radio, which delivers clearer
sound, free of static. (History of Science, 2010)
The First Practical Tape Recorder 1935 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Automatic Sequence-Controlled Calculator September 1935 (History of Science, 2010)
Zuse's Z1: The First Freely Programmable Binary-Based Calculating Machine April 11, 1936 .
Zuse Completes the Z1 1938. Zuse Completes the Z2 1939
(History of Science, 2010)
The First Electromechanical Computer Built in America November 1937
The First Electromechanical Computer for Routine Use April 1939
(History of Science, 2010)
Carlson invents Xerography 1938 (History of Science, 2010)
"10,000 Operations per Second" October 15, 1939 (History of Science, 2010)
The "Earliest" Electronic Digital Computer 1939
1940-1949
The First Demonstration of Remote Computing September 11, 1940 (History of Science, 2010)
Zuse's Z3: The First Turing-Complete Computer May 12, 1941 -- Z4 1942 -- Zuse's Z4 1945 (History of Science, 2010)
Containing 2000 Vacuum Tubes and Weighing 100,000 Pounds 1942
Vannevar Bush completes the Rockefeller Differential Analyzer II, a monstrous machine more accurate and faster than the first
Differential Analyzer. It contained two thousand vacuum tubes and weighed about one hundred thousand pounds. For security reasons
its existence was not publicized until October 1945. (History of Science, 2010)
Possibly the First Computer to Run Programs in the U.S. September 1943
The Bell Labs Relay Interpolator (later called the Model II) operates for the first time. Using programs from punched tape, this was possibly the first computer to
run programs in the United States. (History of Science, 2010)
The First Theoretical Description of a Stored-Program Computer June 30, 1945 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Mathematical Tables Calculated by a Programmed Automatic Computer Circa October 1945 (History of Science, 2010)
From Analog to Digital Circa November 1945 (History of Science, 2010)
Six TV Stations (in the US) 1946 (History of Science, 2010)
Invention of Holography 1947 (History of Science, 2010)
Invention of the Transistor December 1947 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Computer that Could Modify a Stored Program January 1948 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Operational Stored-Program Computer June 21, 1948 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Long Playing Record (LP) 1948 (History of Science, 2010)
Introduction of Cable Television June 1948 (History of Science, 2010)
Introduction of Cable Television June 1948 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Software to Allow a Computer to be Operated by a Keyboard 1949 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Xerographic Copier 1949 (history of Science, 2010)
1950-1959
First Use of Magnetic Tape for Data Storage 1951 (History of Science, 2010)
IBM's First Electronic Computer, the 701 1951 (History of Science, 2010)
The principle was first used for internal medical examinations by Heinrich Lamm in the following decade. In 1952, physicist Narinder Singh Kapany conducted
experiments that led to the invention of optical fiber. Modern optical fibers, where the glass fiber is coated with a transparent cladding to offer a more suitable
refractive index, appeared later in the decade. (Fiber Optics, 2010)
The First Trackball 1952 (History of Science, 2010)
Vaccuum Tubes Especially Designed for Digital Circuits 1952 (History of Science, 2010)
IBM 702 September 1953 (History of Science, 2010)
Color Television Broadcasting January 22, 1954 -- The First Color Television March 24, 1954 -- (History of Science, 2010)
First Computer to be Sold to a Non-Governmental Customer in the U.S. 1954 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Supercomputer 1954 (History of Science, 2010)
First Commercial Transistor Radio 1954 (History of Science, 2010)
Early Library Information Retrieval System 1954 (History of Science, 2010)
Coining the Term, Artificial Intelligence August 31, 1955 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Video Tape Recorder 1956 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Hard Drive: $10,000 per Megabyte 1956 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Transatlantic Telephone Cable September 25, 1956 (History of Science, 2010)
Invention of the Image Scanner 1957 (History of Science, 2010)
An Improved Modem 1958 (History of Science ,2010)
The First Voice Transmission from the First Communications Satellite December 19, 1958
A Computer Occupying a Half Acre of Floor Space 1958 (History of Science, 2010)
1960-1964
The First Commercially Available General Purpose Computer with Transistor Logic 1960 (History of Science, 2010)
"Computer Graphics" 1960 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Operational Satellite Navigation System 1960 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Electronic Learning System 1960 (History of Science, 2010)
Precursor of Word Processing and Email 1961 (History of Science, 2010)
Coining the Term "Computer Science" 1961 (History of Science, 2010)
Origins of the IBM System/360 December 28, 1961 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Visible LED 1962 (History of Science, 2010)
"Online Man-Computer Communication" Circa June 1962 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Satellite to Relay Signals from Earth to Satellite and Back June 10, 1962 (History of Science, 2010)
The First CAD Program December 1962 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Commercially Produced Mini-Computer 1963 (History of Science, 2010)
General Typesetting Computers 1963 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Geosynchronous Communications Satellite July 26, 1963 (History of Science, 2010)
BASIC 1964 (History of Science, 2010)
First Computerized Encyclopedia 1964 (History of Science, 2010)
The Beginning of "Word Processing" 1964 (History of Science, 2010)
The Beginning of Algorithmic Information Theory March – June 1964 (History of Science, 2010)
The IBM System/360 Family April 7, 1964 (History of Science, 2010)
TYPESET and RUNOFF: Text Formatting Program and Forerunner of Word Processors November 6, 1964 (History of Science, 2010)
1965-1969
"Libraries of the Future" 1965 (History of Science, 2010)
Email Begins 1965 (History of Science, 2010)
Early Home Computer? 1965 (History of Science, 2010)
Hypertext and Hyperlink 1965 (History of Science, 2010)
The U.S. Postal Services Introduces OCR 1965 (History of Science, 2010)
Optical Fibers Proposed as a Medium for Communication 1965 (History of Science, 2010)
Programming Language for Education and Games 1965 – 1969 Paul Tenczar develops the TUTOR (History of Science, 2010)
Memory Caching April 1965 (History of Science, 2010)
Semi-Conductor Memory 1966 (History of Science, 2010)
Moore's Law April 19, 1965 (History of Science, 2010)
DRAM 1966 (History of Science, 2010)
Invention of Digital Image Processing 1966 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Hand-Held Electronic Calculator 1967 (History of Science, 2010)
The Museum Computer Network 1967 (History of Science, 2010)
Invention of the Computer Mouse June 27, 1967 (History of Science, 2010)
Foundation of Intel July 18, 1968 (History of Science, 2010)
First Virtual Reality Head Mounted Display System 1968 (History of Science, 2010)
Commercializing the Use of Computers as Simulators 1968 (History of Science, 2010)
Invention of Three-Dimensional Image Processing January 1968 (History of Science, 2010)
Hypertext, Text Editing, Windows, Email and a Mouse December 8, 1968 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Manned Apollo Flights Occur December 24, 1968 (History of Science, 2010)
UNIX: Making Open Systems Possible 1969 (History of Science, 2010)
1969 - The first node is connected to the internet's military ancestor, ARPANET. (Lombardi, 2007).
The First Commercial Online Service 1969 CompuServe (History of Science, 2010)
Peer to Peer Architecture April 7, 1969 (History of Science, 2010)
PBS 1969 (History or Science, 2010)
AMD May 1, 1969 (History of Science, 2010)
1970-1979
The First ATM Circa 1970 (History of Science, 2010)
Books on Tape 1970 (History of Science, 2010)
Optical Fibers for the Internet Backbone 1970 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Dot Matrix Printers 1970 (History of Science, 2010)
First Test of Magnetic Stripe Transaction Card Technology January – May 1970 (History of Science, 2010)
The First General Patent on the Microprocessor December 1970 (History of Science, 2010)
Invention of the Laser Printer 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
Speech Recognition Technology 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
The C Programming Language 1971 – (History of Science, 2010)
Intel 8008 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
CT 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
Floppy Disk 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
The Universal Product Code 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
The @ in Email March 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Email Management Program July 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
One of the First Touchscreens 1972 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Digital Library July 4, 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
First Patent for MRI March 17, 1972 (History of Science, 2010)
Pong: The First Successful Computer Game June 27, 1972 (History of Science, 2010)
Conceptually, the First Personal Computer System 1973 (History of Science, 2010)
Invention of the Word "Internet" Circa 1973 (History of Science, 2010)
The Warez Scene Circa 1975 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Practical Method for Cloning a Gene 1973 (History of Science, 2010)
Probably the World's First Online Community 1973 (History of Science, 2010)
The Term "Mainframe" 1974 (History of Science, 2010)
First Computer Language Written for a Personal Computer 1975 (History of Science, 2010)
TCP May 1974 (History of Science, 2010)
Ethernet 1975 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Personal Computer Offered for Sale January 1975 (History of Science, 2010)
IBM's First "Portable" Computer: $19,975 September 1975 (History of Science, 2010)
The Apple 1 1976 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Microprocessor 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
Invention of the Digital Camera December 1975 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Commercially Available Laser Printer 1976 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Word Processing Program for a Personal Computer 1976 (History of Science, 2010)
The CD is Developed 1976 – 1982 (History of Science, 2010)
The First GPS February 1977 (History of Science, 2010)
First Print-to-Speech Reading Machine 1976 (History of Science, 2010)
TCP/IP July 1976 (History of Science, 2010)
Prototype Cellular Telephone System 1977 (History of Science, 2010)
Gates and Allen Found Microsoft 1977 (History of Science, 2010)
Compuserve 1979 (History of Science, 2010)
1980-1989
Invention of Flash Memory Circa 1980 (History of Science, 2010)
The IBM PC August 12, 1981 (History of Science, 2010)
Quick and Dirty Operating System Becomes MS-DOS July 1981 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Cheap Home Computer August 1982 Commodore issues the Commodore 64 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Scanner? November 1982 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Cellular Telephone Service in the United Sates December 16, 1982 (History of Science, 2010)
Microsoft Word September 1983 (History of Science,2010)
Domain Name System November 1983 (History of Science, 2010)
Apple Introduces the "Mac" January 24, 1984 (History of Science, 2010)
Michael Dell Founds "PC's Limited" May 3, 1984 (History of Science, 2010)
Origins of AOL May 1, 1985 (History of Science, 2010)
Windows 1.0 November 20, 1985 (History of Science, 2010)
Digital HD-TV 1989 (History of Science, 2010)
An Internet-Based Hypertext System March 1989 (History of Science, 2010)
1990-1999
The First Web Page November 13, 1990 (History of Science, 2010)
Berners-Lee Plans the World Wide Web November 12, 1990 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Web Browser and Web Server December 25, 1990 (History of Science, 2010)
The First "Search Engine" but Not a "Web Search Engine" 1990 (History of Science, 2010)
The PDF 1991 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Webcam 1991 (History of Science, 2010)
1992 - Number of connected Internet hosts reaches 1 million. (Lombardi, 2007).
The First SMS Text Message December 3, 1992 (History of Science, 2010)
Wireless Internet Access 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Full Text Web Search Engine April 20, 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
HTTP Cookies June 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
First Internet Radio Broadcast May 3 – May 5, 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Wiki March 25, 1995 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Television Show Broadcast over the Internet November 23, 1995 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Access to the Mobile Web 1996 (History of Science, 2010)
Rome Reborn on Google Earth 1997 (History of Science, 2010)
DVDs September 1996 (History of Science, 2010)
IBM Deep Blue Defeats Gary Kasparov May 11, 1997 (History of Science, 2010)
(1997) - Nortel introduces the world's first 1 Mbps modem service that delivers connections over cable instead of phone dial-up. More than 20 times faster than
the 56 Kbps dial-up modem typically used by consumers, it paves the way for mass adoption of cable-based broadband. (Lombardi, 2007).
1998 - Google launches, pioneering a search tool that uses a ranking system based on links to assess a Web site's popularity. (Lombardi, 2007).
Google is Founded September 7, 1998 (History of Science, 2010)
Voice Over Internet Protocol 1998 (History of Science, 2010)
Napster June 1999 (History of Science)
MP3 1998 (History of Science, 2010)
Bluetooth 1999 (History of Science, 2010)
2000-2010
The First 3G Cellular Network October 1, 2001 (History of Science, 2010)
iPod Launched October 23, 2001 History of Science, 2010)
2004 - 51% of American Web surfers use a broadband connection, surpassing dial-up connections for the first time (Lombardi, 2007)..
2005 - YouTube is launched, offering a video sharing web site where users can upload and view video clips. In 2006, Google acquires the company for US$1.65
billion in Google stock. (Lombardi, 2007).
The First One Terabyte Hard Disk Drive January 4, 2007 (History of Science, 2010)
The iPhone June 29, 2007 (History of Science, 2010)
The Amazon Kindle November 19, 2007 (History of Science, 2010)
"The World's First Full-Size Robotic Girlfriend" January 9, 2010 (History of Science, 2010)
Introduction of Apple's iPad January 27, 2010 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Brain-Computer Interface Product Offered for Sale March 2 – March 6, 2010 (History of Science, 2010)
Cell Phones Are Now Used More for Data than Speech May 13, 2010 (History of Science, 2010)
2012 - Broadband subscribers are expected to reach 500 million worldwide..(Lombardi, 2007).
Strand 3: Work
Business and corporate
philosophies by decade
1900-1959
First Automotive Assembly Line in America 1901 (History of Science, 2010)
Fleming Invents the Vacuum Tube 1904 (History of Science, 2010
(1908) - AT&T advertisement…"a clearing-house of standardization" that would ensure economy in "construction of equipment, lines and conduits, as well as in operating methods and legal work,"
not to mention "a uniform system of operating and accounting." (Toffler, p.47, 1980)
(1908) - By the time Henry Ford started manufacturing Model T's in 1908 it took not eighteen different operations to complete a unit but 7,882…In short, the specialized job required not a whole
person, but only a part." (Toffler, p.50, 1980)
Eastman Teaching Films – Eastman Kodak 1928 Thomas E. Finegan (Saettler, p. 103, 2004)
Of the major industrial powers only the United States found itself unharmed economically. By 1946-1950 the global economy stood in such disarray that foreign trade was at its lowest level since
1913. (Toffler, p. 91, 1980)
The First Credit Card March 1950 (History of Science, 2010)
This latest historical turning point arrived in the United States during the decade beginning about 1955--the decade that saw white-collar and service workers outnumber bluecollar workers for the first time. This was the same decade that saw the widespread introduction of the computer, commercial jet travel, the birth control pill, and many other
high-impact innovations. (Toffler, p. 14, 1980)
1960-1969
In 1960, as the United States completed the stage of traditional industrialism and began to feel the first effects of the Third Wave of change.
(Toffler, p. 55, 1980)
“Burch3 calculated the information sector had reached 33 percent of GNP by 1963 and Marshak 4 predicted that the sector would approach 40
percent of GNP in the 1970s.” (Saettler, p.395, 2004)
“The flextime movement began in 1965.” (Toffler, p. 246, 1980)
“In 1967, according to Porat, information activities accounted for 46.2 percent of GNP.” (Saettler, p.395, 2004)
1970-1979
The First ATM Circa 1970 (History of Science, 2010)
First Test of Magnetic Stripe Transaction Card Technology January – May 1970 (History of Science, 2010)
CT 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
The Universal Product Code 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
The @ in Email March 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Email Management Program July 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
Foundation of the Biotechnology Industry 1974 (History of Science, 2010)
Privacy Act of 1974 May 1974 (History of Science, 2010)
An Antitrust Suit to Break up AT&T November 20, 1974 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Personal Computer Offered for Sale January 1975 (History of Science, 2010)
IBM's First "Portable" Computer: $19,975 September 1975 (History of Science, 2010)
The CD is Developed 1976 – 1982 (History of Science, 2010)
Prototype Cellular Telephone System 1977 (History of Science, 2010)
Gates and Allen Found Microsoft 1977 (History of Science, 2010)
The First GPS February 1977 (History of Science, 2010)
1980-1989
The First Cellular Telephone Service in the United Sates December 16, 1982 (History of Science, 2010)
Domain Name System November 1983 (History of Science, 2010)
Microsoft Word September 1983 (History of Science,2010)
The First Desktop Publishing Program 1984 (History of Science, 2010)
Breakup of AT&T January 1, 1984 (History of Science, 2010)
Michael Dell Founds "PC's Limited" May 3, 1984 (History of Science, 2010)
Windows 1.0 November 20, 1985 (History of Science, 2010)
Electronic Tax Filing 1986 (History of Science, 2010)
Digital HD-TV 1989 (History of Science, 2010)
1990-1999
The First "Search Engine" but Not a "Web Search Engine" 1990 (History of Science, 2010)
Berners-Lee Plans the World Wide Web November 12, 1990 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Web Browser and Web Server December 25, 1990 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Webcam 1991 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Web Page November 13, 1990 (History of Science, 2010)
The PDF 1991 (History of Science, 2010)
Cyberspace Law October 29, 1991 (History of Science, 2010)
The First SMS Text Message December 3, 1992 (History of Science, 2010)
Wireless Internet Access 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
Yahoo! Founded April 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Company to Exploit the Economic Potential of the Web April 4, 1994
Marc Andreesen, one of the programmers of Mosaic, and James H. Clark of Silicon Graphics found Mosaic Communications Corporation, the first company to exploit the potential of the Mosaic web
browser, and the first company to exploit the economic potential of the World Wide Web. (History of Science, 2010)
First Internet Radio Broadcast May 3 – May 5, 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
HTTP Cookies June 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
Free Online Classified Advertisements March 1995 (History of Science, 2010)
Amazon.com is Founded July 1995 (History of Science, 2010)
eBay September 1995 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Television Show Broadcast over the Internet November 23, 1995 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Access to the Mobile Web 1996 (History of Science, 2010)
Voice Over Internet Protocol 1998 (History of Science, 2010)
Domain Names are Property 1999 (History of Science, 2010)
Napster June 1999 (History of Science)
www.nytimes.com January 19, 1996 (History of Science, 2010)
MP3 1998 (History of Science, 2010)
2000-2010
Climax of the Dot-Com Bubble March 10, 2000 (History of Science, 2010).
Online Marketing Optimization 2002 (History of Science, 2010)
Google Launches AdWords October 23, 2000 (History of Science, 2010)
Apple Opens the iTunes Store April 28, 2003 (History of Science, 2010)
Google Buys YouTube November 6, 2006 (History of Science, 2010)
Newspaper Advertising in Partnership with Yahoo November 20, 2006 (History of Science, 2010)
Strand 4: Education
Important theories of
learning and instruction by
decade
1900-1904
“In 1896, while at the University of Chicago, Dewey decided to establish a Laboratory School for the purpose of testing
his educational theories…Laboratory closed in 1903, and the next year Dewey left Chicago to teach philosophy at
Columbia University.” (Saettler, p. 53, 2004)
The Brooklyn Children’s Museum led to the establishment of a similar children’s museum at the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C. in 1900.” (Saettler, p. 126, 2004)
“…in 1901, John Dewey (1859-1952) interpreted the method of empirical science in educational terms, viewing the
classroom as an experimental laboratory.” (Saettler, p. 53, 2004)
“In 1902, Edward Thorndike (1874-1949) offered the first course in educational measurements at Columbia University
and became the first to apply the methods of quantitative research to instructional problems.” 1 (Saettler, p. 53,
2004)
“…by 1902 Charles Urban of London had exhibited some of the first educational films, and films with slow-motion,
microscopic, and undersea views were beginning to be produced (Saettler, p. 96, 2004)
Kilpatrick…emphasized a child-centered approach that Dewey himself had rejected, first in The Child and the
Curriculum (1902) and later in his Experience and Education (1938).” (Saettler, p. 60, 2004)
“G. Stanley Hall(1846-1924) published his Adolescence (1904), a landmark in the scientific study of the child.”
(Saettler, p. 53, 2004)
“John Dewey (joined) the Columbia University faculty in 1904.” (Saettler, p. 53, 2004)
“G. Stanley Hall(1846-1924) published his Adolescence (1904), a landmark in the scientific study of the child.”
(Saettler, p. 53, 2004)
“In 1905, the St. Louis Educational Museum became the first administrative unit for
instructional media in a public school system.” (Saettler, p. 128, 2004)
1905-1909
“(In 1907) William Heard Kilpatrick (1871-1965) became a graduate student and Dewey
Disciple at Columbia University.” (Saettler, p. 59, 2004)
“By 1907, she (Montessori) was ready to apply her theories…in the first of the Case dei Bambini, or Children’s Houses.”22
(Saettler, p. 61, 2004)
“In a 1907 pamphlet titled The Cinematograph in Science, Education, and Matters of State,
Charles Urban, working in England, stated that he had “spent five years in equipping a
qualified staff to provide animated films depicted various manifestations, transformations, and
phenomena of nature.” (Saettler, p. 98, 2004)
“The French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857-1911) and Theodore Simon, his collaborator,
published A Method of Measuring the Intelligence of Young Children (1905).” (Saettler, p. 53,
2004)
Montessori published her Scientific Pedagogy as Applied to Child Education in the Children’s Houses in 1909.”23
(Saettler, p. 6, 2004)
1910-1919
“The first educational film catalog to appear in the United States was the Catalogue of Educational Motion Pictures, published by George Kleine in
New York in 1910.” (Saettler, p. 98, 2004)
“Dewey’s lasting contribution…The essence of the reflective method (scientific method) was contained in his little book How We Think (1910).” (Saettler,
p. 58, 2004)
The first discernible trend toward a separation of the theatrical and non-theatrical films occurred in 1910.” (Saettler, p. 96, 2004)
“Frederick Burk (1862-1924) developed one of the first systems of individual instruction, at the San Francisco State Normal School in 1912.”18 (Saettler, p.
64, 2004)
The first discernible trend toward a separation of the theatrical and non-theatrical films occurred in 1910.” (Saettler, p. 96, 2004)
“Thomas Edison was one of the first to produce films for classroom showings. Early in 1911, he released a series of historical
films that covered important phases of the American Revolution.”(Saettler, p. 96, 2004)
“By 1917,…American interest (in Montessori) had already subsided.” (Saettler, p. 62, 2004)
“Kilpatrick developed the project method in the spring of 1918.”18 (Saettler, p. 60, 2004)
“The Winnetka Plan was developed by Carleton W. Washburne (1890-1968) when he was superintendent of
Winnetka, Illinois, public Schools in 1919. The plan provided self-instructional and self-corrective practice materials
(workbooks), a simple record keeping system in which each pupil’s progress was noted, and prepared materials
appropriate to each pupil’s particular project and assignment.”(Saettler, p. 65, 2004)
“The Dalton Plan, first developed by Helen Parkhurst (1887-1973) in 1919…Its principal features were: differentiation
of assignments for different ability levels, self-instructional practice materials, and assistance with individual study
difficulties.” (Saettler, p. 65, 2004)
“National Academy for Visual Instruction, incorporated in Washington D. C., in October
1919.” (Saettler, p. 144, 2004)
“American Educational Motion Picture Association, which began operations in New York
City, also in October 1919.” (Saettler, p. 144, 2004)
1920-1929
“Jean Piaget (1896-1980)…became the foremost developmental psychologist of the twentieth century.56 From 1920 until
his death in 1980, Piaget (at the University of Geneva) and his associates at the Institute J. J. Rousseau in Geneva
Switzerland studied many aspects of children’s intellectual development, including perception, imagery, play,
language, memory, reasoning, problem solving, and awareness of as well as conceptions of causality, quantity, space,
time, distance, movement, speed, number, probability, geometry, and morality ” 57 (Saettler, p. 72, 2004)
“…the Visual Instruction Association of America was organized at Boston, Massachusetts, on
July 6, 1922.” (Saettler, p. 144, 2004)
“In 1922, W. M. Gregory identified and evaluated sources of so-called educational films.”
(Saettler, p. 97, 2004)
Fox Films Corporation – “William Fox opened an educational division in 1922 (Saettler, p. 105,
2004)
“The NEA Department of Visual Instruction (DVI) was established on July 6 1923.” (Saettler, p.
145, 2004)
“Frank Freeman in 1923, classified and offered as a working basis the following four types of educational films:
(1) the dramatic…(2) the anthropological or sociological…(3) the industrial or commercial… and (4) the
scientific.”(Saettler, p. 97, 2004)
“Kilpatrick’s influential Foundations of Method (1926) unequivocally stated a Thordikean, connectionist
psychology, which Dew had consistently opposed.” (Saettler, p. 60, 2004)
Eastman Teaching Films – Eastman Kodak 1928 Thomas E. Finegan (Saettler, p. 103, 2004)
Kurt Lewin (1890-1947) directed a series of experimental studies at the
University of Berlin in the late1920s…He emphasized the psychological
over the simple environmental factors (Saettler, p. 66, 2004)
1930-1939
“By the dawn of the 1930s, educational film production had become established in the federal
government.” (Saettler, p. 109, 2004)
Dewey Classification Numbers on Catalogue Cards 1930 (History of Science, 2010)
The First "Talking-Books" 1931 Congress establishes the talking-book program, intended to help blind adults who
couldn’t read print. (History of Science, 2010)
“Henry Clinton Morrison(‘s) (1871-1945) system provided a sequence of units and guide sheets
for lesson assignments.37 The classroom was viewed as a laboratory where units and
assignments were differentiated for learners of varying ability. Morrison’s (1931) formula for
mastery was, “Pretest, teach, test the result, adapt procedure, teach and test again to the
point of actual learning.”38 (Saettler, p. 65, 2004)
Foundation of the U.S. National Archives June 19, 1934 (History of
Science, 2010)
Kilpatrick…emphasized a child-centered approach that Dewey himself had rejected, first
in The Child and the Curriculum (1902) and later in his Experience and Education (1938).”
(Saettler, p. 60, 2004)
“Unlike in public schools, widespread use of the educational film had become firmly
established in the armed forces before World War II.63” (Saettler, p.114, 2004).
“By the late 1930s, the growth period of radio education had already begun to decline”
(Saettler, p.197, 2004).
1940-1949
First Office of Educational Training Films – “By June 5, 1941, the first film was completed and delivered to the U.S. Office of
Education.” (Saettler, p. 179, 2004)
Communication Theory as a Statistical Problem 1942 (History of Science, 2010)
The Library of Congress Catalogue 1942 – 1953 (History of Science,
2010)
The Fastest Digital Calculators in the U.S. December 1944
IBM produces the Pluggable Sequence Relay Calculator (PSRC) for the
United States Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground. (History of Science,
2010)
Using Microforms to Conserve Library Space 1944 (History of Science,
2010)
Electronic Memory January 29, 1944 (History of Science, 2010)
“B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)…A professor at Harvard University
starting in 1947,…was influenced by the research of Pavlov
and Watson while attending Harvard as a graduate student
in biology…Skinner’s goal was a science of behavior”
(Saettler, p. 69, 2004)
1950-1959
“By the early 1950s, audiovisual instruction had begun to be replaced by audiovisual
communications.111” (Saettler, p. 167, 2004)
(1950s) Harold D. Lasswell Communication Model (Saettler, p. 265, 2004)
“In April 1952, the FCC issued its Sixth Report and Order, which reserved 242 television channels for educational use.”
(Saettler, p. 362, 2004)
“The first significant convergence of communication and educational technology took place in 1953 with the publication
of the Audio-Visual Communication Review(later AV Communication Review).”50 (Saettler, p. 62, 2004)
Early Library Information Retrieval System 1954 (History of Science, 2010)
“B. F. Skinner in the spring of 1954…demonstrated a machine to teach spelling arithmetic.” 42
(Saettler, p. 293, 2004)
“American Montessori Society, founded in 1956 by Nancy McCormick Rambusch in
Greenwich, Connecticut.”28 (Saettler, p. 62, 2004)
“…psychologist George Miller sets September 11, 1956 as the official birth date of
cognitive science.” (Saettler, p. 321, 2004)
“Wesley and MacLean adapted Newcomb’s ABX model in 1957.” (Saettler, p. 272, 2004)
1960-1969
“Behaviorism began to make an impact on educational technology in the early 1960s, with B. F. Skinner’s concepts of
reinforcement and with applications in teaching machines and programmed instruction.”(Saettler, p. 62, 2004)
The official definition of the field (instructional design) by the Department of Audiovisual Instruction (DAVI) in 1963, which
reflected a major paradigm change.” (Saettler, p. 9, 2004)
“…1963…The Changing Role of the Audio Visual Process in Education: A Definition and a Glossary of Related Terms.” 57
(Saettler, p. 62, 2004)
“ERIC was the third major initiative launched by the Office of Education in the 1960s. I began in 1964.”(Saettler, p. 419,
2004)
“The Carnegie Corporation established a Carnegie Commission on Educational Television in November 1965.” (Saettler, p.
377, 2004)
“In 1966, a fully developed CAI was seen as only being a few years away.” (Saettler, p. 404, 2004)
The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 (Saettler, p. 377, 2004)
The Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB) (1968-1969)(Saettler, p. 377, 2004)
“…the CPB established the Public Broadcasting Service in November 1969(Saettler, p. 377,
2004)
1970-1979
Books on Tape 1970 (History of Science, 2010)
The Commission on Instructional Technology (1970) defined instructional technology as “the media born
of the communication revolution which can be used for instructional purposes alongside the teacher,
textbook and blackboard.”22 (Saettler, p. 6, 2004)
An interconnected NPR network was begun in May 1971.” (Saettler, p. 379, 2004)
The First Digital Library July 4, 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
“…in 1972, AECT (Association for Educational Communications and Technology published a task
force report that adopted the name, “educational technology.”33 (Saettler, p. 8, 2004)
By 1973 U.S. newspapers had reached a combined aggregate circulation of 63 million copies
daily.” (Toffler, p. 158, 1980)
The Warez Scene Circa 1975 (History of Science, 2010)
IBM's First "Portable" Computer: $19,975 September 1975 (History of Science, 2010)
Invention of the Digital Camera December 1975 (History of Science, 2010)
The Apple 1 1976 (History of Science, 2010)
The CD is Developed 1976 – 1982 (History of Science, 2010)
“A program of research in learning strategies was initiated by the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA0 in 1976.”(Saettler, p. 332, 2004)
1980-1989
U.S. Newspaper Program Microfilms Newspapers 1982 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Scanner? November 1982 (History of Science, 2010)
Microsoft Word September 1983 (History of Science,2010)
Domain Name System November 1983 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Desktop Publishing Program 1984 (History of Science, 2010)
Windows 1.0 November 20, 1985 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Hand-Held Electronic Book, or e-Book 1986 (History of Science, 2010)
OCLC Acquires Publisher of the Dewey Classification System 1988 (History of Science, 2010)
Digital HD-TV 1989 (History of Science, 2010)
1990-1999
“A third revival of American interest (in Montessori) occurred in the early 1990s.” 18 (Saettler, p. 60, 2004)
The PDF 1991 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Webcam 1991 (History of Science, 2010)
The National Digital Library Program is Announced October 13, 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Wiki March 25, 1995 (History of Science, 2010)
www.nytimes.com January 19, 1996 (History of Science, 2010)
Rome Reborn on Google Earth 1997 (History of Science, 2010)
2000-2010
OED The Oxford English Dictionary Online Online March 14, 2000 (History of Science, 2010)
The Wikipedia Begins January 15, 2001 (History of Science, 2010)
The Future of eBooks May 3, 2001 (History of Science, 2010)
The EPA Begins to Close its Scientific Libraries November 20, 2006 (History of Science, 2010)
Demanding that the U.S. EPA Desist from Destroying its Libraries November 30, 2006 (History of Science, 2010)
The Universal Digital Library has Scanned over 1,000,000 Books 2007 (History of Science, 2010)
The Amazon Kindle November 19, 2007 (History of Science, 2010)
The First National Newspaper to Shift From a Daily Print Format to an Online Publication October 28, 2008 (History of Science, 2010)
The First College Journalism Course Focused on Twitter September 1, 2009 (History of Science, 2010)
The Library of Congress to Preserve All "Tweets" April 14, 2010 (History of Science, 2010)
Strand 5: Society and culture
Events that determined the thinking of each decade
1910-1950
World War I Begins August 1 – August 3, 1914
Germany declares war on Russia (August 1) and
on France (August 3). World War I begins. The
End of World War I November 11, 1918 (History
of Science, 2010)
The Act of March 19, 1918, sometimes called the Standard Time Act,
established standard time in time zones in U.S. law. (Standard Time, 2010).
Today the entire world is neatly divided into time zones (Toffler, p. 103, 1980).
French revolutionaries, at the dawn of the industrial era, applied themselves to
the standardization of distance through the metric system as well as time
through a new calendar (Toffler, p. 107, 1980)
Hitler Seizes Power January 30, 1933 (History of Science, 2010)
World War II Begins September 1, 1939 (History of Science, 2010)
Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany systematically destroyed an
estimated 100 million books throughout occupied Europe, an act inextricably
bound up with the murder of 6 million Jews. (History of Science, 2010).
Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor; U.S. Declares War on Japan December 7, 1941 (History of Science, 2010)
The Collapse of the Third Reich April 27, 1945 (History of Science, 2010) (History of Science, 2010)
VE Day May 8, 1945 (History of Science, 2010)
World War II Ends September 2, 1945 (History of Science, 2010)
1950-1960
(1950s) Harold D. Lasswell Communication Model (Saettler, p. 265, 2004)
Coining the Phrase Social Network 1954 (History of Science, 2010)
This latest historical turning point arrived in the United States during the decade beginning about 1955--the decade that saw white-collar and
service workers outnumber blue-collar workers for the first time. This was the same decade that saw the widespread introduction of the
computer, commercial jet travel, the birth control pill, and many other high-impact innovations. (Toffler, p. 14, 1980)
Coining the Term, Artificial Intelligence August 31, 1955 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Transatlantic Telephone Cable September 25, 1956 (History of Science, 2010)
Standing up to Censorship and McCarthyism 1956 (History of Science, 2010)
Sputnik is Launched October 4, 1957 (History of Science, 2010)
By 1960…the U.S. Post Office was distributing 355 pieces of domestic mail for every man, woman, and child in the nation. (Toffler, p. 34,
1980)
1970-1979
CT 1971 (History of Science, 2010)
First Patent for MRI March 17, 1972 (History of Science, 2010)
Pong: The First Successful Computer Game June 27, 1972 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Practical Method for Cloning a Gene 1973 (History of Science, 2010)
Probably the World's First Online Community 1973 (History of Science, 2010)
Invention of the Word "Internet" Circa 1973 (History of Science, 2010)
Privacy Act of 1974 May 1974 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Personal Computer Offered for Sale January 1975 (History of Science, 2010)
Prototype Cellular Telephone System 1977 (History of Science, 2010)
The First GPS February 1977 (History of Science, 2010)
Compuserve 1979 (History of Science, 2010)
1980-1989
Origins of the Smiley on the Internet September 19, 1982 (History of Science, 2010)
Domain Name System November 1983 (History of Science, 2010)
Cyberspace 1984 (History of Science, 2010)
Origins of AOL May 1, 1985 (History of Science, 2010)
Digital HD-TV 1989 (History of Science, 2010)
1990-1999
The First Webcam 1991 (History of Science, 2010)
Cyberspace Law October 29, 1991 (History of Science, 2010)
The First SMS Text Message December 3, 1992 (History of Science, 2010)
Wireless Internet Access 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
Match.com 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Internet Cafe March 12 – March 13, 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
Whitehouse.gov October 1994 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Television Show Broadcast over the Internet November 23, 1995 (History of Science, 2010)
The First Access to the Mobile Web 1996 (History of Science, 2010)
www.nytimes.com January 19, 1996 (History of Science, 2010)
IBM Deep Blue Defeats Gary Kasparov May 11, 1997 (History of Science, 2010)
Voice Over Internet Protocol 1998 (History of Science, 2010)
MP3 1998 (History of Science, 2010)
Napster June 1999 (History of Science)
2000-2010
Publication of the Human Genome Sequence February 15 – February 16, 2001 (History of Science, 2010).
Satellite Radio Broadcasting Begins September 25, 2001 (History of Science, 2010)
The First 3G Cellular Network October 1, 2001 (History of Science, 2010)
Regulations.gov is Launched January 2003 (History of science, 2010)
Privacy of Medical Records and Electronic Data April 14, 2003 - The Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) goes into effect.
(History of Science, 2010)
MySpace August 2003 (History of Science, 2010)
Flickr February 2004 (History of Science, 2010)
Skype Founded August 2003 (History of Science, 2010)
Facebook February 4, 2004 (History of Science, 2010)
Twitter: "What Are You Doing?" October 2006 (History of Science, 2010)
My.BarackObama.com February 11, 2007 (History of Science, 2010)
The iPhone June 29, 2007 (History of Science, 2010)
21.9% of the World's People Use the Internet June 30, 2008 (History of Science, 2010)
The First National Newspaper to Shift From a Daily Print Format to an Online Publication October 28, 2008 (History of Science, 2010)
Change.gov November 5, 2008 The day after the presidential election President-Elect Barack Obama launches the website, Change.gov to communicate details of
the transition to the presidency. (History of Science, 2010)
The Death of Michael Jackson Impacts the Internet June 25, 2009 (History of Science, 2010)
The First College Journalism Course Focused on Twitter September 1, 2009 (History of Science, 2010)
"The World's First Full-Size Robotic Girlfriend" January 9, 2010 (History of Science, 2010)
After the Earthquake in Haiti, Donating by SMS Text January 13, 2010 (History of Science, 2010)
YouTube Interviews the President February 1, 2010 (History of Science, 2010)
Google Pulls its Search Engine Out of Mainland China March 22, 2010 (History of Science, 2010)
Strand 6: Other
Your choice of an area to
highlight (political,
economic, religious, and so
on)
1900-1919
By 1901 the world's first billion-dollar corporation--United States Steel--appeared on the scene, a concentration of assets unimaginable in any earlier period
(Toffler, p. 30, 1980)
The First Prediction of the Possibility of Man-Made Global Warming 1908 (History of Science, 2010)
Between 1750 and 1914 the value of world trade is estimated to have multiplied more than fiftyfold, rising from 700 million dollars to almost 40 billion dollars.
(Toffler, p. 86, 1980).
Foundation of Barnes & Noble 1917
William Barnes and G. Clifford Noble open the first Barnes and Noble book store in Manhattan. (History of Science, 2010)
The 1917 revolution was Russia's version of the American Civil War. (Communism) (Toffler, p. 24, 1980)
The Russian Revolution October 1917 (History of Science, 2010)
By 1919 there were half a dozen such behemoths (billion-dollar corporations) (Toffler, p. 30, 1980)
1920-1939
IBM is Founded 1924 (History of Science, 2010)
The Creation of Bell Labs 1925 (History of Science, 2010)
(1841-1929) The expansion of the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and the Industrial Revolution set the stage for the advertising
market. (History of Mass Media, 2010).
Creation of the FCC 1934 (History of Science, 2010)
1940-1959
At the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, held under U.S. leadership, fortyfour nations agreed to set up two key integrative structures---the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank. (Toffler, p. 92, 1980).
(1947) - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade---GATT (Toffler, p.92, 1980)
(World Trade Organization, 2010).
The International Monetary Fund was created in July 1944,
originally with 45 members (International Monetary Fund, 2010).
(1900-1950) - Through the past half-century, fully two thirds of the entire world's energy supply has
come from oil and gas. (Toffler, p. 132, 1980)
The Double Helix April 25, 1953 Discovery of DNA's Method of Replication May 30, 1953
(History of Science, 2010)
“In the mid-1950’s the earth’s population used a mere 87 quadrillion Btu of energy a year. Today we use over
260 quadrillion.” (Toffler, p. 235, 1980)
1970-1989
Until 1973, that is when the Yom Kippur War broke out and the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries suddenly
stepped out of the shadows. Choking off the world's supply of
crude oil, it sent the entire Second Wave economy into a
shuddering downspin. (Toffler, p. 131, 1980)
A Technique for Sequencing DNA 1977 – (History of Science, 2010)
Origins of the Human Genome Project December 1984 – April 1987 (History of Science, 2010)
2000-2010
The First U.S. Standards for Sending Commercial E-Mail December 16, 2003 (History of Science, 2010)
Development and State Control of the Chinese Internet April 14, 2005 (History of Science, 2010)
My.BarackObama.com February 11, 2007 (History of Science, 2010)
Change.gov November 5, 2008 The day after the presidential election President-Elect Barack Obama launches the website, Change.gov to communicate details of
the transition to the presidency. (History of Science, 2010)
YouTube Interviews the President February 1, 2010 (History of Science, 2010)
Works cited (Strands 2-6)
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History of Science. Retrieved (2010, May 3) from http://www.historyofscience.com/G2I/timeline/index.php?era=1900
Milestones in broadband: A brief timeline By Rosie Lombardi From Canadian Business Online, December 19, 2007
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/innovation/article.jsp?content=20071219_125458_8544
History of Mass Media in America. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/13499/the_history_of_mass_media_in_america.html
Television. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from http://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinventions/a/Television_Time_2.htm
Radio. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from http://inventors.about.com/od/rstartinventions/a/radio.htm
World Trade Organization. Retrieved (2010, May 3) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Organization
Standard Time. Retrieved (2010, May 3) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_time
Fiber Optics. Retrieved (2010, May 3) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_optics
International Monetary Fund Retrieved (2010, May 3) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Monetary_Fund