1900: The first mass-market camera, the “Brownie” is introduced by Kodak. Sold for $1 in USA 1901: The Australian Federation. The colonies unite and Australia becomes a nation. The White Australia Policy is introduced in attempt to formulate the new Australian identity closely aligned with the British. 1902: The Flatiron Building in America is built; American architecture moves to new levels with the invention of the elevator and metal skeletal frames that can bear weight, making skyscrapers a possibility. 1903: The very first Tour de France takes place. 1904: Harvey Hubbell invents the electrical plug and socket. 1905: Japan wins a war against Russia. This is the first time an Asian country has defeated any European country. This marks the rise of Japan. 1906: San Francisco is flattened by a giant earthquake and fire. **As electricity use becomes more widespread, the revolution of transportation begins; The electric streetcar (or what we now recognize as a tram) becomes widespread in the US.
1910: The NAACP is founded to protect the rights of African Americans. 1910: Japan invades Korea. 1912: The Titanic sinks in the Atlantic and the Oreo cookie is first introduced. 1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assassinated and so World War I breaks out in the Balkans, pitting Britain, France, Italy, Russia, Serbia and Japan against Austria, Germany and Turkey. 1915: William Simmons founds The Ku Klux Klan and Germans use poison gas as a weapon in the war and the battle at Gallipoli begins. 1916: William Boeing founds a company to manufacture airplanes. 1917: Jazz music is first recorded and introduced in the Western world and Vladimir Lenin’s Bolsheviks seize power in Russia. 1918: The Spanish flu pandemic sweeps the world. 1919: The Treaty of Versailles ends WWI.
1920: Women are granted the right to vote in the USA and Prohibition begins. 1921: Mamie Smith records the first Blues record. 1922: King Tutankhamun’s tomb is discovered. 1923: “Talking Movies” are invented. Sound AND picture becomes possible with the first film, The Jazz Singer. 1925: Flapper dresses become fashionable and Hitler publishes Mein Kampf. 1926: A.A. Milne publishes Winnie The Pooh. 1928: Bubble gum and sliced bread is invented, penicillin is discovered and the first Mickey Mouse cartoon is written. 1929: St. Valentine’s Day massacre happens, the first Academy Awards takes place and the stock market crashes, kick-starting The Great Depression.
1930: Pluto is discovered and Stalin begins to collectivize agriculture in the USSR. 1931: The Scottsboro Trials begin, the Empire State Building is completed, likewise the Christ monument in Rio de Janeiro. 1932: Scientists split the atom. 1933: Zippo lighters are introduced. 1934: Adolph Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany, the first concentration camp is established, the Loch Ness monster is first spotted and Prohibition ends in the USA. 1935: Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in the US, Germany passes the Anti-Jewish Nuremburg laws. 1937: Japan invades China. 1939: The Night of Broken Glass initiates the Holocaust and WWII begins.
1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and The Manhattan Project begins. 1942: The t-shirt is introduced. 1945: The first computer is built, Germany surrenders, Hitler commits suicide, the United Nations is established and America drops the A- bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 1946: Bikinis are invented, Cold War begins. 1947: Polaroid cameras are invented. 1949: China becomes a Communist state, NATO is established and the Soviets produce their own A-Bomb.
1950: The first Credit Card is introduced in the US, McCarthy begins his Communist Witch Hunt in America and the Korean War begins. 1951: Colour TV is introduced. 1953: The first Playboy magazine is introduced, likewise DNA is discovered. 1954: Racial segregation is outlawed completely in America. 1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white person on a bus, McDonald’s corporation founded, Disneyland opens. 1956: Hungarian Revolution occurs and Communism in Hungary falls and TV remote control invented. 1958: NASA is founded. 1959: Fidel Castro becomes dictator of Cuba.
1961: The Berlin wall is built. 1962: Cuban missile crisis and Marilyn Monroe is found dead. 1963: Betty Friedan publishes The Feminine Mystique, JFK is assassinated and Martin Luther King Jr makes the “I Have A Dream” speech. 1964: The Beatles become popular in the US, Muhammad Ali becomes a World Heavyweight Champion and Civil Rights Acts passed in the US. 1965: The US sends troops to Vietnam. 1966: Mass draft protests in the USA, student protests sweep across the world. 1967: Che Guevarra dies, first ever heart transplant takes place. 1969: Neil Armstrong sets foot on the moon,Charles Manson is arrested and the rock ‘n’ roll concert at Woodstock takes place.
1970: The Beatles band dismantles, floppy discs are introduced. 1973: Abortion is legalized in the US and the US pulls out of Vietnam. 1975: Microsoft is founded and Arthur Ashe is the first black man to win Wimbeldon. 1977: Elvis is found dead and Star Wars is released. 1978: First test-tube baby is born. 1979: Sony introduces the Walkman.
1980: John Lennon is assassinated; Pac-Man video game is released. 1981: A new plague is identified as AIDS and PCs (Personal Computers) are introduced by IBM. 1982: Michael Jackson does the moonwalk for the first time in front of an audience, E.T. Is released. 1983: Ronald Reagan announces the Star Wars defense plan. 1985: Hole in the Ozone layer is discovered. 1986: Chernobyl Nuclear accident occurs. 1987: DNA is first used to convict criminals. 1989: Communism falls across Eastern Europe.
1991: The Soviet Union collapses. 1993: The use of the Internet grows exponentially. 1994: O.J. Simpson is arrested for double murder and the Rwandan Genocide occurs. 1997: Princess Diana is killed in an accident and scientists clone a sheep successfully. 1998: Titanic becomes the most successful movie ever and Viagra is released onto the market. 1999: Fear of the Y2K Bug sweeps the world.