ISO INTERWEBIAN SPACE OPERA

A DOCUMENT OF RESEARCH ON AMERICAN HISTORY OF THE

20s, 50s, AND 80s

1920s
Events
i.xi
Silent Films
• Referred to as “moving pictures” at the time
• Creating culture around films
o Palace like theatres were created in large cities
o Going to a double feature, and live show cost 25 cents
o The feeling of an emissive escape from reality
• Creation of Stardom for actors
• The Silent film era (in North America) lasted until about 1927, due to the realise of the first “Talkie”
(or film with audio record dialogue)
o First “Talkie” was The Jazz Singer, and first showed in New York
i.xii
Prohibition: 1919
• Prohibition had been tried in various states and counties before then
o With very little success
• In 1919 Prohibition hits the US on a federal level
• The expectations were that the economy in other goods and resources would flourish, but this did
not occur
• Prohibition resulted in an underground culture and crime around alcohol
o Bootleggers
o Speakeasies
• Overall considered unsuccessful
i.xvi
KDKA: 1920
• The first radio broadcasting program
• Originally started as a hobby of Frank Conrad in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Westing Electric Company recognised their employer’s, Conard, hobby and started manufacturing
radios
• Official broadcasting license was received on Oct, 27th, 1920
Became a huge success as it successfully aired the presidential election results in 1928

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AMERICAN HISTORY OF THE 20S, 50S, AND 80S
i.i
Economic Growth: 1921-1929
• After the recession from 1920-1921 (where unemployment was around 11%) the twenty
experienced huge economic growth
• America was experiencing a surge in manufacturing especially since Europe was recovering from
WW1 on their homeland
• Manufacturing around home appliances in particular was experiencing skyrocketing growth
• The wealth of America was not even
o The farmer industry experienced a negative impact as land taxes went up 40%
o Americans in the top 1% earnings bracket received over 13% of the overall total income in
America
• In 1929 the stock market crashed, which led into the Great Depression of the 1930s
i.xvii
Polygraph was Invented: 1921
• A polygraph is a lie detector still used today
• It measures a person’s heart rate and breathing
• Invented in California by John A. Larson

i.vi
Monkey Trail (Scopes Trial): 1925
• High school teacher, John T. Scopes is charged for teaching evolution in Dayton, Tennessee
• Teaching anything that was denying a literal interpretation of the Bible was against Tennessee law
• The Whole country was invested in following the trial
• Scopes was convicted of his crime and charged $100 as he did admittedly teach evolution
• This trial was about the ethicality of teaching literal versus a flexible interpretation of scripture

i.xvii
Power Steering: 1926
• Francis W. David was the first to successfully invent the power steering
• Automobile companies found it too expensive to include in their cars
• The technology became much more accept in the 1950s

i.xvii
Jukebox: 1927
• Invented by The Automatic Music Instrument Company
• First automated music instrument
• Gained popularity in the 1930s
i.x
Steamboat Willie Premieres: 1928
• Debuted at the Colony Theatre on Broadway, Nov. 18th
• Was the first public appearance of Mickey Mouse
o Mickey Mouse was used in two other films that were created for screen testing
• This is not the first example of synchronizing sounds with animations
o Had been accomplished 2 years prior by Max Fleischer
• Steamboat Willie was not a main feature, but rather a pre-show before the viewing of the film
“Gang War”

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AMERICAN HISTORY OF THE 20S, 50S, AND 80S
i.vii
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre: 1929
• In large part of the Prohibition gangs started ruling the city of Chicago
• On Valentine’s Day 7 members of George “Bugs” Moran were killed by being shot down
• These men were killed in a garage on the North side of Chicago
• The people men that murder these 7 gang members were all dressed in police uniforms
• These murders were never proved to be Al Capone’s doing, but many suspects that he is the cause
as Moran was a known rival of his
Important People
i.ix
David Sarnoff
• Huge figure in Mass Media
• Head of Radio Corp. of America (RCA) and National Broadcasting Co. (NBC)
• First to receive the Titanic’s S.O.S call
• A concept he really pushed for in his career was music broadcasting on radio
i.iii
Henry Luce
• Key figure in American Journalism
• Felt that the American public lacked awareness of world news
• Publishing Time, Fortune, and Life magazines
• His articles and stories were heavily researched
i.vii
Al Capone
• Famous, bigtime mobster primarily rooted in Chicago
• Head of one of the top gangs in Chicago at the time
o Rivaled with George “bugs” Moran, another head Mobster in the area
• His main operations were bootlegging during prohibition
• Was convicted in 1931 for tax evasion
• Spent his 11years sentence in Atlanta and then Alcatraz
i.iv
F. Scott Fitzgerald
• American Author, now famous for his novel The Great Gatsby
• This Side of Paradise in 1920 is the novel that put Fitzgerald in the public eye
• The young author got a reputation for his playboy lifestyle
• Married to Zelda Sayre
i.ii
Babe Ruth
• Babe Ruth was a baseball player, primarily playing for the New York Yankees
• Big league career from 1914 to 1935
o Boston Red Sox: 1914-1919
o New York Yankees: 1920-1934
o Boston Brave: 1935
• Is seen as one of the best players of all time, creating new records throughout his career with his
amazing statistics
o Most notable are his 60 homeruns in a season in 1927
• Emitted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936
i.xiv
Louise Brookes
• Hollywood, silent film actor

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AMERICAN HISTORY OF THE 20S, 50S, AND 80S
•
While not as popular at the time as some other female actors at the time, respect in regards to her
style in acting and fashion held an impression throughout the times
o She was widely known for her dark bob hairstyle, and short dresses
▪ Overall a very flapper aesthetic
o Her acting style was more of a realism style compared to others in her field
• Eventually, she moved her career to Europe where the film scene was more about being artistic
and less commercial
i.viii
Anna May Wong (Wong Liu Tsong)
• First Asian-American Actor
• Was met with discrimination in the film industry as there was a practice to hire caucasian actors
for POC (person of colour) roles
• Wong did not receive credit for her roles for the first 2 years
• Eventually the discrimination she faced caused her to work in the European film industry, leaving
Hollywood behind

1950s
Events
ii.xiii
Golden Age of Television
• The 1950s marked a shift in the methods of media entertainment, as television sets became
mainstream staples in their homes
• Became the dominant form of media consumption, overtaking cinema, radio and print
• 50% of U.S. households had a television in their home by 1953
ii.xv
Marketing to Mass Culture
• Content geared towards lighthearted entertainment, neglected current events/ controversial issues
• Depicted familiar, middle-class, idealized families
• Catering to widest audience possible
ii.vi
Advertising Age
• The rise of television caused the growth of advertising and consumerism
• Advertisers would sponsor particular television programs to reach their audience
• Ads would often target “stay at home housewives”, and depicted traditional family values
• Typically, products would be labour-saving, and increase productivity and leisure time
ii.vii
Peanuts Cartoon: 1950
• First Peanuts comic strip published
• Comic by Charles M. Schluz
• Initially published in seven newspapers
ii.xii
First Live Transcontinental Broadcast: 1951
• Broadcast took place in San Francisco
• Showed President Truman speech at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference, discussing the U.S.
acceptance of a treaty that ended post-war occupation of Japan
ii.xvi
First Commercial Television Program in Colour: 1951
• CBS broadcasted the first commercial television program in colour on June 25th, 1951
• It was a variety game show called Premiere

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AMERICAN HISTORY OF THE 20S, 50S, AND 80S
• Did not reach a wide audience; only available in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington
D.C
• Could not run on black and white tvs, so most households would need to buy a new television set
just to watch, which most did not do until the 1960s
ii.xv
Widescreen Movies in Theater: 1952
• Cinemas introduced widescreen to give an experience you can’t get at home from television
• Used 3 projectors to achieve widescreen effect
ii.xiv
Debut of Today Show: 1952
• Today show debuted on January 14th, 1952
• Aired on NBC, originally hosted by Dave Garrowway
• Marked the beginning of a long tv run, currently the 4th longest running television talk show
ii.x
3D Films gained popularity: 1953
• Cinema technology was expanding to keep interest in times of television dominance
• Became a 3D movie craze
• Used polarization to achieve 3D effect
ii.v
Debut of Tonight Show: 1954
• Tonight Show debuted September 27th, 1954
• Originally hosted by Steve Allen, aired on NBC
• This was the first of many late night talk shows to debut
• Still running to date, now on the sixth host (Jimmy Fallon)
ii.viii
Disneyland Opens: 1955
• Disneyland theme park opens in Anaheim California on July 17th, 1955
• Shows significant impact on media culture, as it is an amusement park based on the media
creations of Walt Disney
ii.ix
Sputnik Space Race: 1957
•Soviet Union launched “Sputnik” on October 4th, 1957, Earth’s first artificial satellite
•With this first success space launch, it drove the U.S. to put more money into their space efforts
in order to catch up
• Ignited “space race” competition between Soviet Union and U.S.
• The Soviet’s launch caused more cold war tension, in fear that the U.S. had fallen behind in
military technology
ii.i
Invention of the Microchip: 1959
• Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce are credited for inventing the microchip
• Microchips contain computer circuitry called integrated circuits, which are used in most modern
technology today
• Microchips function as either logical components of computers or computer memory
Important People
ii.xi
Alan Freed
• Popular disc jockey in 1950s
• Important to the growth of Rock and Roll music as a genre
• Gave the genre a name and radio play
• Organized the first Rock and Roll concert

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AMERICAN HISTORY OF THE 20S, 50S, AND 80S
ii.iv
Elvis Presley
• Gained widespread popularity in the 1950s
• Bridged gap between racially segregated “black” and “white” music
• Pioneered a genre “Rockabilly”, merging Country (referred to as Hillbilly music) and Rock
and Roll
• Despite widespread popularity, he had strong influence on youth culture, and represented
controversial subjects of sexual liberation and teenage rebellion
ii.iii
Rosa Parks
• Rosa Parks was a civil rights activist who sparked a social movement
• She refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery Alabama in 1955
• Evolved into Montgomery bus boycott which sparked efforts to end racial segregation of public
facilities across the country
ii.ii
Marilyn Monroe
• One of the most recognized actresses and sex symbols
• Her career really took off in the 1950s, starring in multiple movies including The Asphalt Jungle,
All About Eve and Niagara
• Much admired international star
• Career was on the rise until her tragic death in 1962 at only 36

1980s
Events
iii.i
Popularity of the Fax Machine
• Able to send information/documents to other people without the hassle of mail
iii.xv
Rubik’s Cube: 1980
• Introduced May 1980
• Became a worldwide success in under a year and still popular today
• Invented by a Hungarian sculptor in 1974
iii.xv
CNN Launches: 1980
• Cable News Network began broadcasting June 1st 1980
• First 24 hours news station available in US and Canada
iii.iii, iii.xiii
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back: 1980
• Space opera (subgenre of space warfare)
• Advanced special effects
• Directed by George Lucas
• Complex and chaotic ending
• Predicted to not be popular with Star Wars fans (it was)
iii.i
Walkman: 1980
• A movement into “personal listening” and “portable music” music
• Sony also introduced light weight, compact headphones for easy listening
• Became super popular
• Available to the public in 1980
iii.ix
MTV: 1981
• First in 1981

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AMERICAN HISTORY OF THE 20S, 50S, AND 80S
• MTV became one of the most influential media channels for music, pop culture and
entertainment
iii.i
Personal Computers: 1982
o Was the beginning of an era full of technological advancements
iii.iv
Artificial Human Heart: 1982
• Successfully implanted the Jarvik 7 into Barney Clark, a Seattle dentist who volunteered to
undergo the surgery
• After the surgery, other surgeries with the Jarvik 7 were performed and it became widely used as
a temporary artificial heart, while people waited for donated real hearts
iii.i
CDs: 1982
• Revolutionary at the time of its release
• Quickly became the new norm for storing and listening to music
iii.vii
CD Player: 1982
• 1982: Sony released the world’s first commercial compact disc player, the CDP-101
• At the time, the CD player was sold for a whopping $674, while CDs themselves cost around $15
a piece, CD players were viewed as products for the wealthy, but as they slowly became more
mainstream, prices dropped and players made their way into a majority of American households
iii.i, iii.vi
Camcorder: 1983
• The camcorder took the market by storm in 1983
• Replacing the 8mm movie camera
• Revolutionary and significantly more efficient!
• 1982, Sony released its Betamax camera for the use of news organizations -Only a year later, the
company refined the Betamax and released it for the consumer market, where it quickly picked up
in popularity
iii.xvii, iii.ii
Cell Phone: 1984
• Made commercially available in 1984
• Was essentially a brick
• Cost just under $4000 (which translated to roughly $8200 in 2018)
iii.viii
Microsoft Windows: 1985
• Since its initial launch in 1985, Microsoft has released 10 major versions of the operating system
-While Windows today looks a lot different than it did decades ago, it was the 1980s when it
really got its start
• Windows 1, spearheaded by Bill Gates, was an iconic moment in the tech industry because the
new system relied heavily on the use of a mouse to input information, while other systems
typically used keyboards
iii.i
Blockbuster & VCRs: 1985
• Opened their first store
• Moving away from watching movies on TV stations (which were full of commercials) to renting
a VHS and watching the movie on the VCR
Important People
iii.xi
Ronald Reagan
o Became US president in January 20th, 1981. Lasted until 1989 (8 years)
▪ Survived assassination attempt on March 30th, 1981 by John Hinckley Jr.

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▪ Part of the republican party, implemented policies that lead to economic decline, disliked
iii.x, iii.xv
John Lennon Shot to Death
• Former Beatle shot by a fan at 40
o Shot by Mark David Chapman in his apartment in New York City on December 8th, 1980
o Mark had received an autograph from Lennon earlier in the day
iii.xii
David Bowie
• Became mainstream
o Cleaned up, stopped abusing drugs, released hit songs.
o Music videos were appreciated by audiences of MTV
iii.xv
Pierre Trudeau
• Elected in Canadian Federal Elections 1980 (5th time)
iii.xiv
Michael Jackson
• Became a superstar, released many extremely popular albums
o Started with the Jacksons in 1980 with album “Triumph”
o Thriller released 1982, and the music video in 1983
o Left Jackson 5 in 1984
iii.xvi
Madonna
• Massive influence on girls everywhere
• Her music, fashion style and hairstyle were being copied by fans all over the globe
iii.xvi
Nelson Mandela
• In the 1980s, Mandela was still in jail until he was finally released in 1990
iii.v, iii.xvi
Steve Jobs
• Competing with Microsoft to release the best technology
• 1984: Apple revolutionized the technology industry with the release of the MacIntosh, one of the
world’s first commercially successful personal computers
• Unlike other Apple products at the time, the MacIntosh was finally a computer that the average
person could utilize
iii.xvi
Steven Spielberg
• E.T. became one of the most beloved and watched movies ever along with Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Both these movies released in the 1980s and set a standard for cinema in Hollywood

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1920s
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1950s
ii.i
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ii.v
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ii.xii
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ii.xiii
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ii.xv
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1980s
iii.i
Brain, M. (n.d). 12 New Technologies in the 1980s. Retrieved from
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iii.ii
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iii.iii
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iii.vi
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iii.vii
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iii.viii
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iii.ix
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iii.x
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iii.xi
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iii.xii
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iii.xiii
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iii.xvii
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