-- a university of arizona
course on methods and approaches for studying the future
Looking back reminds of
us of how much change has taken place in a relatively short time (25 years in
this case). You may also want to look ahead 25
years to find what is possible, as the rate of change continues to increase.
The examples below are selected to be representative and not an extensive summary.
You might look at history sites on the web
to see a much longer listing of events that have occurred throughout history.
You can then develop you own listing and select your own time frame for examples
from the past.
What happened in the last
25 years of the of the 20th century (ending 2000)
1978 -- Developed the
personal computer and the test tube baby
1978 -- Faced the OPEC
oil embargo (second major price increase, first was 1973)
1979 -- Developed bard
codes and LCD panels (liquid crystal displays - like in laptop computers)
1980 -- Developed the
global positioning system for navigation
1980 -- CNN established
by Ted Turner
1981 -- Developed the
reusable space shuttle and the Sony Walkman
1985 -- Discovered fullerenes,
a new form of carbon (were two forms: diamond and graphite)
1987 -- DNA first used
to convict criminals
1989 -- Suffered the
Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Berlin Wall fell
1990 -- Nelson Mandela
freed from prison (elected as president of South Africa in 1994)
1993 -- Watched the World
Wide Web arrive (the first graphics browser)
1995 -- Saw sheep cloned
(mice in 1991)
1995 -- First computer
designed/developed/tested - Boeing 777
1995 -- Developed the
palm pilots (hand held organizers)
1999 -- First balloon
flight around the world
1999 -- Got rid of Morse
Code SOS distress calls (replaced by global positioning satellites)
2000 -- International
space station begins construction
Going back just a little
farther.
1974 -- Laser printer
developed
1970 -- Video cassette
(home VCR was invented 1973)
1970 -- First credit
card (visa)
1970 -- US Environmental
Protection Agency established
