A century is one hundred years or 36,000 days. The 20th century was 1901-2000.

We can break it down

into ten decades, ten years long each. Many important events happened during this century that
changed lives and history.

1901-1930

During the first decade, from 1901 to 1910, the Wright brothers created airplanes and had their first
flight in 1903. This was the beginning of people being able to quickly cross the country and the world.
Some other important events in this decade include the first baseball World Series, the construction of
the Panama Canal, the invention of the electric washing machine, and the invention of plastic.

From 1911-1920, they invented the Oreo cookie! More importantly, World War I began in 1914 and
ended in 1919. 10 million military people died and many civilians died as well. The United States entered
the war in 1917 and declared war on Germany. The peace treaty signed at the end of the war caused
controversy. Some people blame it for setting things up for World War II. During this decade, we got both
traffic lights and daylight saving time as well.

Medicine became much better in the decade from 1921-1930. This time period saw the discovery of
both insulin (1922) and penicillin (1928). Both of these saved millions of lives. The Ford car company also
introduced the 40-hour work week in 1926. In 1927, they made the first phone call from the U.S. to
Europe. The Winter Olympics started in 1924. The invention of both bubble gum and sliced bread
happened in 1928. However, the end of the decade saw the start of the Great Depression in 1929. It
lasted into the 1940s and changed the way people lived and spent money.

1931-1970

At the beginning of the decade from 1931-1940 the National Anthem became the official song of
America. Also in this decade, Amelia Earhart flew across the Atlantic, scientists split the atom,
Prohibition ended, the Dust Bowl happened, and they created the board game Monopoly. World War II
began in 1939. They also released the movie Wizard of Oz.

From 1941-1950, many interesting things happened. They invented Cheerios and M&Ms in 1941. The
Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. This event killed more than 2,400
people and caused the United States to declare war on Japan the next day. On June 6, 1944, World War II
ended. The United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan a year later, killing thousands of
civilians. Some inventions from this decade include the T-shirt, ballpoint pens, and computers.

In the first part of the decade from 1951-1960, they introduced Charlie Brown and Snoopy. The Korean
War also started during this time. They invented many new things during this decade, like the color TV,
velcro, and seat belts. The first McDonalds and Disneyland opened. NASA started its space program.
Finally, they discovered new medicines like the polio vaccine.

In the 1960s, the Civil Rights movement began. A man assassinated President John F. Kennedy in 1963
and Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech, five years before his own assassination in
1968. The Vietnam War started this decade as well, and the U.S. sent troops over in 1965. We also had
the first Super Bowl and heart transplant during this decade. The Beatles started making music and a
man named Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on the moon.

1971-2000

From 1971-1980, the U.S. left Vietnam (1973). President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 and they
founded Microsoft in 1975. In 1976, they released the first Apple computer and in 1977, the first Star
Wars movie came out. In 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion.

During the next decade, in 1981, someone tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan, they appointed
the first woman to the Supreme Court, they identified AIDS, and IBM introduced the first personal
computer. Also in this decade, NASA sent two women into space. In 1986, however, the space shuttle
Challenger exploded. This decade also saw the first Pac-Man video game, the movie E.T., Cabbage Patch
Kids, Halley’s Comet (1986) and the invention of the internet (1989).

The last decade of the 20th century happened from 1991-2000. The Cold War ended in 1992, but
Operation Desert Storm began. Someone bombed the World Trade Center in 1994, seven years before
9/11. Also in the 90s: they founded eBay and the Million Man March (1995), cloned the first sheep
(1996), and released the first Harry Potter book (1997).

Many events happened during the 20th century which had a huge impact on people’s lives and will
continue to impact us for many years to come.