Population 132,122,000
Unemployed in 1940 - 8,120,000
National Debt $43 Billion
Average Salary $1,299. Teacher's salary $1,441
Minimum Wage $.43 per hour
55% of U.S. homes have indoor plumbing
Antarctica is discovered to be a continent
Life expectancy 68.2 female, 60.8 male
Auto deaths 34,500
Supreme Court decides blacks do have a right to vote
World War II changed the order of world power the United States and the USSR become super powers
Cold War begins.
Large amounts of energy could possibly be created when the nucleus of an atom is split.
Question 1:
What was the Manhattan Project? ENIAC
The first computer was created nearly 60 years ago. ENIAC paved the way for laptops, desktops, Macs, cell phones, cameras, and many other electronics.
Question 2:
How much faster could the ENIAC perform calculations than doing the math by hand?
Microwaves
Another mistake in the world of science allows us to heat our food with ease.
Question 3:
What was the original food that melted as a result of the microwaves, and what was the next experimental food to be tested with microwaves?
Velcro
A two-inch square is strong enough to support a 175-pound person! Imagine the world as a kid without Velcro shoes!
Question 4:
What gave the Swiss inventor the idea of Velcro?
The Mobile Phone
Cell phones have come a long way and AT&T has been around since the beginning.
Question 5:
In 1948, how many phone calls were being made using a wireless network?
The Transistor
Claimed to be one of the greatest inventions of the 20th Century!
Question 6:
What is a transistor?
Kidney Dialysis
The human race is always looking for a way to prolong life. Kidney failure was a short road to death. In 1943, Kolff found a way to use a machine to clean the blood of a human and work like a kidney.
Question 7:
Kolff’s work led to what “first” in medicine in 1954?
Napalm
Some things we wish we would “dis-invent.” Though it has been made safer, Napalm bombs accounted about half of the bombs in World War II and the Vietnam War.
Question 8:
What are some of the effects on humans that Napalm has?
Aqualung
Finally able to breathe underwater, the aqualung opened the doors for many new expeditions underwater.
Question 9:
What two people are credited to creating the aqualung?
Supersonic Speeds
1,129 feet per second – breaks the speed of sound.
Question 10:
Who was aboard the first supersonic passenger aircraft and how does the sound barrier get broken?
Facts taken from:
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade40.html
