The Americana Annual 2000

THE AMERICANA ANNUAL 2000 Historians well may judge the 20th century as an exciting and adventurous 100 years. The airplane was invented and became a common means of travel; television became a household fixture; discoveries such as the wonder drugs advanced the world of medicine; the space and nuclear ages were born; and the computer altered almost everything. Mother Teresa devoted her life to the poor; Elvis Presley popularized rock 'n' roll; Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan were among the heroes of sports. African-Americans sought and gained new rights. Yet the period was not without tragedy - two world wars, senseless regional conflicts, and horrible natural disasters. Mohandas Gandhi, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr., were among those whose lives were cut short by assassins' bullets. In addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 21, 1999, U.S. President Bill Clinton noted that the 20th century "taught us much of what we need to know about the promise of tomorrow. We have learned a great deal over the last 100 years: how to produce enough food for a growing world population; how human activity affects the environment; the mysteries of the human gene; an information revolution that now holds the promise of universal access to knowledge." Although a century is a relatively short, artificial period in the annals of time, it offers one a chance to look back, recall the past, and assess the pluses and minuses of 100 years. It is with this in mind that this annual opens with the following chronology of 20th-century highlights. The list is divided into world affairs, U.S. affairs, arts and entertainment, business and industry, medicine and health, science and technology, and sports.