[Music] the 20th century for kids do you know what a century is a century is a period of time that lasts 100 years historians like to divide time periods into centuries in order to study the unique things that happen during specific times in history in this video we are going to talk about the 20th century let's look at some of the important events that happened during that time and think about how they shape our lives today the 20th century began in 1901 and ended in 2000. remember how we said that a century is 100 years long here is an interesting fact 100 years equals 36 500 days wow a century can also be broken down into decades which are made up of 10 years each as you might have guessed there are 10 decades in every century there were a lot of things that happened during the 20th century that had a great impact on society and have changed the course of history and lives let's look more closely at these events divided up into decades 1901-1910 have you ever wondered when the first airplanes began to fly in the year 1903 the wright brothers made their first flight their plane helped connect people and places together in new and exciting ways are you a baseball fan the first world series took place the same year that the wright brothers took flight cool right inventions like the electric washing machine and plastic were also created during this 10-year period 1911 1911-1920 the second decade of the 20th century brought us amazing things like the first oreo cookie traffic lights daylight saving time but it also signaled the beginning and ending of the first world war which lasted from 1914 to 1919. the spanish influenza pandemic also occurred during this decade in 1918 just over a century before the coronavirus pandemic of the 21st century it is interesting to see how history can be a reflection of what is happening today 1921 19 is it surprising that the decade that came after a global pandemic was a groundbreaking time for medicine in 1922 insulin was discovered to help those living with diabetes and penicillin was discovered in 1928 both of these discoveries saved millions of lives throughout the world in the sports world the first winter olympics happened in 1924 do you chew bubble gum or eat bread you can thank the year 1928 for the invention of bubble gum and sliced bread the end of the decade brought a huge economic shift called the great depression and changed the way that people lived and spent money many people lost their jobs and their homes and had to struggle to survive the great depression lasted from 1929 to the mid-1940s 1931-1940 have you heard of amelia earhart she was a pilot who was the first woman to fly across the atlantic ocean in the year 1932 scientists also learned how to split an atom and the board game monopoly made its debut the wizard of oz which is still a favorite today was released in the year 1939 sadly this year was also the beginning of world war ii 1941-1950 world war ii ended on june 6 1944 on a day we now call d-day but the effects that it had upon the world are still felt today the holocaust japanese american internment camps the dropping of the first and second atomic bombs on japan and the attack on pearl harbor all happened during the war many people lost their lives and countless others were displaced even though it was a very sad time there were other happier things that also happened during this decade do you like cheerios how about m m's here is an interesting fact both cheerios and m ms were introduced in 1941 the first t-shirt ballpoint pen and computer also made their debuts in the 1940s let's take a little break in review based on what we have learned so far see if you can remember the answers to the following questions fill in the blank the first woman to fly across the atlantic ocean was emilia blank amelia earhart true or false the first world series happened during the first decade of the 20th century true nice job everybody now let's get back to the last half of the 20th century 1951 to 1960.
this decade had some really cool inventions velcro the color tv and seat belts were all invented in the 1950s the beginning of the nasa space program also happened during this time charlie brown and snoopy were created this decade too not to mention the fact that disneyland and the first mcdonald's opened the korean war lasted from 1950 to 1953 and brought about the cold war which was an unarmed conflict between the former soviet union and the united states one of the most important vaccines was discovered in 1950 to treat polio because of this vaccine polio has now been eliminated from most parts of the world 1961 to 1970 the 60s brought the civil rights movement to the headlines with sit-ins and protests across the country advocating for equal rights for all races president john f kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and that same year dr martin luther king jr gave his i have a dream speech five years later dr king was also assassinated the vietnam war began and the united states started sending troops to the country in 1965 the decade also included neil armstrong becoming the first man to step on the moon the first super bowl the first heart transplant and the rise of a band called the beatles 1971-1980 1973 marked the end of the war in vietnam president nixon resigned in 1974. microsoft was founded in 1975 one year before the first apple computer there were also various landmark supreme court cases that promoted more gender equality between women and men than what existed before ever heard of a movie called star wars the first movie of the series was released in 1977 1981 to 1990. 1981 was an eventful year because of a few things first there was an assassination attempt on president ronald reagan then sandra day o'connor became the first woman appointed to the supreme court of the united states a new disease called aids was identified and the personal computer was introduced by a company called ibm nasa sent two women to space during this decade and the internet was invented in 1989 ever played pac-man the first pac-man video game cabbage patch kids and the movie e.
t all made their first appearance in the 1980s 1991 to 2000. the last decade of the 20th century was very eventful the cold war ended in 1992 but the united states entered another conflict with the middle east in a conflict called operation desert storm ebay was founded during this time and the first cloned sheep named dolly was born in 1996 fans of the harry potter series might be interested to know that the first book came out in 1997. phew that was a lot of information let's see what you remember about the last half of the 20th century true or false sandra day o'connor was the first woman appointed to the united states supreme court true in 1963 dr martin luther king jr gave a speech what was the speech called i have a dream excellent work 20th century brainiacs the 20th century saw many events large and small that have impacted us all the next time you are using a computer or eating an oreo you can remember all of the cool things you have learned about this unique time in history hope you had fun learning with us visit us at learnbright.
