Over the past 100 years, we’ve witnessed some of the most profound changes in human history.
Between a pandemic, wars, technological developments, progress in civil rights, and breakthroughs in science and medicine, the old order has been swept away, sometimes giving way to freer forms of governing and sometimes not.
Centuries-old empires crumbled as new ideologies – from communism to fascism – took root in many parts of the world. Wars in the early part of the 20th century led to the end of the colonial world and gave birth to new nations. These wars also cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars. These are the most expensive wars in U.S. history.
Throughout the past century, technological innovations transformed our lives in ways we never dreamed. Progressive ideas also emerged and changed the world as women, African Americans, and the LGBTQ community demanded, and often won, equal rights – from the ratification of the 19th Amendment in the United States to the legalization of same-sex marriage in many countries around the world. Even so, recent civil rights protests tell us the fight for equality is not over.