“Watershed” Moments
In the period between 1960 and 1990 there were multiple moments in the American history that changed the flow of human life drastically and created important impacts on the being of the whole world. The changes caused by these moments were permanent and they influenced not only the people of the United States of America, but the population of the planet in general.
Contraception
One of such moments is the development of reproductive rights. Birth control was considered an illegal practice before 1960s. Most of single women had no rights to use contraceptives. By the beginning of the 70s the means of birth control were no longer a part of the federal anti-obscenity laws.
After the contraception was announced legal, many pharmaceutical companies started to develop more versions and types of long and short lasting reversible birth control. This invention became a new step in the human history and the history of equal rights between the genders.
Networking
The next event that happened between 1960 and 1990 and has changed the history forever was the development of networking. The first net designed to connect computers to one another was called ARPAnet and it was first introduced in 1962. The network was expected to carry communicational functions and serve as an alternative to the telephone connection.
In several years the computer scientists invented a way to send data from one computer to another. The scientists never stopped working on this project and by the 1980s they already were using a worldwide network. This invention was transformed in multiple ways since it first appeared, and it is now an irreplaceable part of the whole world’s life.
Moon Landing
The last, but not the least “watershed” event I would like to mention is the Moon landing and the exploration of the space. This moment in human history is a significant point of our technological progress and the development of the power of the thought. It is a new stage of getting to know the world around us.
The space missions encouraged by the flow of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States led to many great achievements for the world’s science. The first time a man stepped on the surface of the Moon was observed and followed by millions of Americans and people from all around the world. This step opened new horizons for the mankind. It made a significant impact not only on the technological development but on the cultural and social life of the whole planet.
In the argument about the importance of these events there are opinions saying that the Moon landing was not important for the majority of people, it definitely is a technological break though, but it did not change the lives of humans much. On the other hand, such important things as cell phones nowadays depend on the satellites that are in space due to the process of exploration.
The opinions against contraception come from religious confessions, they say that birth control is sinful and immoral, but there are also points of view, which notice that contraception is very helpful to fight issues like overpopulation of the planet, poverty and many dangerous diseases. The Internet is blamed for creating destructive influences and clouding people’s minds, but on the other hand, this net provides us with quick communication in the emergency situations, gives us global banking system and a lot of knowledge.
All of these events happened in the thirty year period between 1960 and 1990 and influenced the future of the United States and the mankind in general in social, financial, cultural, political and scientific aspects.
The importance of these three events cannot be underestimated. Without any of these moments our world would never be the way we know it today. This is why I think that the development of birth control, the invention of the Internet and the Moon landing are worth mentioning as the “watershed” moments of the history.