The Cold War

Chris Lung

Natalie Haddad

Laura Norkeviciute

Technology Impacts on USA During the Cold War

Political-Though the Cold War was not actually a war it did involve a major arms race between the United States of America and the Soviet Union.

-Perhaps most famously, Americans strongly connected with the idea of a distant and ideologically foreign enemy. The "Red Scare" refers to a period of intense paranoia in the United States when even the accusation of communist ties could bring a person's career to and end and destroy a reputation.

- Joseph McCarthy held a series of hearings before the House Committee On Un-American Activities which served almost as show-trials, fueling the atmosphere of fear and anxiety.

Intellectual• Throughout the Cold War submarines played a major rule. In the Cold War they were used for Intelligence gathering rather then combat. Both the United States and the USSR had a fleet of disiel submarines in the beginning of the Cold War. From what has been declassified by the US Navy, at the time of the Cold War the US submarines were hooked up with "Spook" equipment. This equipment was used to listen to soviet telephones and other communication devices. •This gave the United States an advantage, over the Soviet Union due to the fact that they knew what the Soviets were doing.

Technology

-In 1945, the first nuclear bomb was Delived bomber. Therefore, the United States and the Soviet Union developed technology during the Cold War to build long range bombers. These bombers were large and could carry several bombs. --And by the end of the Cold War the United States had 277 bombers, and the Soviet Union had 177 bombers. The Soviet Union seeing that the United States outweighed them, began building means of defending their country from an air attack. However, the United States developed a countermeasure called a Cruise Missile. These proved to be very effective, and by the end of the war Cruise Missiles could be used as an attack or defense weapon.

Art/Architecture•The Berlin Wall was built.•More stable buildings.•Word processor and Pong video game was invented. The Word Processor allowed for typing on computers to become faster and more efficient.

Society

-Hollywood became a highly visible target of the House Un-American Activities Committee during the late 1940s and 1950s. Uncooperative witnesses were blacklisted by the studios, and some, like the Hollywood Ten, served time in jail. -To prove their "Americanism," studio bosses not only fired and blacklisted employees, but they also turned out a string of films warning against the dangers of communism at home and abroad.-Microwaves invented by Percy Spenser allowed for people to cook food faster, spend more time in family time, and also at the same time get cancers from waves in the microwaves, even though food enhancers were inventened.

Economy

-Our Nuclear materials were obscenely expensive; therefore much money was wasted when investing in building new technology.

-The Cold War created an impetus for the continued upkeep and expansion of US military capability after the end of WWII. This diverted billions from social programs and to a great extent undid many of the formative political changes brought about by the great depression.

-While Johnson's "Great Society" programs addressed some of this shortfall, the financial constraints imposed by the ballooning budgets of the military contributed to the prevention of the development of a welfare state as we see in modern day Europe.

Religion

-Computers, such as Univac 1, allowed for the Church to interact and spread religious beliefs faster to people.

Chronology• 1946: Microwave invented by Percy Spencer • 1947: Polaroid Camera invented by Dr. Edwin H. Land• 1948: Electric Guitar introduced by Leo Fender• 1950: The first credit card (Diners) were made by Ralph

Schneider• 1951: The first commercial computer, the Univac 1 was sold on

the market• 1952: Bar code was invented by Joseph Woodland and Bernard

Silver• 1952: Edward Teller and team build the hydrogen bomb.• 1953: The flack box flight recorder is invented by David Warren • 1953: Dr. John. H Gibbon performs first open heart surgery

with a heart-lung machine• 1955: Optic fiber and Nuclear Submarine invented• 1957: Polio vaccine created by Dr. Albert • 1959:Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce both invent the microchip

Chronology Cont.• 1960: Physicist Theodore H Mailman creates the first laser• 1961: Russians enter space provoking the space race• 1964:Basic (an early computer language) is invented by John

George Kemeny and Tom Kurtz• 1967: Soft contact lenses, Kevlar, and minicomputers are

invented. • 1969: Arpanet, ATM, and Ram are invented• 1969: Apollo 11 lands on the moon making Neil Armstrong the

first man on the moon• 1970: Floppy disk invented by Alan Shugart. VCR is also

invented• 1972: Word processor, Pong (video game), LCD, and food

processers are invented• 1973: The first gene splicing is done, microprocessor invented

by Faggin, Hoff, and Mazor, and the first Ethernet cable is invented by Robert Metcalfe and Xerox.

Chronology Cont.• 1975: Giorgio Fischer invents lipsocution and the laser printer is

invented.• 1979: Cell phones, Walkman, and the Cray Supercomputer are

invented• 1980: First IMB-PC, scanning tunneling microscope, and

reusable space shuttle by Nasa invented• 1982: Human growth hormone genetically engineered and

artificial heart by Dr. Robert Jarvik• 1985: The CD-ROM, Apple Macintosh, and windows program

invented.• 1988: The RU-486 (abortion pill) invented. Prozac invented at the

Eli Lilly Company by inventor Ray Fuller.• 1989: High-definition television invented.• 1990:The World Wide Web and Internet protocol (HTTP) and

WWW language (HTML) created by Tim Lee.• 1990: The Space Shuttle Discovery deploys the Hubble Space

telescope

Part 3

The atomic bomb was first used by the U.S in 1945.

Apollo 11, a Russian craft, land on the moon in 1969.

In the cold war submarines were used for intelligence rather then military reasons. Inside groups would gather and tap into soviet telephones and communication systems.

Part 3

This is an aircraft carrier which was heavily utilized by the United states and Japan.

The first cell phone was developed in 1979.

In 1972 word processor was developed.

In 1983 the first soft bifocal contact lenses were created.

In 1957 the polio vaccine was created by Dr. Albert.

Part 4 Analysis • More medical advances were made throughout the second half of the

nineteenth century. Achievements include artificial hearts, blood transfusions, heart transplants, polio vaccines, Prozac, and abortion pills. – Medical changes took place because technology improved and there was

a greater need of medical use and research to deal with problems of the home coming soldiers, the wounded, polio victims like F.D.R., mental potions, and the increase of babies during this baby-boomer time.

• During the Cold War, a major tension was between the US and Russia space race. The Russians put the first man in space, but the US caught up and put Neil Armstrong, the first man, on the moon. – Reasons for the development of Space programs were made because of

the want to explore space, but mainly to outdo each other (Russia and US) during the Cold War.

• Weapons development was a large part of the Cold War. Nuclear submarines, atomic bombs, long range missiles, advanced aircrafts, and deadlier ammunitions. – Weapons were made in efforts of defensive and preparation of war.

Part 4 Analysis Cont.• The Cold war was known as the communications revolutions as there were

a plethora of advancements in communication, traveling, and storage. Cell phones, personal computers, and storage systems were innovated throughout this period as well as newer systems of traveling which include aircrafts, cars, trains, and boats. – Communication was needed by the military to send quick and clear

systems to each other on the battlefield as well as store data and inscribe messages so that outsides couldn’t detect their messages.

• Food production was made better and safer during this timeframe. The microwave was made making reheating foods easier. Biotechnology and food enhancers were used throughout the world on crops and food products in farms and valleys. – Like medical advancements, food advancements were made to make

the general public safer and healthier as technology increased. Technologies were produced practically because the US wanted to have a stable source of food in case of a war with Russia.

Part 4: Comparison of Cold War to 50 Previous Years

Similarities:•-Continued vaccines•-Military advancements as the years went on.•-Communication has always been spreading, but after the Cold War it increased due to new inventions, such as cellphones and computers.•There has always been competition amongst countries.Differences:•-Atomic energy and weapons used during the Cold War were more advanced then to previous 50 years.•-Cellphones and computers increased communication during the Cold War.•Blood transfusions and heart transplants were invented, making people have a higher chance of living than before.•During the Cold War, due to the thirst of beating the Soviet Union, the USA also had the ambition to explore space; therefore, did not let the Russians get too far ahead with spaceships.

Part 5 Role that element plays in today's world.

• A lot of the technologies from the time period of the cold war were modified or are still used today.

• The same polio vaccine is still used today to cure Polio. • Cell phones have gotten smaller, faster, and more

convenient. They can hold more data, texting has changed communication as we know it.

• Nuclear power plants and explosives are seen as major threats to the United States. They also provide energy as well.

• With the recent earthquake in Japan, the nuclear power plant has become hazardous to the surrounding populations.

Part 5- Continued!

• Since Apollo 11, numerous space crafts have reached the moon including luna 16, 17, 20, and 21.

• The US currently thinking of launching the next manned mission to the Moon after 2019, while Russia is planning to send astronauts to the Moon by 2025. They want to establish a permanent lunar base.

• Today not only are their nuclear weapons causing threats but also biological warfare has become a form of war.

Who Did What?

• Laura- Pirates and Part 4 (comparison of Cold War to previous 50 years).

• Chris- Chronology and Part 4 Analysis

• Natalie- Part 3 and Part 5

Bibliography:

• http://timelines.ws/subjects/Technology.HTML• http://inventors.about.com/od/timelines/

Timelines_of_Invention_and_Technology.htm• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/timeline/index.html• http://www.corp.att.com/attlabs/reputation/timeline/• http://library.thinkquest.org/10826/timeline.htm