>
> Everybody else is doing it.
> So here's my take on the most signifigent milestones of the 20th century.
> December 1903 - Orville and WilburWright went to North Carolina and figured out how
> to fly. (It's amazing how well I can remember things that happened 30 years before I was
> born.) The airplane is the single most defining invention of this century. Not only had
> days of travel been reduced to hours, but they proved that gasoline engines were
> extremely versatile power plants.
>
> 1909 - Abraham Lincoln replaced the Indian on the US cent, proving to America that the
> Indian was a much better looking fellow. For collectors, this change started the slow
> steady increase in the value of Indian Head penny collections and gave them an excuse to
> buy a new penny book.
>
> 1914 - The World War (aka WWI) began. It was a horse and buggy war. By 1918 it had
> progressed into a mechanized war. Aviation, for example, underwent accelerated
> development. In those days, wars tended to advance technology. Nowadays, wars tend
> to produce mostly bodies and rubble.
>
> 1934 - Douglas Aircraft Company designed the DC3. Production started in 1936. The
> Ford Trimotor became the largest bird on the endangered species list. The DC3 was fast
> and reliable. It became the first airplane to actually make money in passenger service. It
> was also a great cargo plane. It must have been a dandy, because 60 year-old DC3's are
> still flying all over the world.
>
> 1936 Toyota decided to build and sell cars. There were no plans to export them to North
> America. This made it possible for American Industry to continue selling 1930's cars
> well into the 1950's.
>
> 1936 The Cushman Motor Company put a one-horsepower pump engine on a
> motorscooter frame and started a revolution in cheap transportation. Not fast, not
> comfortable, not safe, but cheap.
>
>
> 1939 Germany decided it was time for another World War. Nobody had the courage to
> say, "Adolph, you're making one big mistake." Aviation went from biplane to jet.
> Weapons went from the '03 Springfield to the M1 Garand. Horses disappeared
> completely and Jeeps whined over the world. Cushman went from two horsepower to
> four. At sea, rivited iron was replaced by welded steel. Bombs went from 2000 pound
> block-busters to bombs that vaporized cities. Germany went from a nation to a shambles.
> Maybe some of this is progress.
>
> 1941 Japan made a wrong decision. They thought it was easier to defeat America than to
> just buy it. Some people used the "big mistake" line but nobody listened. The war
> delayed the television industry about 10 years. It did pretty much the same for the Toyota
> takeover of the auto industry. Even the parcel by parcel buyout of American real estate
> took a nasty setback, but things are getting back on track.
>
> 1942 - A rich lady in our town bought a Bendix automatic washer. When she ran it, it
> danced all over the kitcher. So she sold it to my father, cheap. He had to bolt it to the
> floor, but we were the only people in town who had an automatic washer all through
> WWII.
>
> 1945 - Piaggio began producing the Vespa motor scooter and ever since then, all Italians
> have been born with two wheels.
>
> 1946 - Catapiller, who builds bulldozers, had a great year making sales to bombed out
> cities in Europe and Asia.
>
> 1946 - I bought my first bicycle and the world has never been the same.
>
> 1946 - We got our first telephone. You took the receiver off the hook and held to your
> ear and some nasal woman said. "Number, please." The neighbors all came in to see it.
>
> 1947 - Henry J. Kaiser set out to revolutionalize the auto industry. He failed to hire any
> Japanese, German or Italian engineers, but at least he tried. Kaiser automobiles were
> produced into the mid 1950's
>
> Aug. 1949 - A hurricane with wind gusts to 165 mph beat the heck out of the central
> Florida coast. This fact has nothing to do with the fact that I got my drivers license in the
> same month and year while living on the central Florida coast. I know it sounds fishy,
> but there is absolutely no connection.
>
> 1950 - We had squandered a half century and the definition of the word "computer" was
> still "a person who does calculations."
>
> 1951 - My family moved from Florida to Tennessee, forcing me to leave behind two
> bicycles, a girl friend, the beach, my school, and some cohorts. I still miss those
> bicycles.
>
> 1951 - Some North Koreans decide to take over South Korea. It didn't work.
>
> 1952 - Ford Motor Company decided to introduce the 1952 Ford, saying "If we're going
> to make a 1952 Ford, this is the best year to do it." Most of them came with a 1932
> model flat-head V8, but a few had a 223 cubic inch in-line six that was a new design.
> Their reasoning was that some people might want a car with six cylinders.
>
> 1953 - I graduated from West High School in Nashville. I remember the principal saying,
> "We want to get you out of here before you turn 20."
>
> 1953 - In the fall, I decided that since I hadn't saved enough money to buy a car, I might
> as well go to college. Besides, a car wouldn't keep me out of the Army.
>
> 1955 - Chevrolet made a car that worked.
>
> 1958 - Ford Motor Company decided to produce the 1958 Ford. The less said about this,
> the better.
>
> 1958 - I took a cruise to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. Southwestern Oklahoma has never been the
> same. I don't think it ever was. In fact, I think I understand why Geronimo took a header
> off that cliff. He was one smart Indian but he never had his picture on a penny.
>
> 1959 - Jet airliners began zooming all over the world. Two male figures in dark suits
> appeared on Kill Devil Hill in North Carolina. They seemed to be leaping into the air
> and giving each other high-fives. The National Park service denied knowing who they
> were and also discounted the high-five story, because, as they said, "High-fives haven't
> been invented yet."
>
> 1960 - This was the decade of the Hippies. The less said about this, the better.
>
> 1966 - Two thirds of a century shot and most folks still haven't seen a computer. The
> VCR hasn't even been invented yet. Nobody eats microwave popcorn. When are we
> going to get this century into high gear?
>
> 1970 - Hippies are still around, but most of them are on Broadway, appearing in Hair.
>
> 1978 - I bought my first Subaru. After I drove it home, I went out back and threw rocks
> at my Maverick.
>
> 1981 - Somebody asked me is I'd like to see their new Apple. I said I wasn't hungry.
>
> 1983 - I saw my first Apple IIE. Not impressed.
>
> 1984 - I bought my first pickup truck. The less said about this the better. Oh, what the
> heck. It was blue.
>
> 1985 Chrysler Corperation decided to build a 1985 Dodge. The less said about this, the
> better.
>
> 1992 - I retired from teaching. I remember the principal saying, "We want to get you out
> of here before you start falling apart."
>
> 1993 - Boyhood dream becomes a reality. I bought my first Cushman. It had 4
> horsepower and plenty of rust. It was new in 1947, but it took a while to save the
> money. Two years later, it looked and ran great. I was broke again.
>
> 1997 - Boyhood dream becomes a reality. We went to Washington, our 50th state. Yes, I
> know Hawaii is our 50th state, but Washington was MY 50th state.
>
> 2000 - no data. Something went wrong. Everything crashed. We have disappeared.
> Oh well, it was just a century. There will be another one along in a minute.

Howard, that was inspiring. Touching, funny, ironic all in one. Go back and add when you met and married Mrs. Howard. For me. Thanks.