6. The first human being lands on the moon (July 20, 1969)

The sight of American astronaut Neil A. Armstrong stepping onto the moon fascinated the entire world. This first extraterrestrial experience for humankind revived science fiction and stimulated new hope for scientific progress.

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Robert Wedgeworth is the University Librarian and Professor of Library Administration at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. His choices for the most important events of the 1900's reflect a general approach. See why a British rock band and an American baseball player made it onto his list.

1.

Dropping the atomic bomb during World War II (1945)
2. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy (Nov. 22, 1963)
3. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
4.

The launch of Sputnik I by the Soviet Union (1957)
5. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
6. The first human being lands on the moon (July 20, 1969)
7. The first Beatles performances in the United States (1964)
8. The development of the Salk vaccine to fight polio (1953)
9. The end of apartheid in South Africa (early 1990's)
10. The debut of Jackie Robinson (1947)