8. The development of the Salk vaccine to fight polio (1953)

The development of this vaccine by the American research scientist Jonas E. Salk removed a frightening prospect of tragedy from the lives of many young people. The effects of polio brought forth many different types of services in libraries aimed at persons with physical disabilities.

 

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)