Gallery: The Decades That Invented the Future, Part 3: 1921-1930
01capek-rur
 Today's leading-edge technology is headed straight for tomorrow's junk pile, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. Everyone loves the latest and greatest. Sometimes, though, something truly revolutionary cuts through the clutter and fundamentally changes the game. And with that in mind, Wired is looking back over 12 decades to highlight the 12 most innovative people, places and things of their day. From the first transatlantic radio transmissions to cellphones, from vacuum tubes to microprocessors, we'll run down the most important advancements in technology, science, sports and more. This week's installment takes us back to 1921-1930, when amphibious warfare came to fruition, Art Deco was all the rage and Babe Ruth became an icon. We don't expect you to agree with all of our picks, or even some of them. That's fine. Tell us what you think we've missed and we'll publish your list later. 1920: Rise of the Robots (Entertainment) ---------------------------------------- A Czech play titled *R.U.R.* introduced the word "robot" in 1920, and science fiction would never be the same. The robots in Karel Čapek's play were not the type of clanking, whirring mechanical men typically found in the early sci-fi movies that would come later. Instead, the robots of *R.U.R.* were biological beings whipped up in a laboratory, created to aid humans by doing scut work. (The Czech term *robota* means "forced labor.") *R.U.R.'*s robots had more in common with *Blade Runner'*s replicants, *Battlestar Galactica'*s skinjob Cylons or *Cloud Atlas'* fabricants than nuts-and-bolts characters like *Forbidden Planet'*s [Robby the Robot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robby_the_Robot) or *Futurama'*s boozing, belching Bender. While the great sci-fi writer Issac Asimov was no fan of *R.U.R.,* he acknowledged its lasting contribution to life on Earth. "Capek's play is, in my own opinion, a terribly bad one, but [it is immortal for that one word](http://books.google.com/books?id=sBIOXJqqVEUC&pg=PA150&lpg=PA150&dq=Capek's+play+is,+in+my+own+opinion,+a+terribly+bad+one,+but+it+is+immortal+for+that+one+word.+It+contributed+the+word+'robot'+not+only+to+English+but,+through+English,+to+all+the+languages+in+which+science+fiction+is+now+written&source=bl&ots=we-UIR_1rH&sig=5XJnfvKkL6txf9DdN6yy9Kd2Nm8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TAyLUJLbJKXF0QG0mYHoBw&ved=0CFEQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=Capek's%20play%20is%2C%20in%20my%20own%20opinion%2C%20a%20terribly%20bad%20one%2C%20but%20it%20is%20immortal%20for%20that%20one%20word.%20It%20contributed%20the%20word%20'robot'%20not%20only%20to%20English%20but%2C%20through%20English%2C%20to%20all%20the%20languages%20in%20which%20science%20fiction%20is%20now%20written&f=false)," he wrote in a 1979 essay. "It contributed the word 'robot' not only to English but, through English, to all the languages in which science fiction is now written." Today, we take robots for granted, both in our science fiction and in our everyday lives, where they aid our assembly lines and help ease domestic drudgery. In books and on TV and movie screens, they can prove endlessly helpful (*Star Trek: The Next Generation'* Data), totally nightmarish (the *Terminator* franchise) or somewhere in between ([*Prometheus'* David](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2012/04/prometheus-android-fassbender/)). How about the proto-bots in *R.U.R.?* Spoiler alert: They kill every human on Earth, except for one. *Photo: [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Capek_RUR.jpg)*
02punched-card
1928: IBM Uncloaks the 80-Column Punch Card (Computers) ------------------------------------------------------- Yes, between 1921 and 1930, Walther Bothe built his coincidence circuit -- an electronic device that foretold the building blocks for the first computers. Yes, the first Radio Shack store opened in 1921. And yes, we remembered the patent for the first semiconductor transistor, filed in 1926. But we can safely say that the most important computer creation of the Roaring Twenties was IBM’s 80-column punch card. To be sure, this wasn’t the first punch card. As far back as the 18th century, punch cards -- machine-readable cards that stored information in the form of, well, holes -- were used to operate French textile looms. But IBM’s 80-column card -- with its rectangular holes -- would become the standard means of driving data processing machines, including computers, for the next 50 years. Originally, the IBM Card -- as it became known -- was originally used by the company’s accounting machines. But later in the decade, they would make the transition to full-fledged computers, including not only IBM mainframes, but also countless machines from competitors, such the British ICT 1301. It’s what we used before computer screens came along. The IBM Card measured 7 ⅜ by 3 ¼ inches. Each of its 80 columns included 12 spots for punches. And it’s such a shame the thing has gone away. *Photo: [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Punched_Card.jpg)*
03normandy
1926: Amphibious Warfare (War) ------------------------------ Ninety years ago a series of unlikely events, propelled by equally rare personalities, combined to transform the U.S. Marine Corps into the world's leading amphibious force. A brilliant, volatile Marine officer from Kansas named Pete Ellis was convinced that the U.S. would one day go to war with Japan. Working alone starting in 1921, Ellis began scripting a 50,000-word blueprint for island war called Operation Plan 712. Under the guise of a businessman he traveled throughout the Pacific. In Palau he befriended the native royal family, married a woman 25 years his junior, came down with several tropical diseases and eventually drank himself to death. Ellis' blueprint survived. And in the mid-1920s the Marines began taking Operation Plan 712 seriously. But a series of war games proved just how unprepared the Marines were to assault enemy beaches. Landing barges were too unwieldy. Swimming tanks were unseaworthy. The 1924 war game was "well worth while," officers wrote, "because almost every possible mistake occurred." Then in 1926, gruff, whiskey-swilling Louisiana lumberman Andrew Higgins designed the Eureka boat, a shallow-draught, flat-bottom craft optimized for oil drillers and game trappers navigating the swampy Gulf Coast. The key to the boat's effectiveness: a propeller recessed in a tunnel running underneath the hull, protecting it from flotsam. When war broke out between the U.S. and Japan, the sailing branch ordered 20,000 Eureka boats to carry Marines ashore and execute Ellis' Operation Plan 712. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander of allied forces, called Higgins "the man who won the war for us." *Photo: Army troops wade ashore on "Omaha" Beach on June 6, 1944. Courtesy of the [U.S. Navy](http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-eur/normandy/nor4o.htm)*
04ap050527020080
1925: Art Deco (Design) ----------------------- Even if you don’t know Art Deco, you know Art Deco. It’s the façade on the Empire State Building, the blocky style of old jewelry, and the geometric design of old radios. Though it drew on older styles, such as Art Nouveau, Art Deco didn’t hit the scene until the 1925 Paris International Exhibition of Modern and Decorative Arts, gaining its name from the French museum, Arts Décoratifs, where the expo was held. At its heart, Art Deco is a decorative theme, not so much the technological base of the architecture, but the geometric, symmetrical patterns that adorned it. But those patterns and designs reflected a growing comfort with technology, embracing its use in everyday life and imitating new materials like stainless steel. Though it can seem superficial, Art Deco went on to become one of the most prevalent design themes, carried across industries from architecture to art to jewelry to products. While it was originally an expression of luxury, frequently involving custom goods, it came to be considered faux-luxury, implying wealth while using cheaper materials like [Bakelite](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/10/12-decades-of-geek-part-1/?pid=3863) and chrome to imitate wood, ivory, and solid metals. In these materials, designers could combine the Art Deco style with mass production and distribution. *Photo: The Chrysler Building. Adam Rountree/AP.*
0500316v.jpg
1920s: Babe Ruth (Sports) ------------------------- Few sports figures embodied the spirit of the Roaring Twenties like Babe Ruth. The New York Yankees star cracked home runs at a dizzying rate and went through hot dogs, beer and women at nearly the same pace. His slugging transformed baseball from a pitching-dominated game where runners schemed and clawed for each base into a high-scoring, fan-friendly affair punctuated by powerful hitting. Baseball’s popularity grew exponentially during the '20s, in no small part because of the Babe. Ruth was the first player to hit 30 home runs in a season, then 40, then 50, then 60. His single-season record of 60, set in 1927, stood for 34 years. His career record of 714 went unbroken for 39 years until Hank Aaron eclipsed him in 1974. Even now, his lifetime batting average of .342 ranks 10th in history. But the numbers are but one part of a great story. Ruth's overwhelming charisma and flamboyant lifestyle made him the perfect sports celebrity in a decade when radio and newspaper coverage boomed across America. His impact on sports and popular culture was so great that even our language changed: Outsized efforts were described as "Ruthian.” Stately Yankee Stadium became known as "The House That Ruth Built.” Enrico Caruso was "the Babe Ruth of operatic tenors" and Willie Sutton was "the Babe Ruth of bank robbers.” Ruth was the first athlete to transcend sports to become a genuine celebrity, and even now he, like Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, remains one of the most recognizable athletes in U.S. history. *Photo: [Library of Congress](http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/npcc.00316/)*
06ford-trimotor
1926: The Tri-motor Airplane (Vehicles) --------------------------------------- When the Roaring Twenties came to life, the airplane was far from the preferred way to travel. For passengers wanting to go somewhere, a flight usually meant just a few seats next to sacks of mail cruising along at 70 or 80 miles per hour. Henry Ford saw a chance for the airplane to do better. At the urging of his son Edsel, Ford invested in the Stout Aircraft Company in the early 1920s. William Stout had an idea for an all-metal airplane capable of carrying passengers, but he needed investors. In a refreshingly honest yet bold move, he made one promise in his letter seeking $1,000 each from a group of 20 industry titans: "You will never get your money back." Both Henry and Edsel invested in the young company, and far from regretting the investment, Ford bought the company outright in 1925. By 1926 the Ford Tri-Motor was rolling off the assembly line complete with Ford Model A steering wheels in the cockpit. A crew of three included a flight attendant and there were wicker seats for 10 passengers. The all metal "Tin Goose" revolutionized air travel. (It was actually made of aluminum, but the corrugated exterior looked like tin.) Passengers were whisked from city to city at speeds of 95 miles per hour. Airlines used the Tri-motor to revolutionize coast-to-coast travel as well. In 1929, passengers could cut an entire day off of a trip from New York to Los Angeles. After riding a night train to Ohio, they would board a Transcontinental Air Transport Ford Tri-motor and fly to Oklahoma during the day. At night they would again board a train to New Mexico, where they would hop aboard a different Tri-motor for the final leg to Los Angeles. The high-speed trip wasn't cheap, $338 one way. A new Ford Model A cost $525 at the time. TAT would become TWA and eventually begin flying the Douglas DC-2 and DC-3. Those airplanes traveled twice as fast and twice as far. By the early 1930s the Tri-motor's dominance was over. *Photo: [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ford_Trimotor.jpg)*
07leica-i-1
1925: The Leica I and the 35mm Standard (Photography) ----------------------------------------------------- Today when we think of film, we think of it as 35mm. But before that gauge was set as the international standard in 1909, many film and camera manufacturers experimented with all sorts of different film sizes, ranging from 13 mm to 75 mm (0.51 to 2.95 in). Each different size required a different machine to use it, or some sort of mechanical adapter. It’s akin to mobile device screens today where developers have to account for all sorts of aspect ratios and resolutions for apps and webpages. Deciding on the 35mm standard had profound consequences, most immediately on motion pictures. As manufacturers slowly adapted their cameras and projectors to use 35mm, near-global distribution became possible for films for the first time. It wasn’t until 1925, however, that the first practical, widely used still camera, the Leica I (pictured above), adopted 35mm and also cemented Leica as a legendary camera maker. One of Leica’s first cameras, the Leica I made use of the motion picture 35mm format, but rotated it to advance horizontally, which also tweaked its dimensions to be slightly bigger. Leica was also a pioneer in the idea of capturing a sharp, small negative to be blown up later during printing. In order for the Leica I’s negatives to be sharp enough for enlarging, Leica would have to build its first lens, initially called the ELMAX at first production, at 50 mm f/3.5. This is one of the first steps by a company that would become synonymous with high-end cameras and innovation, a tradition it continues today. *Photo: [Wikipedia](http://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dosiero:Leica-I-1.jpg)*
Pictorial Parade08polygraph
1921: Polygraph Machine (Security) ---------------------------------- Perhaps one of the biggest threats to thought was the 1921 invention of the modern polygraph machine by University of California medical student John Larson. The police use the device to assist in solving crimes, though test results are generally inadmissible in criminal prosecutions. The polygraph works by attaching sensors to the body that, theoretically, recognize involuntary physiological reactions a person has to lying. The machine measures breathing, blood pressure, pulse and perspiration -- and hence the "poly" in its name. When someone is taking the test, they are asked a series of questions, some that have obvious answers and others that don't so investigators can decipher a pattern of physiological changes. It's true. We're not lying. *Photo: Getty Images*
© Bettmann/CORBIS09scopes-trial
1925: Scopes Monkey Trial (Science) ----------------------------------- One of a science geek’s favorite feelings is righteous indignation against the ignorant, and perhaps the purest form of this sensation comes when trying to argue with a creationist. The ur-example of this long-standing controversy comes to us from the Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925. The case started with a Tennessee schoolteacher, John Scopes, who purposely violated the idiotic Butler Act, which made it illegal for anyone to teach evolution in a state-funded school. This led to the biggest trial of the then-early century, with the proceedings being followed each day by radio broadcasts and newspapers across the country. The case pitted star humanitarian crusading lawyer Clarence Darrow for the defense against three-time-presidential-candidate, cross-of-gold-orator, and basis-for-the-Cowardly-Lion William Jennings Bryan, for the prosecution. Darrow famously took Bryan to task during the proceedings, laying out how the creationist arguments of the time were pure hokum and should not be the basis for children’s education. After an eight-day trial and a nine-minute deliberation, the jury found Scopes guilty (he had violated the law, after all) and he was ordered to pay a $100 fine. Though Scopes lost, the trial empowered other defenders across the U.S. to challenge anti-evolution laws, ultimately leading to their demise until recent decades. The spirit of the case lives on in the 1960 movie *Inherit the Wind* and millions of online Reddit arguments since. The appearance of new creationist and intelligent design movements has resumed the necessary defense of evolution in our public schools. But should any geek ever get too worked up at the ignorance of others, they could do well to remember that Darrow and Bryan remained cordial after their case, with Bryan later giving Darrow a small carved monkey as a token of the battle. *Photo: Clarence Darrow (left) and William Jennings Bryan (right) during the Scopes Trial in 1925. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scopes_trial.jpg).*
10business
1926: McKinsey and Company (Business) ------------------------------------- One can argue about the value of modern-day management consulting. Some swear by the expertise consultants gather while unraveling the ugliest problems for some of the largest companies on the planet. Others lump the profession’s practitioners in the company of thieves and pirates. What is not debatable is that McKinsey sits at the top of the consulting heap. Its run began in 1926 when a former professor of accounting from the University of Chicago, James O. McKinsey (Mac to his friends), founded his namesake firm to provide finance and budgeting services. In the 1920s consultants were largely efficiency experts, parachuting in to help struggling companies as they went through a massive industrial shift. Mac’s genius was in convincing even healthy companies they could use his firm’s expertise to succeed. Some firms like to come in and “work with you” to come to a solution. Today’s McKinsey waltzes in and tells you how it’s going to be. The gang from McKinsey are smart, connected up and down the corporate and government food chain, and strike fear into the foot soldiers of every Fortune 500 company. When McKinsey is on the floor during iffy times, you can bet an axe is getting ready to swing. Its ranks have included some of the most powerful in business, Lou Gerstner, former chairman and CEO of IBM was one. But McKinsey has also been home to some of the business world’s most disgraced. Before he gouged Californians in the electricity market and seemingly fabricated the rest of Enron out of the ether, Jeffrey Skilling practiced his chops at McKinsey. And Rajat Gupta, the firm’s former CEO, was convicted over the summer of insider trading. Wonder what Mac would say. Probably that McKinsey could use some help from McKinsey. *Photo: On the left is James O. McKinsey, at right is Marvin Bower (far left) with McKinsey partners in 1944. Images courtesy of McKinsey and Company.*
11traffic-light-patent
1923: Traffic Light (Gadgets) ----------------------------- On Nov. 20, 1923, Cleveland inventor Garrett A. Morgan was awarded the first [patent](http://www.google.com/patents/US1475024?pg=PA3&dq=garrett+morgan+traffic+light+patent&hl=en&sa=X&ei=w5eRUI74KoXL0QH21oDIAQ&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=garrett%20morgan%20traffic%20light%20patent&f=false) for an automatic, battery powered stop light. It was also the first with a T-shape design and one of the earliest to use a three-light system, with red, yellow and green lights. While others had previously built traffic signals, many used just two lights to alert drivers of when to stop and when to go. These earlier lights also relied on manual control. When someone wasn't there to operate the signal, the signals didn't work. Before Morgan's patent, in 1920, Detroit Police Officer William Potts was among the first to invent a red, yellow and green stop light, taking inspiration from railroad traffic signals. Later that year, Potts' signals were installed in Detroit. However, it was Morgan's design that caught on three years later because it was easier and cheaper to build. Morgan, the owner of the Cleveland Call newspaper, was the son of two former slaves. And he was also one of the first people in Cleveland to own a car, witnessing plenty of wrecks while driving down streets with two-color, manually operated signals. Morgan's patent details a system with a light that signaled to drivers when to slow down and prepare to stop, when to stop and when to go. Later that year, Morgan sold his patent to General Electric for $40,000 and G.E. put the three-color stop light into mass production, leading to its popularity in American intersections.
12steamboat-willie
1928: Mickey Mouse Whistles to Superstardom (Games) --------------------------------------------------- 1927 was a transformative year for Walt Disney. He’d created his first hit character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and movie houses wanted to play his cartoons before their features. Perhaps more importantly, he went to the theaters that year and saw *The Jazz Singer*, the first “talkie” motion picture with a full audio track and voices. In 1928, he lost the rights to Oswald and immediately created a new character called Mickey Mouse. Disney produced two silent Mickey films that were not distributed widely. Mickey’s introduction to the world was in a cartoon called *Steamboat Willie*, produced at great personal expense (Disney had to [sell his car](”)). The cost came from Disney’s innovation: synchronized sound, just like in *The Jazz Singer*. Other cartoons had tried it but weren’t able to get the sound and animation synced up. Mickey appeared on screen whistling the song “Steamboat Bill,” from which the cartoon took its title. The powerful combination of music and animation was a colossal hit and Disney as we know it was born. *Steamboat Willie* is a popular point of reference for Disney videogames today, seen in *Kingdom Hearts* and *Epic Mickey* among others.
