Why Study 20th Century History?

Though the 20th century is now considered the past, the major political events,inventions & pop culture of this time have help shape our lives today. By studying important events such as the World Wars we can learn form the actions that lead up to these events and even how they might have been prevented. The significant leaders of this time, such as Hitler, Marting Luther King and JFK who had great influence over many people; by observing their leadership styles we can see what was successful and effective and what brought about social change. By studying the past we can also see how inventions, which we take for granted today, caused much change to overall lifestyles back then. Inventions such as the vacuum, the iron and the refrigerator lead to families (particularly women) having more leisure time as it now didn't take all day to clean the house. While this was a positive change, it caused many women to redefine their roles in life. By studying major inventions, we can see how they affect people individually and also how they can change a society. The world at this time also became closer as different countries became connected by the television, radio and telephone. Pop culture of the 20th century is also important to study as much of the music reflected the thoughts and feelings of the people. Celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and the Beatles are now icons that have influenced the music and movie industry of today. Studying the 1900's lets us see how certain minorties were treated and how these prejudices changed over time. We learn from our mistakes, by studying the past we can learn what went right and what shouldn't happen again.