John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. (February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. He is also known for his novella, Of Mice and Men.

Jonas Salk was the first scientist to develop a reliable vaccine for polio. Prior to Salk’s breakthrough in 1955 polio was generally considered one of the most terrifying public health problems in the post-war United States. Epidemics frequently broke out during the summer, and the disease heavily affected young children. In 1952, the worst epidemic on record, more than three thousand people died, and tens of thousands were left with debilitating illnesses. Salk forsook personal profit and refused to patent his idea—in his time he was hailed as a national hero, but is largely forgotten today.

Formerly known as Malcolm Little, a former street hustler and ex-convict, Malcolm X gained notoriety in the 1950s as the leading speaker for the Nation of Islam. The Nation was a religious movement begun in the 1920s as a spin on traditional Islam, but with a distinct black nationalist message and a theology that considered all white people to be the children of Satan.

Malcolm X's spiritual change lifted him out of poverty and prison, but also made him a leading voice for black separatism. In 1965, Malcolm X began having issues with the Nation's leader, Elijah Muhammad, both because of Malcolm's controversial statements and because of Muhammad's philandering. Malcolm X converted to traditional Sunni Islam in late 1964, and was assasinated by disgruntled Nation members on February 21, 1965.

On December 17th, 1903, the Wright Brothers made such a flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, ushering in the age of modern aviation.

George Westinghouse was the main proponent of Alternating Current (AC), as opposed to Direct Current (DC), for which Thomas Edison advocated. The conflict between these two set up what we now refer to as the “Currency Wars”; I strongly encourage you to look it up—it’s incredibly interesting.

The short of it is that there are advantages and disadvantages to both AC and DC. AC tends to be more economical in some instances where DC is more expensive. That said, AC is \[more\] dangerous (i.e. you can be electrocuted at a lower threshold) whereas DC is safer. This information formed the backdrop of the rivalry between Edison and Westinghouse, which included some very . . . shocking . . . moments (Edison, for example, attempted to coin the term “Westinghoused” rather than “electrocuted”).

In the end, Westinghouse won out—we use AC in the US today.

The counterculture of the 1960s developed as the post-World War II Baby Boom generation grew into their teens and twenties. A wide majority of this generation began defining themselves in opposition to their parents' generation. In particular, the burgeoning music scenes and "hippie culture" in metropolitan areas of the U.S. made acceptance of drugs and recreational sex more common. Politically, the counter culture moved increasingly to the left, with an anti-authoritarian streak and opposition to the Vietnam War, standing beside support of African-American Rights, Women's Rights, and the nascent Gay Rights Movements.

Timothy Leary was a Harvard University psychology professor who began conducting research into the effects of the psychedelic drug lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD. Leary's research and advocacy made the use of LSD, which would only be criminalized in 1970, one of the key features of the 1960s counterculture. The use of psychedelics would produce many "mind altering" forms of art, philosophy, and culture that greatly informed the youth culture of the 1960s.

This should have been a very simple question. The answer is Henry Ford. Ford not only was the first to apply the assembly line to automobile manufacturing, he also made it more efficient. In other words, he took the different processes it takes to build an automobile (the Model T, in this instance) and then broke them down into discrete actions that only one person performed (and that person performed the same action, every day)

The Great Gatsby was published in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and was a cautionary tale about the idealism and decadence of the era. The Jungle was published in 1906 by Upton Sinclair, and concerned the unsanitary conditions of the Chicago meatpacking plants, as well as the harsh living conditions of the plants' immigrant workers. Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and portrayed the harsh living conditions of antebellum slaves. Looking Backward was a utopian science fiction novel published by Edward Bellamy in 1888.

The History of the Standard Oil Company was written by Ida Tarbell in 1904. The Standard Oil Company was owned by John D. Rockefeller (at the time the richest man in the United States). The book exposes much of the improper practices in the company and paved the way for a wave of other “muckraking” books that would contribute to the anti-trust movement in America in the early twentieth century. The term muckraking refers to a type of progressive journalist who performs investigative work for the sake of promoting change.