Stories of the Century

Article on Watson and Cricks discovery of DNA

James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double helix structure of DNA in 1953.  They proved a fellow scientists theory wrong and received a nobel prize because of their discovery. The reason they did so much research in this topic is because they realized the understanding of the structural configuration of the gene was a a central problem in molecular biology.

Why?

This event was a big deal in the history of science and of the world for many reasons. Mainly it was that we now understood what it was that determined certain traits and how it worked. This opened many new doors and questions in molecular biology. Like whether or not we can alter DNA, well guess what, we already have. Scientists have been able to "edit" DNA structures on multiple animals and change their features. We have also successfully cloned creatures through this discovery.

Regular broadcasts begin in america.

In 1909 america started to switch to radio communication rather than other forms like the telegraph. No longer was this communication just used for military any more. Radio communication was becoming commercial, and regularly broadcasting radio stations started popping up everywhere.

Why?

Radio communication was a big deal because it changed the way everybody operated in america. We now had access to effective and fast communication all over the country. It also opened up many new jobs and new ways of entertainment. Companies started opening up broadcasting stations left and right and before you knew it, america had become a big radio itself. We gained international communication through radio technology.

First american in space.

Alan Shepard became the first american in space when on May 5th ,1961. (Alan also later went to the moon and played golf.) The Russians had beat us by about 2 months on getting the first man into space but Alan still went for it. He called it the "Ride of a lifetime" and this event was watched by many americans and sparked hope in the chance to get to the moon first.

Why?

In my opinion this one is pretty obvious, we made it to flipping space. Still today thats pretty cool to me, but back then it was even better. It also pretty brave to be the first person of your country to put yourself in a box and fall from space down to the earth. This man really has trust in his country and what they have invested into this project. Also this was very important because it was the point america really kicked into high gear and chose to go to the moon. But that time we actually got there first.