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 1981-1990, when music television defined a generation, the first Nintendo console hit the U.S. and Apple's Macintosh brought about the age of the personal computer.
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.
Above:
The world’s first and only fleet of spaceplanes earned its wings when Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on April 12, 1981. Launched on the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s spaceflight, the mission, STS-1, lasted 54.5 hours. Columbia’s two crew members, John Young (an Apollo veteran) and Robert Crippen, circled Earth 37 times before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
Though it successfully proved the shuttle’s flight capabilities, this inaugural trip was also a portent of disaster. During the flight, the two astronauts observed damage to protective thermal tiles near the shuttle’s rear and nose. Two decades later, Columbia’s thermal protective system would fail and the orbiter would crumble in the United States' southern skies.
The U.S. shuttles were the first reusable, winged spacecraft to enter Earth orbit and land. Ferried to space by two rocket boosters and an enormous fuel tank, the shuttles – Columbia, Discovery, Atlantis, Challenger, and Endeavour – were a crucial part of NASA’s spaceflight program for 30 years. Among other tasks, astronauts on board performed science experiments, repaired and maintained the Hubble Space Telescope, helped build the International Space Station, and delivered satellites (like the Chandra X-Ray Observatory) to orbit. In August 2011, the space shuttle program officially ended; in 2012, the remaining shuttles were retired with much fanfare to sites around the country.
Photo: Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off. Credit: NASA.
The Decades That Invented the Future, Part 9: 1981-1990
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The Decades That Invented the Future, Part 9: 1981-1990
