1930s: American women have a life expectancy of sixty-five years, five years longer than their male counterparts.

Today: Women in the United States still outlive men by approximately five years, though life expectancies have changed (female life expectancy is seventy-nine years, male life expectancy is seventy-four years of age).

1930s: For generations the United States has been become an increasingly industrial and urban society. However, as a result of the Great Depression, for the first time in decades there is a reverse in the rural-urban migration pattern, with slightly more people leaving cities and returning to their towns of origin.

Today: A movement called "new urbanism" or "neo-traditionalism" seeks to restore the smalltown American way of life. Disney designs and builds an entire town, Celebration, Florida, based on old-fashioned city planning and social values.

1930s: The United States ceases to be a primarily agricultural...