1880s: People in New England farming communities led a difficult, culturally void existence.

1911: Innovations in transportation made communication easier between the villages and gave residents access to recreational activities in the bigger towns.

Today: Videocassettes, radio, cable television, and the Internet have made the world a global village.

1880s: The era of railroad building made earlier methods of transportation in the United States largely obsolete.

1911: Automobiles (and later buses and trucks) came to exceed the railroad in importance.

Today: Jet travel makes it possible to travel almost anywhere in the world in a day, and supersonic transport reduces long-distance air travel by half.

1880s: Although Thomas Edison patented an incandescent lamp in 1879, most lighting was still by candlelight, oil lamp, or gas jet.

1911: Electricity was increasingly available in homes, which used incandescent lighting. French physicist Georges Claude developed the neon lamp, which was used...