Mid-Nineteenth Century: From 1810 to 1852 approximately 140,000 convicts are shipped to Australia from Britain. This practice ends as the complaints from other Australians grow louder.

1979 : Americans are wrestling with the question of the death penalty and early-leave programs as overcrowding in prisons continues.

Today: Americans are still wrestling with the question of the death penalty and early-leave programs as overcrowding in prisons continues.

Mid-Nineteenth Century: The lower classes are pessimistic about ever rising out of poverty since there are few social programs in place to help them.

1979: The dominant attitude in this year is also pessimism as Americans lose faith in human nature, having experienced the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. during the previous decade.

Today: The dominant attitude is apprehension as terrorist attacks continue around the world.

Mid-Nineteenth Century: Theatres are known as "Blood Tubs," which reflect the...