The massive arms race of the 19th century finally culminated in a war which involved every powerful nation in the world: World War I (1914 1918). This war drastically changed the way war was fought, as new inventions such as machine guns, tanks, chemical weapons, and grenades created stalemates on the battlefield and millions of troops were killed with little progress made on either side. After more than four years of horrifying trench warfare in western Europe, and 20 million dead, those powers who had formed the Triple Entente (France, Britain, and Russia, later replaced by the United States and joined by Italy) emerged victorious over the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire). In addition to annexing much of the colonial possessions of the vanquished states, the Triple Entente exacted punitive restitution payments from their former foes, plunging Germany in particular into economic depression. The Russian Empire was plunged into revolution during the conflict and transitioned into the first ever communist state, and the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires were dismantled at the war's conclusion. World War I brought about the end of the royal and imperial ages of Europe and established the United States as a major world military power. Broadway, as the name implies, is a wide avenue in New York City. While New York has several other Broadways, in the context of the city it usually refers to the Manhattan street. It is the oldest north-south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to the first New Amsterdam settlement. The name Broadway is an English translation of the Dutch name, Breede weg. A stretch of Broadway is famous as the pinnacle of the American theater industry. Broadway originated as a Native American trail, called the Wickquasgeck Trail, which was carved into the brush land of Manhattan. This trail originally snaked through swamps and rocks along the length of Manhattan Island. Upon the arrival of the Dutch, the trail soon became the main road through the island from New Amsterdam at the southern tip. The Dutch explorer and entrepreneur David de Vries gives the first mention of it in his journal for the year 1642 ("the Wickquasgeck Road over which the Indians passed daily"). The Dutch named the road "Heerestraat". In the 18th century Broadway ended at the town commons north of Wall Street, where Eastern Post Road continued through the East Side and Bloomingdale Road the west side of the island. In the late 19th century the widened and paved part of Bloomingdale Road north of Columbus Circle was called "The Boulevard" but at the end of the century the whole old road (the Bloomingdale Road and what was previously called Broadway) was renamed to Broadway Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and quickly spread to the rest of the world. Classic rock and roll is played with one or two electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm), a string bass or (after the mid-1950s) an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit. In the earliest rock and roll styles of the late 1940s and early 1950s, either the piano or saxophone was often the lead instrument, but these were generally replaced or supplemented by guitar in the mid to late 1950s. The beat is essentially a boogie woogie blues rhythm with an accentuated backbeat, the latter almost always provided by a snare drum. The massive popularity and eventual worldwide view of rock and roll gave it an unprecedented social impact. Far beyond simply a musical style, rock and roll, as seen in movies and in the new medium of television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. It later spawned the various sub-genres of what is now called simply 'rock music'. Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) is a twelve-chapter film serial directed by John English and William Witney for Republic Pictures, adapted from the popular Captain Marvel comic book character then appearing in Fawcett Comics publications. It starred Tom Tyler (who also played The Phantom) in the title role of Captain Marvel and Frank Coghlan, Jr. as his alter ego, Billy Batson. This serial was the twenty-first of the sixty-six serials produced by Republic and their first comic book adaptation (not counting comic strips such as Dick Tracy). Spy Smasher, also based on a Fawcett character, would follow in 1942. This serial was the first film adaptation of a comic book superhero. That claim would have gone to the previous serial, Mysterious Doctor Satan, which was intended to have been a Superman serial until National Comics (now DC Comics) pulled out of negotiations. National Comics unsuccessfully attempted to sue Republic for producing a Captain Marvel serial The counterculture of the 1960s refers to a period between 1960 and 1973 that began in the United States as a reaction against the conservative social norms of the 1950s, the political conservatism (and perceived social repression) of the Cold War period, and the US government's extensive military intervention in Vietnam. As the 1960s progressed, widespread tensions developed in American society that tended to flow along generational lines regarding the war in Vietnam, race relations, sexual mores, women's rights, traditional modes of authority, experimentation with psychedelic drugs and a predominantly materialist interpretation of the American Dream. New cultural forms emerged, including the pop music of English band the Beatles, which rapidly evolved to shape and reflect the youth culture's emphasis on change and experimentation. Social anthropologist Jentri Anders has observed that a number of freedoms were endorsed within a countercultural community which she lived in and studied: "freedom to explore ones potential, freedom to create ones Self, freedom of personal expression, freedom from scheduling, freedom from rigidly defined roles and hierarchical statuses" Additionally, Anders believed these people wished to modify children's education so that it didn't discourage "aesthetic sense, love of nature, passion for music, desire for reflection, or strongly marked independence"

At the start of the period, Britain was the world's most powerful nation. However, its economy was ruined by World War I, and its empire began to shrink, producing a growing power vacuum in Europe. Fascism, a movement which grew out of post-war angst and accelerated by the Great Depression of the 1930s, gained momentum in Italy, Germany and Spain in the 1920s and 1930s, finally culminating in World War II (1939 1945), sparked off by Nazi Germany's aggressive expansion at the expense of its neighbours. Meanwhile, Japan had rapidly industrialized and transformed itself into an aggressive and technologically-advanced industrial power. Its aggressive expansion into eastern Asia and the Pacific Ocean brought the United States into World War II. Germany was defeated after pushed by the Soviet Union to the east and the D-Day invasion of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Free France from the west. The war was ended with the dropping of two devastating atomic bombs on Japan. Japan has since transitioned into one of the most pacifistic countries on the planet, building a powerful economy based on consumer goods and trade. Germany was divided between the western powers and the Soviet Union; all areas recaptured by the Soviet Union (East Germany and eastward) were essentially transitioned into Soviet puppet states under communist rule. Meanwhile, western Europe was revitalized by the American Marshall Plan and made a quick economic recovery, becoming major allies of the United States under capitalist economies and free governments. The largest and most devastating war ever fought, World War II claimed the lives of about 60 million people. When the conflict ended in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the two most powerful nations, and while they had been allies in the war, they soon became hostile to one other as the competing ideologies of capitalism and communism occupied Europe, divided by the Iron Curtain and the dreaded Berlin Wall. The military alliances headed by these nations (NATO in North America and western Europe; the Warsaw Pact in eastern Europe) were prepared to wage total war with each other throughout the Cold War (1947 1991). The period was marked by a new arms race, and nuclear weapons, the most devastating ones yet to have been developed, were produced in their tens of thousands, sufficient to end most life on the planet had they ever been used. This is believed by some historians to have staved off an inevitable war between the two, as neither could win if their full nuclear arsenals were unleashed upon each other. This was known as mutually assured destruction (MAD). Although the Soviet Union and the United States never directly entered conflict with each other, several proxy wars, such as the Korean War (1950 1953) and the Vietnam War (1957 1975) were waged to contain the spread of Communism. After World War II, most of the European-colonized world in Africa and Asia gained independence in a process of decolonization. (Most Latin American countries had gained their independence in the 19th century.) This, and the drain of the two world wars, caused Europe, which had been the pre-eminent continent for centuries, to lose much of its power. On the other hand, the world wars drew the United States into taking a position of major influence over world affairs. American culture spread around the world with the advent of Hollywood, Broadway, rock and roll, pop music, fast food, big-box stores, and the hip-hop lifestyle. After the Soviet Union collapsed under internal pressure in 1991, a ripple effect led to the dismantling of communist states across eastern Europe and their rocky transitions into market economies. By the end of the century, the United States was the undisputed economic, military, and cultural powerhouse of the world. It was allied with a still-powerful Europe, meaning that the West dominated the world at the end of the century as it had at its beginning. The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the Royal Navy. Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, and electricians, and a small number of air mechanics during the Second World War. It was formed in 1917 during the First World War, and by the end of the war had 5,500 members, 500 of them officers. It was disbanded in 1919. It was revived in 1939 at the beginning the Second World War, with an expanded list of allowable activities, including flying transport planes. At its peak in 1944 it had 75,000 people. During the war there were 100 deaths. One of the slogans used in recruiting posters was "Join the Wrens -- free a man for the fleet." It remained in existence after the war and was finally integrated into the regular Royal Navy in 1993. Women sailors are however still known as wrens in naval slang. Before 1993, all women in the Royal Navy were members of the WRNS except nurses, who joined (and still join) Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service, and medical and dental officers, who were commissioned directly into the Royal Navy, held RN ranks, and wore WRNS uniform with gold RN insignia. The African Queen is a 1951 film made by Horizon Pictures and Romulus Films, and distributed by United Artists. The film was directed by John Huston and produced by Sam Spiegel and John Woolf. The screenplay was adapted by James Agee, John Huston, John Collier and Peter Viertel from the 1935 novel by C. S. Forester. It was photographed in Technicolor by Jack Cardiff and had a music score by Allan Gray. The film stars Humphrey Bogart (who won the Academy Award for Best Actor - his only Oscar), and Katharine Hepburn with Robert Morley, Peter Bull, Walter Gotell, Richard Marner and Theodore Bikel. With the popularization of disco and the increasing availability and diversity of man-made fabrics, a drastic change occurred in mainstream fashion, the likes of which had not been seen since the 1920s. All styles of clothing were affected by the disco style, especially those of men. Men began to wear stylish three-piece suits (which became available in a bewildering variety of colors) which were characterized by wide lapels, wide legged or flared trousers and high rise vests. Neckties became wider and bolder and shirt collars became long and pointed in a style reminiscent of the "Barrymore" collar that had been popular in the 1920s. The zippered jumpsuit was popular with both men and women, and clothing inspired by modern dance (wrap-around skirts of nylon or polyester knit) also became common along with close-fitting b, even while engaged in energetic disco dancing. Women's shoes began to echo the 1940s, with high-heeled lower-platform mules--"Candies" made of molded plastic with a single leather strap over the ball of the foot or "BareTraps" made of wood very popular. With the demise of disco, late in 1979, these styles (which were by then being criticized as flamboyant) quickly went out of fashion in 1980. Designer jeans and painters pants then started to come into style.

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