20th Century (1900-1999) Artifacts

World War I and World War II transformed national borders, governments, economies, and everyday life. Their consequences influenced international relations, technology, social movements, and global politics for decades.

The century saw the widespread adoption of automobiles, aircraft, radio, television, computers, and modern telecommunications. Technologies that were rare or experimental in 1900 became central to everyday life by the century’s end.

Aviation progressed from the first powered flights to commercial air travel, jet aircraft, and sophisticated aerospace technology within a single century. 20th-century aviation history reflects rapid advances in engineering, transportation, exploration, and communication.

Beginning in the mid-20th century, the Space Age introduced satellites, human spaceflight, lunar exploration, and new ways of observing Earth and the universe. Space exploration became one of the defining scientific achievements of the 1900s.

Researchers use maker’s marks, serial and model information, manufacturing techniques, materials, inscriptions, photographs, archival records, and provenance to identify and date 20th-century artifacts. Because documentation is often more extensive than for earlier periods, specific objects can sometimes be linked closely to particular makers, events, or decades.