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The Markers

Description:

National Science Foundation (NSF) Antarctic Artist and Writers Program awardee Xavier Cortada marks the passage of time by exploring important world events that have moved the world forward during the past 50 years.

Cortada's Markers

Xavier Cortada selected the following events to mark how the world has moved forward in the past fifty years:

1956
90°S
Antarctica
Construction crews arrive at the South Pole

1957
47°50'N 66°03'E
Soviet Union
Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit Earth, is launched into space from Baikonur, USSR

1958
48°52'N 02°20'E
France
Pan Am's transatlantic 707 flight lands in Paris, jet age begins

1959
32°47'N 96°48'W
United States
Microchip is invented

1960
11°21'N 142°12'E
Pacific Ocean
Trieste dives to the bottom of the Mariana Trench: 35,813 feet

1961
47°50'N 66°03'E
Soviet Union
Yuri Gagarin is first man in space (launched from Baikonur)

1962
42°22'N 71°04'W
United States
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring is published

1963
38°53'N 77°02'W
United States
March on Washington for Civil Rights

1964
40°43'N 74°00'W
United States
Beatlemania sweeps America

1965
23°08'N 82°22'W
Cuba
Freedom Flights for Cuban refugees begin

1966
28°40'N 77°13'E
India
Indira Gandhi elected first woman prime minister of India, the world's largest democracy

1967
33°55'S 18°22'E
South Africa
First human heart transplant

1968
55°45'N 37°35'E
Soviet Union
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signed in Moscow, London and Washington, D.C.

1969
28°24'N 80°36'W
United States
The Eagle lands on the moon
(launched from Cape Canaveral)

1970
13°06'N 59°37'W
Barbados
Ra II crosses Atlantic in 57 days

1971
37°21'N 121°16'W
United States
Microprocessor is invented

1972
39°55'N 116°25'E
China
Nixon visits China

1973
33°86'S 151°22'E
Australia
Sydney Opera House is built

1974
08°59'N 40°10'E
Ethiopia
Skeleton of "Lucy," our 3.2 million year old ancestor, is discovered

1975
19°24'N 99°09'W
Mexico
United Nations convenes First World Conference on Women

1976
28°24'N 80°36'W
United States
Viking I and II land on Mars
(launched from Cape Canaveral)

1977
01°43'N 44°53'E
Somalia
Smallpox eradicated from Earth

1978
53°33N 02°07'W
England
First test tube baby born

1979
40°01'N 105°16'W
United States
Ten independent living centers were founded across the US for persons with disabilities

1980
54°23'N 18°40'E
Poland
Solidarity strikes across Poland

1981
41°08N 73°42'W
United States
IBM launches personal computer

1982
50°50'N 0°08'W
England
Whale hunting moratorium enacted

1983
41°54'N 12°27'E
Vatican City
Pope John Paul II retracts the ban on Galileo

1984
37°19'N 122°02'W
United States
Apple Macintosh launched

1985
09°02'N 38°42'E
Ethiopia
Live Aid concerts raise millions to reduce famine

1986 14°37'N 121°00'E
Philippines
Corazon Aquino leads People Power to end Marcos regime in the Philippines

1987
39°46'N 86°09'W
United States
Anti-depressant Prozac is introduced

1988
33°27'S 70°40'W
Chile
Chile plebiscite ends dictatorship, ushers in democracy across South America

1989
52°30'N 13°25'E Germany
Berlin Wall is knocked down

1990
51°04'N 01°51'E
English Channel
Tunnel links UK and Europe

1991
55°45'N 37°35'E
Russia
Russia becomes "independent" as the Soviet Union collapses

1992
22°53'S 43°06'W
Brazil
First Earth Summit's Rio Declaration has 153 countries focus on sustainable development

1993
15°46'S 47°55'E
United States
World Wide Web browser is created, distributed

1994
25°45'S 28°10'E
South Africa
Apartheid ends in South Africa, Mandela elected president

1995
44°40'N 111°06'W
United States
Grey wolves return to the American West

1996
76°43'S 159°40'E
Antarctica
NASA announces that the Antarctic's ALH 84001meteorite points to existence of life on Mars

1997
35°00'N 135°45'E
Japan
Kyoto Protocol enacted

1998
03°10'N 101°42'E
Malaysia
Petronas Towers topped at 1483 ft., the tallest building at that time

1999
09°32'N 21°72'E
Egypt
Breitling Orbiter 3 hot air balloon sails non-stop around the world

2000
33°52'S 151°13'E
Australia
Cathy Freeman, the Aboriginal runner, wins Olympic gold

2001
12°03'S 77°03'W
Peru
A 4,000-year-old site yielded the remains of the oldest known city in the New World

2002
15°46'S 47°55'W
Brazil
Brazil Soccer wins 5th World Cup

2003
52°13N 00°08'W
England
Human Genome Project completed

2004
37°23'N 122°05'W
United States
Google, digital music, wireless technologies and blogs boomed

2005
20°24'N 03°41'W
Spain
Spain ends all discrimination based on sexual orientation

2006
TBA 0°0'N
Easter Island
Scientists discover new species

2007:
25°46'N 80°12'W
Geographic South Pole
The beginning of a 150,000-year Journey