The period is extraordinarily important: The late twentieth century was a time of significant advances in science and technology. Space probes explored comets and the outer planets. Personal computers were born and quickly grew to change the way people all over the world work, play, and communicate. With the rise of the Internet, information of all kinds became available at the click of a button. In addition, advances in biotechnology during this period were groundbreaking, producing the first genetically engineered vaccine, a map of the human genome, and the first successfully cloned mammal. The events covered include the curriculum-oriented geopolitical events of the era - from end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War in 1973 to the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Essays also address important social and cultural developments in daily life: major literary movements, significant developments in the arts and motion pictures, trends in world population and immigration, and landmark social legislation.