Advances in Technology and Exchange

While the population of the world grew, globalization made the world feel

smaller, as did advances in telecommunications technology. Starting in the early 1900s, radio brought news, music, and cultural events to a wide range of people. Later in the century, air travel and shipping containers, large standard- sized units that could be carried on a truck or train or stacked on ship, promoted the widespread movement of people and goods. Energy technologies, such as the use of oil and nuclear power, made it possible to transport goods faster and more cheaply than ever. The internet, first developed for the U.S. Defense Department during the Cold War, emerged as a regular tool of communication for much of the public by the late 1990s. Knowledge economies, based on developing or sharing information, took root in cities around the world.