My granddaughter Remy celebrated her fifth birthday on April 7. Like all grandparents, I am convinced that my grandchildren will grow up to be remarkable people who do remarkable things.
Of course, Remy’s birth will wind up on the list of significant events in history that happened on April 7. I wondered what else has happened on that date?
Remy has noteworthy company. On April 7
1141 – Empress Matilda becomes the first female ruler of England
1827 – The first sale of friction matches occurred
1862 – The Union’s Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Ohio defeat the Confederate Army of Mississippi near Shiloh, Tennessee
1915 – Billie Holiday was born
1927 – The first public demonstration of a television broadcast between two cities was held. Herbert Hoover was in Washington, D.C., and officials of AT&T were in New York City.
1939 – Francis Ford Coppola was born
1948 – The World Health Organizations was established
1949 – The musical “South Pacific” opened on Broadway
1963 – Jack Nicklaus won his first Masters Tournament
1983 – Astronauts took the first space walk outside of a space shuttle
I was struck by the technology bookends of the demonstration of a television broadcast between cities in 1927 and astronauts on a spacewalk while circling the Earth at 17,000 mph in 1983. That’s only 56 years between those two events.
During that interval of time there has been a series of extraordinary technology innovations. Computers. Transistors. The Internet. Television. Satellites. Space travel. Jet planes. Atomic reactors and bombs. Discovery of DNA. Organ transplants. Lasers. Robots.
And the relentless pace of technological innovation has continued since 1983. Examples include the smart phone, generative artificial intelligence, social media, Human Genome Project, Lithium batteries and 3-D printing.
Given the amazing wave of innovation in the last 50 years, what will be the amazing wave that Remy will see in the next 50 years?
You are very fortunate, Remy. You are healthy, smart, spirited, and engaging. You were born into a loving family that will do a great job of helping you grow up to be an extraordinary person. And you will see multiple marvels of technological innovation. Perhaps some of those innovations will be yours.
Your grandfather is envious. He wishes he could see the innovations that you will see.