1936: The world is in the middle of a global economic depression, which started with the stock market crash of October 1929.

Today: After record-breaking economic growth in the 1990s, supported by the spread of personal computers and the Internet, the world economy is softening into recession.

1936: News of events in other countries comes from those countries on short-wave radios.

Today: People all over the world are connected to the latest developments. Television news stations have bureaus all over the world, and many people get constant news updates via the Internet.

1936: The Great Purge begins in the Soviet Union. Over the next two years, 8 to 10 million people are murdered by Stalin's government.

Today: Ten years after the fall of Communism, Russia is struggling to create a viable, stable economy based on capitalist principles.

1936: The Japanese government is taken over in a mutiny by young army officers...