1954: There are 32,501 Jesuit priests, brothers, and scholars in the world, with 7,630 in the United States.

1990s: The number of Jesuits has declined to 22,000. There are fewer than 4,000 Jesuits in the U.S.

1950s: The "space race" begins, with the worlds's two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, separately developing space travel technology. The Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, the first manufactured satellite, and Sputnik II, carrying a live dog, into orbit around the earth in 1956.

1990s: The lunar surface is littered with debris from 32 unmanned probes and nine manned missions to the moon. The U.S. space shuttles

Atlantis, Discovery, and Endeavour regularly carry U.S. astronauts and scientists to work aboard the Russian space station MIR.

1950s: The "arms race" between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. parallels the space race between the two superpowers. In 1954, the U...