1901: The first trans-Atlantic telegraph message was sent from England to Newfoundland, where Guglielmo Marconi received it. It was the letter "s," sent in telegraph code across radio waves.

1917: The idea of the American Marconi Company's system of broadcasting sounds through the airwaves was adapted to music and entertainment broadcasts.

Today: Wireless technology broadcasts millions of voices across the world at any given moment, more and more radio broadcasts are being taken off of the airwaves and transmitted across cable wires for better clarity, and it is possible to experience fine art and music just about anywhere.

1901: The oppressive policies of Russia's Czar Nicholas II pushed the country toward the revolution after the First World War that left the country as the cornerstone of the communist superpower, the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic.

Today: After the USSR disbanded in 1991, many of its former constituent countries...