1976: Office work is revolutionized by the introduction of the Wang computer, which allows secretaries to type information that appears on a cathode ray tube, then edit it, then print it with a printer using a typewriter-style "daisy wheel."

Today: After a generation that has grown up with typing skills in order to operate computers, Voice Recognition Software is becoming increasingly sophisticated, threatening to make keyboards obsolete.

1976: Citizens Band radios, previously a tool for truckers and cowboys, becomes a fad for the middle class. 11.3 million radios are sold, allowing strangers all over the country to talk to one another via code names, or "handles."

Today: Cellular phones offer the same ability to call someone from the road; computer chat rooms offer the same anonymity in conversations.

1976: After a ten-year moratorium on capital punishment, the Supreme Court finds that the death penalty does not constitute cruel...