On May 10, 1869, the American continent was spanned by a transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah. Saying that it was a major technological milestone is an understatement. It forever changed the United States. There were both positive and negative consequences.
On May 10, 2019, thousands gathered again at Promontory Summit to celebrate the Sesquicentennial anniversary of that momentous event.
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900069988/thousands-gathering-to-mark-150th-anniversary-of-transcontinental-railroad.html
Slightly more than 100 years after the completion of the transcontinental railroad, mankind achieved another historical technological achievement on July 20, 1969 when a trio of United States astronauts, with the help of an enormous support team, achieved the first landing of humans on the moon.
The golden anniversary of this major achievement will be celebrated with increasing frequency as the 50th anniversary date of July 20, 2019 approaches.
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/apollo50th/events.html
Another, major milestone occurred in 1969, with much less recognition and fanfare. UCLA, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah installed the first nodes on what was then called ARPANET, which would evolve into today's Internet. The first attempt to logon failed and crashed the server. Its worth noting that the state of Utah was again a participant in this technological first. As with the railroad, this invention forever changed the nation and our world. The Internet also brought with it both positive and negative consequences.
https://www.livescience.com/20727-internet-history.html
We can only speculate about what technological achievements will be accomplished in the next 50, 100, or 150 years, but it will be amazing to watch. Hopefully the positives of such inventions will outweigh the negatives.
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