Topics: farming (cotton gin, steel plow, reaper, barbed wire, tractor), transportation (steamboat, airplane, automobile), communication (telegraph, typewriter, telephone), medicine (ether, iron lung, penicillin and streptomycin, polio vaccine), weaponry (submarine, revolver, Gatling gun, atomic bomb), business and industry (elevator, escalator, assembly line, computer), home appliances (sewing machine, washing machine, carpet sweeper and vacuum cleaner, light bulb, refrigerator, microwave oven), entertainment (phonograph, movies, television), consumers (plastic, frozen foods, aluminum foil, cellophane, nylon stockings), and technology (space travel). Eleven fascinating historical articles (four or five pages long, and reproducible for easy distribution) summarize main points and deliver colorful, memorable details about history. Following each illustrated article, three or four reproducible worksheets test comprehension and spark deeper engagement through creative writing, arts and crafts projects, research starters, critical thinking questions, what-if scenarios, and other activities. Grades 4–8. Suggested readings. Answer keys.