The Enigma of Backbone The enigma of Backbone has been with us for over 30 years since Peter Laurie first referred to the use of microwave relay towers in his 1967 Sunday Times article on civil defence. Three years later he expanded the article into the groundbreaking "Beneath The City Streets" in which he says "The GPO planned a chain of concrete towers code-named Backbone which linked the 3 major cities, as well as having connections with the air-defence chain". Unfortunately, whilst mentioning a role for Backbone in both civil defence and air defence he assumed that the system linked "secret sites", a belief founded on the mistaken, but perhaps understandable assumption that the civil defence sites the government said it would provide existed but because they could not be seen they must be secret. Unfortunately, we now know they they could not be seen because they did not actually exist. Later editions of the book largely dropped the idea of Backbone as part of a communications network for "secret sites" but continued to maintain, correctly, that it had some military function. Writing some 10 years later Duncan Campbell gave us some more details in "War Plan UK" saying that Backbone had been conceived in 1954 for a wartime role but with a peacetime one of feeding international communications into the US listening base at Menwith Hill. Both authors mentioned that microwave systems like Backbone would be less vulne... ... middle of paper ... ...he only other concrete towers are post-Backbone ones in cities - London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Bristol, or in the case of Tolsford Hill high on the North Downs near Folkestone. They would all be very visible to many people and this adds to the impression that the difference structures were dictated simply by appearance with aesthetics overruling function. Although Backbone is frequently mentioned in PRO files on home defence in the late 1950s it is hardly mentioned at all in the 1960s. It seems that the original Backbone stations became absorbed into a much larger microwave network and reports speak of "completion of the system which began with Backbone" and "stations supplementing Backbone". Files which give details of pre-and post-strike communications from the end of the 1960s do not mention it at all.
People that grew up in the sixties experienced different values and morals. Parents were more strict when it came to rules. Children never stayed out past dark and always came home at a decent time on school nights. People would never question their parents and especially not their teachers People then were almost always married before having children. Having a child outside of marriage was very frowned upon and not
Imagine a teenage boy who is isolated on a faraway island, without food or water. The hot and sticky weather is intolerable, but the rampaging storms are worse. He quickly develops malaria and diarrhea, and on top of that, blood-sucking insects and menacing reptiles lurch beneath his feet. He has no idea what is coming, but he needs to survive. This is the story of a young boy who has to travel to the other side of the world to realize that everything can’t go his way.
by the media. One of the main things of the sixties is that it was the
Coontz, Stephanie. “What We Missed About the 1950s.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. 9th ed. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. 27-43. Print.
The 1960's was a decade of tremendous social and political upheaval. In the United States, many movements occurred by groups of people seeking to make positive changes in society.
America in the 1950s is often characterized with many important social, political, cultural, and economic events. Many aspects of life changed in the 1950s with the ending of World War Two causing veterans to return home, but also the country continued some of its long time traditions. As veterans returned home, men returned to their job, the economy began to boom, and large families began to move to the suburbs. Socially, culturally, economically and politically America in the 1950s challenged, more than embraced the status quo.
The 1950s were a decade in American history that was filled with many of successes. Everybody was excited and relieved now that the war was finally over and that their loved ones were safely home with their families. Families in the 1950s were very conservative and always had the perfect family image, until the “teenagers” came along. Teens were not the most likable people in society, because they listened to crazy, tasteless music and were known as rebels. The crazy, tasteless music changed music forever. Since the 50s were right after WWII, many foreign policies emerged, some provided assistance to countries that were in need. The U.S. was also dealing with and epidemic for years, until the early 50s when a vaccine was created which also changed the way vaccinations were given to the public. The 1950’s were the most influential decade towards contemporary America because, throughout this decade not only did we discover vaccinations that saved hundreds of live, but we also had the rise of Rock N’ Roll which changed music forever including a foreign policy which helped rebuild economies in Europe called the Marshall Plan.
Stephanie Coontz's essay `What we really miss about the 1950's' is an essay that talks about a poll taken in 1996 by the Knight-Ridder news agency that more Americans preferred 1950's as the best decade for children to grow up. Coontz doesn't believe that it is a decade for people to remember fondly about, except for financial reasons and better communication within families. Coontz doesn't believe in it as the best decade because of the votes, the 50's only won by nine percent, and especially not by African Americans. Examples from family and financial issues in the 50's that makes it better than other decades from 20's to 80's. She doesn't believe that the 50's should be taken `literally' because from 50's there were changes in values that caused racism, sexism discrimination against women. Even though the 50's were good, it didn't lead to a better 60, 70, and 80.
In addition the technology of the 1960’s was very minimal. For instance, “Life was way harder and to say society was better when people did not half of the things they have in today’s society, would be crazy. Back then, it was work, work, work!”(Falcon 2nd side). All work was based off manual labor and it took a long period of time to do things compared today.
The 1950's were a time of great change in the United States. Firstly, there was the television. Television was a major product of influence during the 1950's. It affected the way people lived and how they behaved. The programs played on television affected the way people and families behaved, either positively or negatively.
We shall start with 1960. No... we are not talking solely about the year of 1960, but rather the decade and how it changed, warped and manipulated the future. The 1960’s began as any other decade, so we thought. But our generations will never know how it was, because we never lived it. Our past generations can only share it, and sharing the past will most definitely make a path for the future. Now I, Johnny Walker am no lecturer, but when it comes to this particular decade of our past, I will share it to the fullest extent with heart-pounding, gut wrenching details to get the point across that the decade of 1960 was not just another decade, but a decade that every single American and human on this God-given Earth will remember.
There’s a reason why the 1950s are so memorable : It is a decade where a huge amount of noteworthy and life-changing things happened. This is the decade that the King, Prince, and the future King of Pop were born. While Elvis Presley was singing “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, Marilyn Monroe was actually falling in love with Joe DiMaggio. The 1950s was the most influential decade due to the developments in the fields of inventions, entertainment & celebrities, and historical events.
From the Space Race, to the Civil Rights movement, and to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., the 1960s was a very eventful decade. Americans enjoyed popular shows, including “Leave It to Beaver,” comedians such as The Smothers Brothers, and a well-known news anchor named Walter Cronkite. There were many ways that events of the decade and the television industry affected each other.
The 1950s was a time when conformity held supreme in the culture at large. Issues such as women 's rights were thrown to the back as people tried to remain in the popular form of a family. These issues being put off only caused the prolonging of the tumultuous 1960s that would soon
The 1950’s were an important time for events around the world, changes in America, and changes in pop culture. On June 25th 1950 South Korea was invaded by North Korea (Legrand 680). In 1952 President Truman signed the Japanese Peace Treaty which officially ended World War II (Legrand 708). Nuclear attacks were a large threat in this time “Kids were told about the threat of a Cold War nuclear attack, but it didn’t mean much to them and didn’t really affect their lives (Miller 2).” In America, it was on January 31st of 1950 that President Truman gave the order to build a hydrogen bomb (Legrand 675). That bomb was tested in May of 1951 in the Pacific (Legrand 700). It was also in 1951 that the amount of time a president could spend in office was changed to two terms (Legrand 649). Citizens did not think that a nuclear attack would happen so things like money and music were more important. “Americans averaged an income of $1,436 for each man, woman, and child in 1950… (Legrand 705).” It was in the 1950’s ...