20th Century Technology
REUTERS
Automobile
Undoubtedly, the car is one of the most revolutionary developments of the century. Its origins lie in the combustion engine, a 19th-century invention whose overall impact was not fully exploited until Henry Ford devised a system of mass production for the Model T in 1908. After the introduction of division of labor and the assembly-line system, affordable cars were churned out, leading to dramatic changes in society. Mass transportation has linked people together by joining rural areas to urban centers, and is a primary contributor to the world economy. Ford's assembly line was later made more efficient with the use of robots, machines that could mimic human tasks.
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