The 20th Century: What's Worth Saving?

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Fashion Freedom
It's not always pretty (take double-knit polyester and pastel sweatsuits--please!), but the freedom to wear whatever the hell you want is liberating in a way our ancestors never knew. Flappers' skirts rose to the knee in 1921, revealing women's legs for the first time in Western history and offering independence from dress code tyranny--plus new freedom in walking, running, and dancing. Easy-care fabrics like nylon and (yes) polyester freed us from ironing, and a new, egalitarian view of footwear added to our comfort. Converse All Stars, designed in 1917, are now worn (with Chuck Taylor's hallmark star) by computer programmers worldwide.

Frisbee
This symbol of hippie-go-lucky recreation hit the stores in the '50s as the Pluto Platter, but became famous as the Frisbee (a nod to New Haven's Frisbie Pie Company, whose pie tins Yale students had sailed around their rooms for years). These flying saucers introduced Zen to the sports world: no score, rules, winners, uniforms, gear, or field--just endless, cheap, portable fun. In 1991, the Pentagon shipped 20,000 Frisbees to Saudi Arabia to raise the morale of Gulf War troops.

Gandhi's Satyagraha
Literally "the power of truth," satyagraha is Mahatma Gandhi's term for his resistance tactics, which not only drove the British empire out of India but also guided Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights struggle and supplied the philosophical backbone for social movements around the world. Gandhi conceived satyagraha in 1906 in South Africa, where he was a lawyer fighting for the rights of Indians. He drew largely upon India's ahimsa tradition but also was influenced by Tolstoy's writings and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. As historian William Shirer noted, Gandhi "taught us all that there was a greater power in life than force."

Gay and Lesbian Pride
On June 27, 1969, the New York City vice squad, conducting a routine raid on Christopher Street gay bars in Greenwich Village, met angry resistance at the Stonewall Inn. Customers shouted insults at jeering cops, hurled furniture, and refused to leave. The protests lasted all weekend. One year later the Christopher Street Liberation Day March launched a new tradition, commemorating Stonewall and what it now symbolizes: the rising spirit of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, who no longer need to shroud their sexual identities. An estimated 10 to 12 million will participate this June in Pride Week events scheduled in 250 cities around the world.

Girls' Sports
Maria Pepe (above) had played sandlot baseball in Hoboken, New Jersey, since she was 5, but when Little League time came, the 11-year-old was told that teams were for boys only. In 1972, inspired by the burgeoning women's movement, Maria and her parents took Little League to court--and won. That same year, Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded educational institutions, passed as an addendum to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, launching a new era of athletic equality. By 1997, more than 2.4 million girls were playing high school sports, an 800 percent increase since 1971.

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