Special Features
- General Article: The US' First Test Tube Baby
- General Article: First Human Eggs Fertilized in a Laboratory
- General Article: Test Tube Baby Reunions
- Timeline: The History of In Vitro Fertilization
- General Article: In Vitro Fertilization Today
- General Article: The Del-Zio's Lawsuit
The pioneering researchers in the effort to conceive babies through in vitro fertilization faced daunting obstacles and much controversy before the world's first test tube baby was born on July 25, 1978.
My American Experience
Share Your Story
We invite you to tell us your own stories - whether you lived through a tumultuous time period or learned about it from a relative, a book or a movie.
Series Blog
Robert Edwards Wins Nobel Prize
This morning the Nobel committee announced Robert Edwards as recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Edwards is featured prominently in the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE film Test Tube Babies, which recounts how his pioneering work in in vitro fertilization led to the birth of the world's first "test-tube baby" in 1978.
Secrets of a Master Builder
Engineer James Eads tamed the mighty Mississippi, turning New Orleans into the second largest port in the nation.
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Fly Girls
During World War II, more than a thousand women signed up to fly with the U.S. military as WASPS.
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New York: The Center of the World
Postwar New York City and the global economic order told through the story of the World Trade Center.
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The Polio Crusade
The story of the polio crusade pays tribute to a time when Americans banded together to conquer a terrible disease.
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Partners of the Heart
At the height of segregation, an unlikely alliance between a black medical genius and a white surgeon led to a pioneering medical breakthrough.
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Race to the Moon
The historic journey of Apollo 8 captivated the world in 1968 -- a bright spot in a year marked by political assassinations, race riots, and the Vietnam War.
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Coney Island
The internationally famous carnival of delights in New York was the birthplace of the hot dog and the roller coaster.
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Influenza 1918
The worst epidemic in American history killed over 600,000 Americans during World War I.
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