Special Features
- Timeline: The History of In Vitro Fertilization
- General Article: Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital
- Biography: Howard and Georgeanna Jones
- General Article: Government Funding of IVF
- General Article: The World's First Test Tube Baby
- General Article: The Publication of Ovum Humanum
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.
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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Edison's Miracle of Light
"The Wizard of Menlo Park," Inventor Thomas Edison, built the first practical light bulb and revolutionized the world.
Film Details
Coney Island
The internationally famous carnival of delights in New York was the birthplace of the hot dog and the roller coaster.
Film Details
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.
Film Details
Spy in the Sky
In 1960, Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union.
Film Details
The Living Weapon
The international race to develop biological weapons during the 20th century.
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The Wizard of Photography
George Eastman introduced the Kodak and Brownie camera systems and transformed photography into something anybody could do.
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