Welcome to Daily TWiP, your daily dose of all the holidays and history we couldn’t cram into The Week in Preview.

When the Century 21 Exposition, the first World’s Fair to be held in the United States since World War II, opened in Seattle today (April 21st) in 1962, it was looking toward a different “world of tomorrow” than its predecessor, the 1939 New York World’s Fair. With the U.S. mired in the Cold War and one step behind in the Space Race, the Century 21 Exposition aimed to show the world just how advanced the United States’ science and space industries truly were.

There was no better place to make such a statement than Seattle, which, thanks to Boeing, was making its mark as an important city in the aerospace industry. NASA played a key role in the exposition, contributing for the United States Science Pavilion models of satellites and of the Project Mercury capsule, which had carried the first American into space (Alan Shepard) just one year previously.

Along with NASA’s recent accomplishments, the exposition featured visions of the “world of tomorrow,” including a model of a 21st-century version of Seattle (complete with commuter gyrocopters and fallout shelters) and a futuristic library centered around a Univac computer.

Of the other nations who showcased their culture and technological advancements at the exposition, several were noticeably absent. The Soviet Union rejected the United States’ invitation to participate and fellow nuclear competitors and/or political threats the Baltic states, North Vietnam, North Korea and the People’s Republic of China were simply not invited.

The Century 21 Exposition’s vision of the future was partly accurate, as the threat of nuclear destruction still lingers and society has become increasingly centered on technology. There were other developments that the exposition’s organizers did not forsee, such as greater concern for the environment and social and political changes brought about by the globalization of technology.

Although the actual 21st century is now well underway, traces of the Century 21 Exposition can still be seen around Seattle. The United States Science Pavilion, for example, is now the Pacific Science Center and the Space Needle, the exposition’s iconic structure, has become an integral part of Seattle’s skyline. Both attractions can still be reached via the exposition’s monorail.

Daily TWiP appears Monday through Saturday courtesy of The Week in Preview. Read more of both at www.nashuatelegraph.com/columnists/weekinpreview.

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– Teresa Santoski