History Book: Significant breakthroughs

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday, September 9th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Next, the WORLD History Book. Today, the debut of a breakthrough breakfast pastry. Then, the first manmade object hits the moon. But first, a scientist who studied dog drool, sort of.

Here’s Anna Johansen Brown.

AUDIO: [Bell] Pavlov’s aim was to discover what caused saliva to flow.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN: Ivan Pavlov was studying the digestive systems of dogs. It was almost an accident that he wound up discovering one of the most fundamental learning principles of all time. Audio here from a reenactment of his experiments.

AUDIO: [speaking in Russian]

Pavlov is born September 14th, 1849, in the old Russian Empire. His father is an Orthodox priest, and at first Pavlov wants to follow in his footsteps. But while in seminary, he abandons his faith and turns to studying science instead: Chemistry and physiology.

In the late 1890s, he begins his famous experiments on dogs.

AUDIO: After taking many measurements of spittle, he confirmed that the dogs drooled automatically when their tongues touched food.

But Pavlov begins to notice something. The dogs are starting to drool before the food arrives. They’re drooling as soon as they see someone in a white lab coat. So Pavlov shifts his focus.

AUDIO: He introduced a stimulus that was totally unrelated to feeding. [ticking] A ticking metronome after a number of trials, the dog began to connect the ticking with the arrival of meat.

Pavlov uses a variety of stimuli—a whistle, a tuning fork, flashing lights. Researchers debate whether he actually used a bell or not. Regardless, soon, the stimulus alone makes the dogs drool.

AUDIO: He called this new response the conditioned reflex. [music, sound] Whatever the stimulus, his dogs could soon be conditioned to produce saliva.

His discovery becomes known as classical conditioning, and still provides the bedrock of most learning theories—for dogs and humans alike.

In 1904, Pavlov wins a Nobel Prize, but not for that experiment. He earns it for his research into the animal digestive system.

NEWSREEL: Soviet Russia scores a dramatic victory in the exploration of space, with the launching of the first rocket to hit the moon.

Next, a Soviet achievement sends the U.S. space program into a tizzy. Audio here from Universal International News.

NEWSREEL: It’s the first manmade object to voyage from one cosmic body to another.

On September 13, 1959, the space probe Luna 2 crashes into the Moon.

NEWSREEL: In one spectacular, well-timed move, Russia scores a major scientific advance.

Luna 2 is a silver sphere, with long spiky antennas sticking out of it. It carries instruments to measure potential radiation bands or magnetic fields around the moon as well as metal pennants bearing the hammer and sickle of the USSR.

The news shakes the American public. Reporters refuse to believe it until the news is verified by a third party. Many in the U.S. thought that although Russia might have more powerful rockets, NASA had superior guidance systems. But so far, when NASA has tried to hit the moon, the closest they’ve come is 37,000 miles.

NEWSREEL: Moscow shot for the Moon, and scored a bullseye.

Luna 2 is a massive success for the Soviets. But the U.S. gets a little consolation prize out of it. Shortly after the mission, the USSR creates an exhibit of its economic and scientific achievements. The exhibit goes on tour through several countries, and it includes a display of Luna 2.

During the tour, CIA operatives successfully pilfer the entire Luna display. It’s not a replica, it’s a fully operational system. The team is able to disassemble the spacecraft, photograph all its parts, and put it back just the way they found it. As far as the CIA can tell, the Soviets never find out.

The Space Race goes on for another decade. It’ll be another three years before the US can achieve its own “hard landing” on the moon, and another four years after that before it can pull off a successful “soft landing,” paving the way for the Apollo program.

We wrap up today with competition on a smaller scale: The breakfast market.

AUDIO: Hey kids, I’ve got news. Post’s Grape Nuts Flakes is giving you a chance to win one of 6,000 terrific prizes. [duck under]

In 1964, the cereal company Post is a giant on the breakfast scene. In February, the company announces it will be releasing a toaster-warmed breakfast pastry. But the product isn’t ready to launch yet. So, the enterprising folks over at Kellogg’s spring into action.

They develop their own on-the-go breakfast pastry: A sweet filling between layers of crust.

AUDIO: Four, three, two, one, Pop Tarts! New, from Kellogg’s!

On September 14th, 1964, the Pop Tart is born. The name is a play on the contemporary art movement, “Pop Art.” Not to mention those little pastries popping up out of the toaster, piping hot.

AUDIO: [Ad music]

Pop Tarts take the market by storm. It’s not just the sweet flavors, or the bright marketing aimed specifically at kids. It’s the convenience. In the 1950s and 60s, efficiency is the name of the game, and everything is about spending less time in the kitchen.

AUDIO: [Singing] Kellog’s Pop Tarts! Loads of flavors for big and little shavers, Kellogg’s Pop Tarts!

Pop Tarts may be the opposite of a balanced breakfast, but they’re flying off the shelves.

AUDIO: Strawberry, blueberry, brown sugar cinnamon, apple berry, and brand new concord grape and raspberry apple.

For the next fifty years, Pop Tart sales go nowhere but up. Literally. Sales continue to increase steadily for five decades, at least in the US. In other countries, like France and the UK, Pop Tarts are illegal. These days, the ingredients include a laundry list of preservatives and dyes that are linked to serious health issues like cancer.

But the pastries continue to sell in the U.S., partly because of their flavor, and partly because of the American culture of busyness and desire for instant breakfast-dessert-on-the-go.

AUDIO: Newwwww, from Kellogg’s!

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

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