This year marks a number of significant anniversaries. The Wright Brothers inaugurated the age of flight 100 years ago. Ford, Cadillac and Harley-Davidson all are celebrating their centennials. And GM introduced the Corvette 50 years ago. Another event 50 years ago, on Dec. 8, 1953, marked the beginning of the U.S. civilian nuclear industry. President Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace speech to the United Nations (UN) that afternoon started the nuclear industry on a roller coaster ride that continues to this day. Barely eight years after the two nuclear blasts that ended WWII, President Eisenhower acknowledged the horrors of nuclear weapons and stated that, now, "... my country's purpose is to help us to move out of the dark chamber of horrors into the light, to find a way by which the minds of men, the hopes of men, the souls of men everywhere, can move forward towards peace and happiness and well-being." He suggested establishment of an international atomic energy agency under the aegis of the UN. Specifically, he proposed that, "Experts would be mobilized to apply atomic energy to the needs of agriculture, medicine and other peaceful activities. A special purpose would be to provide abundant electrical energy in the power-starved areas of the world."
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