Opening scene shows some German infantry surrendering with hands raised. Next scene shows people thronging Times Square in Manhattan, New York City, celebrating VE Day, or Victory in Europe Day, on May 8, 1945, when Germany surrendered to end World War II, in Europe. Image of the first atomic explosion (Trinity) on ‎July 16, 1945, in New Mexico, United States. Scene shifts to deck of the U.S. Battleship, USS Missouri, where Japanese foreign minister, Mamoru Shigemitsu, is seated and signing the instrument of surrender., on September 2, 1945. Closeup profile of General Douglas MacArthur. Another glimpse of Mamoru Shigemitsu signing. Next, MacArthur is seen signing the document. He turns and presents the pen to Lieutenant General Jonathan M. Wainwright , who is standing behind him alongside British Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival. Brief glimpse of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center with flag appearing to be at half staff and a long awning extending from its entrance to the sidewalk. View of representatives at the first United Nations meeting there . Views of audience in auditorium shows many notables. Closeups of Soviet Ambassador, Andrey Gromyko and Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov.. Next, President Harry S. Truman is seen broadcasting a greeting to the delegates, from the Capitol, Washington, DC, on April 25, 1945. The delegates are seen listening to the broadcast and then applauding.
Views of various projects depicting man's creative engineering skills across the United States, including: The Indian Serpent Mounts, Ohio; Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Headquarters, Connecticut; Mackinac Bridge, Michigan; Green Bank Radio Astronomy Antenna, West Virginia; Tanker "Manhattan" in the Northwest Passage; Chicago's Marina Towers, Illinois; NASA launch complex 39 in Cape Canaveral, Florida with a rocket in place; Watts tower, California; John Hancock Building, Illinois; Washington Monument; Dworshak Dam while under construction, Idaho; Newport Bridge, Rhode Island; U.S. Steel building, Pennsylvania; Mt. Glory Arch Bridge under construction in Wyoming; Johnson Wax Headquarters building, Wisconsin; Boeing 747 Factory Building Complex, Seattle Washington; A model of the proposed New Orleans Super Dome in Louisiana; Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel; Dulles International Airport, Virginia; Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, Minnesota; Westinghouse Headquarters building, Pennsylvania; Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, New Mexico; Gulf Life Tower, Florida; Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, Wisconsin; a paddle style River boat on the Ohio River; an artist depiction of the under construction Mobile River Highway Tunnel, Alabama; the Westinghouse Desalinization Plant, Florida; Model of master plan for the city of Gary, Indiana; Gulf Oil's "Big Brutus" crane at work on a dig site (The 160-foot tall coal shovel known as the 1850-B was designed and built by Bucyrus-Erie in Hallowell Kansas, for the Pittsburg & Midway, or P&M Coal Mining Company. It is the only one of its kind ever built. The mining company was purchased by Gulf Oil in 1963, and subsequently went under The Chevron Mining umbrella); Knights of Columbus headquarters building, Connecticut.
A local policeman , wearing a steel helmet, poses for photograph. Several other armed men in casual clothes are seen. A U.S. Army Captain shakes hands with an Army Christian Chaplain, wearing a religious stole around his neck, a large brim hat, and only a small Christian cross on his shirt collar. Woman descends from a DC-3 aircraft that just landed. She posed with a group of men. Another DC-3 lands, bearing Red Cross markings. A medic and two other men emerge. Several other DC-3 are seen on the dirt field. An officer with "Mexico" written on his left shoulder patch poses. He wears an armband with letters "OEA" on it (Organization of American States -- in Spanish). Groups of people rummage through boxes and debris by trees in the field. They hold up armaments, such as mortar bombs with fins.
Aerial view of Rio Grande river flood in wake of Hurricane Alice, in 1954. International Bridge between Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Loredo, Mexico, is completely under water. Houses and fields inundated by flood waters. A soldier patrolling in the area. Store owners seen clearing mud from sidewalks by their establishments. Woman and boys wash mud from sidewalk.
Robert H. Goddard with the first flight of a liquid fuel rocket on March 16, 1926, in Auburn, Massachussets. He stands next to the rocket perched high on a launching frame. Goddard uses a long pole and can of benzene to fuel the rocket. Photogaph of his camera and barograph used on July 17, 1929. An 18 meter tower being prepared. A 6 meter high test stand. The barrel could be filled with water and serve as ballast. Picture of a Performance recording device. A man in a protective bunker 15 meters from the launch point for tests in New Mexico. A man using a telescope to observe from a shed 900 meters from the launch point. Another with a telescope and recording device on a tripod. Pictures from the first gyro-controlled rocket flight on April 19, 1932
Mercury control stations all over world. USAF Rose Knot at sea. At rose knot station: a man on machine, official communicates with Friendship 7. Men at work. People with camel carts outside the station at Canary Islands. At Kano station, people work on transmitting station. At Muchea station, officials talk on headphones, an official smokes cigar. Rotating Earth. Satellite dish. Men, operating control panel at station and talking on headset at Canton Island and Hawaii. Officials work on giant machine at Mexico. In California, men are ready to track John Glenn. In Texas, officials talk on headsets. Personnel operate station at Corpus Christi. In Cape Canaveral, two men control the space flight of Mercury. An official gets printout. Official transmits the information on transmitters Officials on giant machine to Mercury control.