The future was a big deal back in 1964. The world was still emerging from the shadow of World War 2, but bright things were on the horizon - from mass-market computers and the Apollo Moon landings, to (people assumed) flying cars and jetpacks.
In that spirit of optimism the World's Fair was held in Flushing Meadows, New York. As a celebration of the modern world and its future it was a success. As an accurate predictor of the years to come, less so.
In the 50 years since it opened on 22 April, 1964, the world has certainly changed a great deal. We have been to the Moon, and yes we have invented jet packs. But we've also come up with smartphones, even smarter watches and numerous ways to track our friends and enemies with the crushing machinery of social media.
Which is to say there has also been a dark side of progress.
Sci-fi visionary Isaac Asimov predicted that, too, in his essay to launch the Fair. The essay was also published in 1964 and can be read in full at HuffPost US.
"Mankind will suffer badly from the disease of boredom, a disease spreading more widely each year and growing in intensity," Asimov wrote in the essay.
"The lucky few who can be involved in creative work of any sort will be the true elite of mankind, for they alone will do more than serve a machine."
Here are some of the best pictures from the 1964 fair - check out the full set at HuffPost Science.
One of the Brass Rail lunch bars at the World's Fair gives the appearance of a mass of balloons tied together on August 11, 1964. The towers at right are observation platforms, part of the New York State pavilion.
Riders on a moving walkway are reflected in the ceiling at the GE exhibit at the New York World's Fair, May 21, 1964.
This display in the Atomic Energy Commission's Atomsville, U.S.A., exhibit is used to illustrate the power of electricity.
The Polish Tatra Dancers of Buffalo in front of the Unisphere during Buffalo Day activities on July 5, 1964.
Teddy Polchak of Bronx, N.Y., a visitor at the New York World's Fair on May 2, 1964, only appears to be losing his hero sandwich to the dinosaur in background. The slight-of-lens was accomplished outside the Sinclair exhibit on the fair grounds where life-size models of the extinct reptiles were a principal attraction.
Robert F. Kennedy and family visit the RCA Pavilion at the World's Fair.
Standing on revolving floor, visitors to RCA Pavilion at World's Fair see themselves on television. The camera is behind TV set. Everybody can be an instant TV star.
The people see themselves on television and reactions are varied, some smirk, leer, laugh, grin, and make funny faces and cast sly looks at their images on the TV screen.