fuji869 Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 THE YEAR 1905 This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine! The year is 1905. One hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes! Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the Year 1905: The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years. Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars. There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower! The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour. The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year. More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home. Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had no college education. Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as "substandard." Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound. Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason. Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!!! Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet. There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day. Two out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school. Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacist said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." (Shocking!) Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least one full-time servant or domestic help. There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S. And I forwarded this from someone else without typing it myself, and sent it to you in a matter of seconds! Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years. It staggers the mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 A lot to think about ... and even more amazing when you meet someone like my Grandmother who is 95 now and has seen all these changes in her life. Wow... makes me wonder what I'll tell my grandkids. Like how we used to have gasoline cars, etc... ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelms Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 I found these 2 things to be simply amazing, considering it's only been a hundred years: There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads. There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rictus58 Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 THE YEAR 1905 Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke I didn't know Diarrhea could kill! I'm going to have to lay off the 911 wings at Cluck-U from now on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webnarc Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Add to the list the year nelms was born. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burger35 Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 That was cool. Never really thought how life was back then. I was aware that drug company's would use heroin in cough syrup. They said it would clear your sinuses (among other things). People would be hooked on cough syrup because of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelms Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Add to the list the year nelms was born. That year would actually be 1935. Thank you very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Dog Night Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 The only things that really surprised me on this list were: A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars. Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had no college education. Is there a link you could post to this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor 36 Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Simply amazing, isn't it??? I do wonder what the world will be like a hundred years from now. Sometimes, it is scary to think about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had no college education. It was much more common for a trained doctor to accept someone to train. My great- great grandfather and his son were interned in this manner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallsux Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 A lot to think about ... and even more amazing when you meet someone like my Grandmother who is 95 now and has seen all these changes in her life. Wow... makes me wonder what I'll tell my grandkids. Like how we used to have gasoline cars, etc... ...... Yeah, & how we used to have to watch tv on a flat screen instead of a 3-D Projection High-Definition Digital Home Theatre & movies with interactive options so you really do BECOME part of the movie. Wow, they've gone far already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Interesting interactive site that gives you diagnosis and treatmets over a 100 year span. Makes you glad you live in modern times http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/doctor/# Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cdowwe Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Wow all very shocking. 6% graduated high school really got me though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius J. Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 sometimes it's fun to think about how backwards they were, but what is more interesting to me is how much they knew. We knew everything about electromagnetism that we could need to know until we got down to the quantum level. Einstein was able to prove the existence of atoms and the quantum nature of light. He even found relativity. What's odd to me is that by 1905, we knew enough about the world that almost no one knows anything about math or physics that we already knew by then. Almost all the devices in your house (with computers just barely not on the list) were based on physical principles that were completely understood in that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twa Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Wow all very shocking. 6% graduated high school really got me though. My step-father only had a sixth grade education,what is sad he learned more than some people that graduated HS with me...course the lack of drug use helps. Thankfully social promotion is over with here :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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