What Was It Like 100 Years Ago?
Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the year 1905:
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The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.
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Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.
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Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
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A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven
dollars.
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There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads
in the U.S.
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The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more
heavily populated than California.
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With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st
most populous state in the Union.
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The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
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The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
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The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
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A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 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.
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More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at
home.
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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."
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Sugar cost four cents a pound.
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Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
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Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
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Most women washed their hair only once a month, and they
used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
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Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from
entering into their country for any reason.
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Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke
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The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New
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Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union
yet.
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The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!
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Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been
invented yet.
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There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
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Two out of every ten U.S. adults couldn't read or write.
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Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high
school.
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Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the
counter at the local corner drugstores.
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Back then a 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!)
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Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least one
full-time servant or domestic help.
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There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.
Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years!
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