How far we have come in just 100 years!

If this is the wrong section to post this I appologize and an admin can move it.

I got this in an email a while back and have thought about it quite a bit.


I think it is really amazing how far we have come in the last 100 years, and can't fathom where we will be in another 100


Here is goes:


THE YEAR 1905

Maybe 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 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 residents, 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 an 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. physicians had no college education.

Instead, they attended 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 prohibiting poor people from

entering the country for any reason.

The 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 30!!!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Two of 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write.

Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available

over the counter at corner drugstores.

According to one pharmacist, "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.

There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.



Some of those are almost unbelieveable when you think about it now.

Next 100 years: we be using sticks and stones because of WWIII

Lol. Nxt century, I believe we will have things like EMP, invisibility, energy weapons, and all sorts of halo-ish stuff. But actually, I don't think we'll go nearly as far as the last century. The Cold War, WW2 WW1, Vietnam, and great thinkers such as einstein really helped churn the whel. But will we have another Einstein? I hope so, but he probably won't make as much as an impact unless he starts out with a extremely useful invention.

thats only if we dont experiance another dark age.
So long as everyone keeps the terro's in check, we can overt another disaster that whipes out all the educated/skilled people in the world.

and one thing, i wouldnt be surprised if prices jump another few dollars in the next century. maybe not like 100 dollars for a bag of cheetos, but something

life was simple and more enjoyable back then because we knew that we had to cherish every single moment of it.

We have come a long way but at a big price.

How long does everyone think it will be before we start using wind, solar, and tidal energy as our main sources of energy? Or until we all drive hyrdogen/electric cars? Or we upgrade all trains to Mag-Lev's? Or any other important technological advances.

Nice post Warp.

We have come a long way.

But there still is alot more we have to learn.

I would like to see Nicola Tesla, and others like him to be put in the education system. So the youngings can learn the truth about real energy.

Anyway heres to the next 100 and beyond years.!

well, yeah. Look at the technological advances humans have made during the last 2000 years. From AD 1, to 2005. And look at 4,500 BC, and 2,500 BC. Also 2000 years, but they were still shooting with arrows. Seems strange to me.

If the advancement in the last 100 years is any idea of how fast science is moving, just imagine where we will be in 100 years, so long as there is no WWIII or other terribly devastating event.

[edit on 3-19-2005 by Sarcasimo]

We will definitly go far pretty quickly, but at what cost? If Marg says we will have paid a price in understanding of life, how will we be in the 22nd century?

Originally posted by warpboost
The five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza

2. Tuberculosis

3. Diarrhea

4. Heart disease

5. Stroke

Is that even possible

Great post warp, but i honestly think, the rate of technological advances will slow, maybe not in the next 100 years, but certainly in the next 500 years, i mean seriously how much more could we advance? i know there’s a lot to be explored and stuff but i think energy weapons, time travel, public space travel from earth to a holiday inn on mars, faster-than-light speed, invisibility, cures for cancer, aids, and other major diseases, very economical resources used for energy and hybrid vehicles and all that fun stuff will be reality within the next 100 years if not 200. I mean seriously, 1903, we fly the first plane, 1969, man lands on the moon. That’s only 63 years, the future holds a lot, and i think in a million years, assuming everything on earth is fine and we never ad to relocate to another planet and there is world peace, there will be people dying of boredom, there’s nothing left to invent or do or ponder about.

EDIT: Oh, and by the way, i personally think it would suck to die from diarrhea.

[edit on 3/20/2005 by Schmidt1989]

Originally posted by American Mad Man

Originally posted by warpboost
The five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza

2. Tuberculosis

3. Diarrhea

4. Heart disease

5. Stroke

Is that even possible

Yes Napoleon died of diarrhea. My dad also new a guy who died from it. The diarrhea left them dehydrated. When I had a stomach infection(wont go into details) the docter told me I would die if I didnt drink enough liquid. He had me drinking gallons of gateraid. So yes it WILL kill you.

Originally posted by Schmidt1989
Great post warp, but i honestly think, the rate of technological advances will slow, maybe not in the next 100 years, but certainly in the next 500 years, i mean seriously how much more could we advance? i know there’s a lot to be explored and stuff but i think energy weapons, time travel, public space travel from earth to a holiday inn on mars, faster-than-light speed, invisibility, cures for cancer, aids, and other major diseases, very economical resources used for energy and hybrid vehicles and all that fun stuff will be reality within the next 100 years if not 200. I mean seriously, 1903, we fly the first plane, 1969, man lands on the moon. That’s only 63 years, the future holds a lot, and i think in a million years, assuming everything on earth is fine and we never ad to relocate to another planet and there is world peace, there will be people dying of boredom, there’s nothing left to invent or do or ponder about.

EDIT: Oh, and by the way, i personally think it would suck to die from diarrhea.

[edit on 3/20/2005 by Schmidt1989]

Your brought up a very interesting point. Wired had an article about how we may come to a halt at some point; because we will have almost run out ideas. The article pointed out how most of the stuff dreamed up in sci fi novels etc.. is now a reality, and that sci fi writers today are having a hard time imagining new innovative ideas. The articles point was that since we made everything a reality so fast, we might run out of ideas to turn into a reality I don't know that totally believe it, but its an interesting and valid point to say the least.

I think it was crazy how the hardest illegal narcotics of today were totally legal back then.

The reason the our advancing will slow is because we can only improve upon something so much before we think of something new. I think it's called the technological curve. We have improved upon flight using rocket fuel, but soon we might discover cold fusion, or anti-gravity, or something alot more efficient.
Sarcasimo, as far as WWII slowing tech advance, that didn't happen. Without the Soviet Union And the Cold War, and the idea that they were far more advanced tech than us. They wouldn't have developed than U2 Spy Plane, and other tech that is far more advanced very quickly. The competition helped technology along. The Space Race did the same thing.

Everyone always talks about alien civilizations being far more advanved then us...do you think they made giant technilogical leaps like we have or rather slowly progressed to a much higher intelligence?

Originally posted by Croat56

Originally posted by American Mad Man

Originally posted by warpboost
The five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:

1. Pneumonia and influenza

2. Tuberculosis

3. Diarrhea

4. Heart disease

5. Stroke

Is that even possible

Yes Napoleon died of diarrhea. My dad also new a guy who died from it. The diarrhea left them dehydrated. When I had a stomach infection(wont go into details) the docter told me I would die if I didnt drink enough liquid. He had me drinking gallons of gateraid. So yes it WILL kill you.

Napoleon died of stumache cancer and an ulcer. Believe me, my dad is president of the Napoleonic Society.

I am sure it can kill you though - I just had no idea it could be so deadly as to be a top 5 killer of Americans.

the one thing i would want to see is to have peace on earth, united, have several hundred planets under our domin, each planet u can live on, one government, no greedly people (those bastards are riping our world apart!) but i doubt the human race will make it for the next 100 years lol cross ur figers that we don't blow ourselves to peices.

...patting yourselves on the back, reflect on this:

1. In the past 100 years, humanity has created one of the greatest mass extinction events in history- by misuse of technology.
   
2. In the past 100 years, humanity has murdered over 1 billion of its own species- by waging war.
   
3. In the past 100 years, humanity has poisoned every ecosystem and foodstuff on Earth- perhaps irrevocably.
   
4. In the past 100 years, humanity has rediscovered nuclear energy and genetic engineering- and has deployed them as weapons aimed at their own species.
   
5. In the past 100 years, humanity has rediscovered its place in the cosmos- in a galaxy no one remembered existed in 1926.
   

If y'all keep it up, you'll be extinct in 500 years- or less.

I could say more (about asteroid impact, solar cycles, the georeactor etc.), but I think I've rained enough for one day...

[edit on 21-3-2005 by Chakotay]

As far as creature comforts and literacy, yes, we have come a long way. But why does it feel like we went in the wrong direction somewhere along the line? The industrial revolution created an addictive monster called MORE, and when people get MORE they become complacent. Wanting MORE they become blind, especially when it comes to the impact on environment, the reasons why people hate the Western World, and the inflated cost of something paid with plastic. Taking MORE causes imbalance, someone or something goes without. Taking too much= retaliation. Maybe we've taken too much...