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"THE YEAR 1904"

Where we were a century ago. This ought to boggle your mind.
The year is 1904 , one hundred years ago...
what a difference a century makes..
Here are the U. S. statistics for 1904 ....
The average life expectancy in the US was 47.
Only 14% of the homes in the US had a BATHTUB.
Only 8% of the homes had a TELEPHONE.
A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11.
There were only 8,000 CARS in the US 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 US was $0.22/hour.
The average US worker made between $200-$400/year.
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000/year,
a dentist $2,500/year, a veterinarian between $1,500-$4,000/year,
and a mechanical engineer about $5,000/year.
More than 95% of all BIRTHS in the US took place at HOME.
90% of all US 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 $0.04/pound. Eggs were $0.14/dozen. Coffee cost $0.15/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 US were: 1. Pneumonia
&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 were no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
One in ten US adults couldn't read or write.
Only 6% of all Americans had graduated from HIGH SCHOOL.
Coca Cola contained cocaine.
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 the
bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."
18% of households in the US had at least one full-time SERVANT or
domestic.
There were only about 230 reported MURDERS in the entire US.

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"Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.” ~ James Bryant Conant

Cynthetiq

In NYC there was the subway was just starting to be used. A few months ago was first flight and within 100 years we set foot on the moon.

Technology moves forward...

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Mephisto2

Picture this...


Here are the U. S. statistics for 2104 ....


The average life expectancy in the US is 138.
Only 14% of homes in the US don't have a fully immersive 3D entertainment system.
Only 8% of the of homes in the US don't eat genetically modified or cloned meat products.
A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $zero; all voice telecommunications in the US are free.
There are more cars in the US than people and paved roads now cover more than 10% of the landmass.
The maximum speed limit in most cities is 55mph, but 75mph in Southern California if using cars fitted with driver-assisting computers.
California has split into two states; Southern California and Northern California. Southern California is the most populous state in the Union.
The tallest structure in the world is the Zedong Tower in Beijing. At over 2km tall it is a testament to Chinese engineering..
The average wage in the US is $175.33/hour.
The average US worker makes between $250K-$350K/year.
A competent Finance Engineer could expect to earn $2M/year, a dentist only $1.5M/year (most dental problems are cured at birth), a veterinarian between $1.5M-$4M/year (cloning has reduced the popularity of pet medicene) and a genetic engineer about $7M/year.
Birth in the home is illegal in 14 States. More than 65% of all children have undergone prenatal genetic scanning and/or treatment.
Sugar costs $0.55/pound. Eggs are $0.25/dozen. Staple foodstuffs are cheaper due to industrial farming techniques. "Natural" or "Organic" foodstuffs have rocketed in price.
Coffee cost $78.25/pound after several wars in South and Central America and a blight destroys much of the world crop.
Most women now coat their hair in a micro-thin plastic treatment. This allows for immediate colour change, shape change and repels dirt.
Canada passes a law joining the US as the 52nd State. Puerto Rico was the 51st.
The five leading causes of death in the US are: 1. Pneumonia & influenza (Avian flu has killed over 2million people in the past 12 months) 2. Heart Disase (54% of the population is officially obese) 3. Cancer (mostly caused by the three "dirty bombs" detonated by terrorists on the east coast in 2013) 4. Stroke 5. Killed in Action (the US has over 2,000,000 men/women in arms fighting in 12 actions - see below).
The USA is currently engaged in four wars (War on Drugs, War on Terrorism, War on Want, War on United Arab States), 4 "stability missions" or military occupations (Iraq, Palestine, Mexico and Kurdistan), 2 "Peace Keeping missions" (Angola and Tibet) and 2 semi-covert operations at overthrowing "non-friendly" governments (Colombia and Turkey).
The American flag had 53 stars; Canada, Puerto Rico, Southern California and Northern California having been addded in the past 100 years.
The population of the moon is 89.
Self-assembling nano technology based robots, artificially grown organs (from self-harvested stem-cells) and pseudo AI "constructs" have been invented.
The latest holiday in the US is "America Day" - an attempt by the Administration to enhance the sense of American identity slowly being lost due to massive influx of refugees and immigrants.
One in ten US adults can't read or write.
Only 56% of all Americans graduate from HIGH SCHOOL.
Nicotene is now banned entirely in 34 States and smoking in public is illegal (Federal Health laws).
12% of households in the US have at least one robotic or semi-automatic cleaning device. Nano technology is driving prices down and sales are high.
There are approximately 358 reported murders per day across all 53 states; the highest concentration is is Los Angeles in Southern California.


Mr Mephisto

CBlend

I liked the 1904 facts, and I liked the future ones even more

Kllr Wolf

I like the future in 100 years. very thoughtful and all "new" technologies are currently in works and is possible by then.

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viejo gringo

Love those 1904 stats----I was born in 1934, and things were just a "little" better then....

It is amasing to see the technology that evolved over the last 70 years.....those things that so many of you take for granted now...

the next 70 should be just as interesting...

Fremen

I think it would take more than 100 years to get Canada to join the U.S. of A.

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Spartak

Hahahahahaha

Only in Canada...

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I can read your mind... looking at you... I can read your mind...

User Name

Actually, the US too. All immigrants had to have at least $5, or something like that to enter at some point in history. Technicalities, technicalities...

Mephisto2

Yeah, you're right. It would probably never happen.

I was just bored, hung-over and typed up some things as they occurred to me this morning.

:-)


Mr Mephisto

Derwood

The world in 2008 (If Bush gets re-elected)

- Everyone over the age of 18 will be married, thus completely eliminating poverty, domestic abuse and infidelity.

- All homosexuals have been revoked of their citizenship and shipped to a penal colony in the North Atlantic.

- The President of Clear Channel has been added to Bush's Cabinet as the first U.S. "Minister of Information"

- Terrorist bombings have killed thousands in France, England, Germany, and several other NATO nations. Any country that is perceived to have any sort of allegiance towards America has been a target of Al Qaeida.

- Osama Bin Laden is still at large.

- Newest projections show that Social Security will actually dry up by 2009.

- The national trade deficit has tripled since 2004.

- 15 trillion dollars has been spent on further exploratoins of Mars. Thus far, no major disocoveries have been made. In the mean time, enormous cuts to funding for education, health care and the arts have been made to fund NASA and the wars abroad.

- The first 3 presidents of the new "democratic" Iraq have been assassinated within 90 days of their inauguration.

- North Korea has conducted 4 more nuclear tests in the Pacific. Leader declares "We will no longer be ignored!"


/democrat rant

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"You can't shoot a country until it becomes a democracy." - Willravel

denim

People didn't start bathing every day until WWII.

To put this in perspective, this was roughly a month's rent on a small house at the time.


So they didn't need the paved roads... yet.

How fast does your horse go??

Note what I said about rent.

The term "yellow journalism" was coined in that era. OTOH, while we don't use the term much these days, it's mostly because they ALL do it now.


I'm not sure how much this has really changed. It's all "natural causes" now. I suspectt #3 is not as much of a problem now that we know about germs, and most people understand it.


I suspect it's worse now.

Their idea of "high school" was more like what we think of as the first two or three years of college, these days.

skier

I feel the same way, and i'm very, very afraid.

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"Asking a bomb squad if an old bomb is still "real" is not the best thing to do if you want to save it." - denim

Yakk

Life expectancy at birth is, however, unknown. Genetic manipulation on rats that has extended their lifespan indefinately has been approved for human use, and is currently popular.

Doomsayers are predicting economic and ecological collapse due to overpopulation and projected lack of "retiree consumers" who fuel theworld economy.

75% of the homes in the US have a neural induction entertainment centre.

Replace that with all video and voice communication in the world is free.

I have basically free long distance today.

Try: In Southern California, manual drive cars are illegal within most cities and on all freeways.

Human beings shouldn't be driving cars. We aren't good at it.

The tallest planetary-achored structure in the solar system is the Liftport beanstalk, located in the Pacific Ocean Free State. At 77000 km, it is the tallest such structure by 10000 km.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator

Refined sugar for human consumption is effectively illegal. The last commercial sugar company went out of business due to lawsuits, and no company has tried to sell it for human consumption since. Sugar is typically used as a biofuel source for home bioprocessors.

The first permanent asteroid belt colony was founded last week.

Ramjet-powered Probes from The Union of African States have sent back photos from Alpha Centuri. The US President has vowed they will land a breeding pair of humans on Alpha Centuri III within the century.

The EU funded Columbus Project has already launched 500 Van Neumann probes.

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

Mephisto2

I don't think a beanstalk could be built within the next 100 years Yakk. Maybe started, but certainly not finished.

Of course, who would have thought (1904) that within 70 years we would have walked on the moon...

I wish I could live longer and see what's going to happen....


Mr Mephisto

Yakk

Carbon Nanotubes have a strength:weight ratio of 64: theoretically, they could have more possibly, just the ones we make max out at 64.

If we can weave them into a cord, and manage a strength:weight ratio of 50 to 100, it is engeneering and economic possiblity to build a beanstalk.

At 50, the beanstalk will be expensive and hard to make. At 100, it starts getting downright affordable.

Given that 100 years ago, the best strength:weight materials we had where around 2, I think we might be able to pull it off in another 100 years.

If you are young, live a clean and healthy life, and get wealthy. We can double the lifespan of fruit flies and rats using breeding and/or changing their lifestyle. There is a non-zero chance life extension might be practical before you croak.

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

irateplatypus

this was interesting...

it's too bad it had to get political so soon.

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If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.

~ Winston Churchill

Derwood

he he he. Sorry about that. I just couldn't resisit.

__________________
"You can't shoot a country until it becomes a democracy." - Willravel

Ace_O_Spades

HAHA this made me laugh

brightened up a crummy day

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Feh.

KellyC

OMG! This is so funny!! People should really watch what they eat...

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Him: Ok, I have to ask, what do you believe?
Me: Shit happens.

splck

Oh the glorious days it must have been.

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nice line eh?

Yakk

I know if I ever write a future history, it will have Maine joining Canada as the 13th province, just for fun. ;-)

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.