What a difference a hundred years make.

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YEAR OF 1904

This is hard to believe, but true! The year is 1904...One Hundred years ago.

What a difference a century makes! Here are some of the U.S. statistics for

1903:

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 cost

fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for

shampoo. Eeww!

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.

One in 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 the bowels, and is, in fact, a

perfect guardian of health. "

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.

~ " We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a

little of each other everywhere. " ~

~ " If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the

entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand. "