What a Difference a Century Makes
An amusing look at our past and future

In the year 1906 – that's 100 years, or one century ago – things were quite different in the good old USA. For example, only 14% of the homes had bathtubs, and a mere 8% of the homes had a telephone, and if you used it to call from Denver to New York City for 3 minutes, you'd pay a whopping $11.00.

A century ago, marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available to anyone, and were sold at every respectable corner drugstores. At the turn of the last century, the official position on these drugs was: "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."

So, using the changes that occurred in certain things in the United States between 1906 and 2006 as our basis, let's look at what will be going on in 2106. Here's an example of the math used here to compute these things: If the United States had 100 politicians in 1906, and 200 politicians in 2006, then it is reasonable to assume that there will be 400 (twice as many) politicians in 2106. With that said, let's check out some more impressive US statistics extrapolated out for 2106.

If the above doesn't get your attention, chances are that not much will. But here are some other interesting facts about 1906 in the USA:
•In 1906 more than 95% of all births took place at home.
•Women washed their hair about once a month with borax or egg yolks.
•Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from immigrating for any reason at all.
•The 5 leading causes of death were: 1-Pneumonia and influenza; 2-Tuberculosis; 3-Diarrhea; 4-Heart disease; 5-Stroke.
•There was no Mother's Day, and no Father's Day.
•2/10 adults couldn't read or write.
•Only 6% had graduated from high school.

I doubt I'll be around to enjoy the $6,453,333.33 average annual income, but then too, I'll miss the traffic jams caused by the almost 7 Trillion (with a "T") cars. By the way, 7 Trillion is many times the number of stars in our beloved Milky Way Galaxy. I guess sub-compacts will be very popular…