In the Summer of 1900 ~ More Trivia

The average life expectancy in the United States was forty-seven.

Only 14 percent of the homes in the United States 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 US and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was ten mph.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents,

California was only the twenty-first most populous state in the Union.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Towel.

The average wage in the US was twenty-two cents an hour.

The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year.

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2500 per year, a veterinarian between $1500 and $4000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births in the United States took place at home.

Ninety percent 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 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.

Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason, either as travelers or immigrants.

The five leading causes of death in the US 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.

Drive-by shootings--in which teenage boys galloped down the street on horses and started randomly shooting at houses, carriages, or anything else that caught their fancy--were an ongoing problem in Denver and other cities in the West.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was thirty. The remote desert community was inhabited by only a handful of ranchers and their families.

Plutonium, insulin, and antibiotics hadn't been discovered yet.

Scotch tape, crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.

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

One in ten US adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine.

Punch-card data processing had recently been developed, and early predecessors of the modern computer were used for the first time by the government to help compile the 1900 census.

Eighteen percent of households in the United States had at least one full-time servant or domestic.

There were about 230 reported murders in the US annually.


Comments

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  • Here are a few more things to add to that list. I told you guys my brain is full of crazy trivia. I think I would be a genius if I had this brain space to use for other stuff. x:)

    The Saturday Evening Post - First known automobile advertising

    1900 Production - 4,192 motor vehicles

    More athletes than spectators attended the 1900-Paris Olympic Games

    Milton S. Hershey of Lancaster, PA introduces the first Hershey milk chocolate bar

  • You know, a local radio station that I listen to in the mornings is looking for someone just like you. They have a segment every Tuesday called "beat the Brucer".

    Bruce is their producer, who apparently has a head of usless trivia and is unbeaten. There's a prize of a trip for 2 to Turks and Cacos (sp?) and money that is around $2800 right now. He's apparently gone over 50 times without anyone bringing him down. You should give me your info, or reach them yourself at plj.com.

    If you win, I want some of the money $$$
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