Superpower USA : 100 Years Ago

American pizza arrived in 1905. That’s when Gennaro Lombardi received the first license in New York City to run a pizzeria at 531/2 Spring Street.

And since then the American appetite has definitely improved! Let us take a look at other flavours in life…

As the U.S. Administration, and a large number of vocal Americans (including bloggers) appear to take an aggressive and a strident stance in domestic and world affairs, it is not a bad idea to see oneself in a mirror occasionally.

Let’s see, with due humility, the United States of America some 100 years ago when there were no dreams or possibility of America emerging as a super power (this came to me today in an email from a friend living in America)…
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Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the Year 1906 :

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 people, 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 per 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 per cent of all births in the U.S. took place at HOME. Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND 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 that prohibited poor people from
entering into their country for any reason.

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 hadn’t been admitted to the Union yet.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!!!!
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn’t been invented yet.
There was no Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.

Two out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn’t read or write.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least
one full-time servant or domestic help.
There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE ! U.S.A. !

Now I forwarded this from someone else without typing
it myself, and sent it to you and others all over the United States and possibly the world, in a matter of seconds! Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.