In doing research for a future planning session with one of our clients, I decided I would look back at what the world was like a short 100 years ago in 1918. I mean, really, how much could possibly change in just a short 100 year time frame?
100 Years Ago in 1918:
It was a dark time; World War I was winding down toward its conclusion 16 Million lives were lost in World War I The Flu Pandemic infects 500 million worldwide and 50 million died The World Literacy Rate was only 23% Only 6% of Americans graduated from High School It typically took 5 days to get from New York City to London It typically took 3.5 months to travel from London to Australia The U.S. Congress established time zones across the country & Daylight Savings Time goes into effect for the first time The world’s first regularly scheduled airmail started between New York City-Philadelphia-Washington DC, a total of 218 miles with one round trip per day The US population reached 103 million The world population reached 1.9 billion The major innovations of 1918 were Lincoln Logs and The Fortune Cookie Technical innovations were the flip-flop circuit with two vacuum tubes The average US wage was 22 cents per hour A loaf of bread costs 7 cents and coffee costs 15 cents per pound The average car price was 400 dollars The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph The average home price in the US was 5,000 dollars Only 8% of homes had a telephone A 3-minute phone call from Denver to New York City cost 11 dollars
50 Years Ago in 1968:
Mattel’s Hot Wheels Cars were first introduced The second Super Bowl was played The current location of Madison Square Garden opened The S&P 500 closed above 100.00 for the first time (this week it’s at 2825.00) The US population reached 200 million The world population reached 3.53 billion The major health innovation in 1968 was the successful heart transplant Human beings orbited the moon for the first time successfully with Apollo 8 A patent for the Jacuzzi hot tub was first granted The average home price in the US was 14,450.00 The average car price was 2822.00
Can you imagine what changes will have taken place by the year 2118, just a short 100 years from now?
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