One hundred years ago, things looked a little bit different.
1. World Literacy Rates
- 1917: The world
literacy rate was only 23 percent.
- Today: Depending on
estimates, the world literacy rate today is 86.1 percent.
2. Travel Time
- 1917: It took 5 days to
get from London to New York; 3.5 months to travel from London to Australia.
- Today: A nonstop flight
gets you from London to New York in a little over 8 hours, and you can fly from
London to Australia in about a day, with just one stop.
3. Average Price of a US House
- 1917: The average price
of a U.S. house was $5,000. ($111,584.29 when adjusted for inflation).
- Today: As of 2010, the
average price of a new home sold in the U.S. was $272,900.
4. The First Hamburger
- 1917: The hamburger bun
was invented by a fry cook named Walter Anderson, who co-founded White Castle.
- Today: On average,
Americans eat three hamburgers a week. That's a national total of nearly 50
billion burgers per year. And now we’re even inventing 100 percent plant-based
beef burgers… produced by Impossible Foods and available at select restaurants.
5. Average Price of a Car in the US
- 1917: The average price
of a car in the US was $400 ($8,926.74 when adjusted for inflation)
- Today: The average car
price in the US was $34,968 as of January 2017.
6. The First Boeing Aircraft
- 1917: A Boeing aircraft
flew for the first time on June 15.
- Today: In 2015, there
were almost 24,000 turboprop and regional aircraft, as well as wide body and
narrow body jets, in service worldwide.
7. Coca-Cola
- 1917: On July 1, 1916,
Coca-Cola introduced its current formula to the market.
- Today: Today, Coca-Cola
has a market cap of about $178 billion with 2015 net operating revenues over
$44 billion. Each day, over 1.9 billion servings of Coca-Cola drinks are
enjoyed in more than 200 countries.
7. Average US Wages
- 1917: The average US
hourly wage was 22 cents an hour ($4.90 per hour when adjusted for inflation)
- Today: The average US
hourly wage is approximately $26 per hour.
8. Supermarkets
- 1917: The first
"super" market, PigglyWiggly, opened on September 6, 1916 in Memphis,
TN.
- Today: In 2015, there
were 38,015 supermarkets, employing 3.4 million people and generating sales of
about $650 billion.
9. Billionaires
- 1917: John D.
Rockefeller became the world's first billionaire on September 29.
- Today: There are
approximately 1,810 billionaires, and their aggregate net worth is $6.5
trillion.
For context, Rockefeller’s net worth in today’s dollars would have been
about $340 billion. Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, is worth $84 billion
today.
10. Telephones (Landlines vs.
Cellphones)
- 1917: Only 8 percent of
homes had a landline telephone.
- Today: Forget landlines!
In the US, nearly 80 percent of the population has a smartphone (a
supercomputer in their pockets). Nearly half of all American households now use
only cellphones rather than older landlines. And as far as cost, today, you can
Skype anywhere in the world for free over a WiFi network.
11. Traffic (Horses to Cars)
- 1917: In 1912, traffic
counts in New York showed more cars than horses for the first time.
- Today: There were
approximately 253 million cars and trucks on US roads in 2015.
12. US Population
- 1917: The US population
broke 100 million, and the global population reached 1.9 billion.
- Today: The US population
is 320 million, and the global population broke 7.5 billion this year.
13. Inventions and Technology
- 1917: The major tech
invention in 1917? The toggle light switch.
- Today: The major tech invention
of today? CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology, which enables us to reprogram
life as we know it. And we are making strides in AI, robotics, sensors,
networks, synthetic biology, materials science, space exploration and more
every day.
14. High School Graduation Rates
- 1917: Only 6 percent of
all Americans had graduated from high school.
- Today: Over 80 percent
of all Americans graduated high school this past year.
15. Cost of Bread
- 1917: A loaf of bread
was $0.07 ($1.50 when adjusted for inflation).
- Today: A loaf of bread
costs $2.37.
16. Speed Limits
- 1917: The maximum speed
limit in most cities was 10 mph.
- Today: The maximum speed
limit in most cities is about 70 mph.
Just wait for the next 100 years.
