Another little gem from my US cousin

[WillowTheWhisp]

Maybe this will boggle your mind, I know it did mine! The year is 1904
...one hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes! Here are some
of the U.S. statistics for 1904:

The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes in theU.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 residents, 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 an 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 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home.

Ninety percent of all U.S. 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 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 prohibiting poor people from entering the country for
any reason.

The 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 s tars. Arizona,Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and
Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.

The population ofLas Vegas, Nevada, was 30.

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.

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

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

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at
corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the
complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels,
and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."

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

There were only about 230 reported murders in the entireU.S.

.... And I forwarded this from someone else without typing it myself, and
sent it to all of you in a matter of seconds! Try to imagine what it may be
like in another 100 years ... it staggers the mind.

I wonder how that compares with statistics for Britain?

[WillowTheWhisp]

here's another

Which of the following are true and which are false?

1. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the
morning.

2. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button.

3. A pack-a-day smoker will lose approximately 2 teeth every 10 years.

4. People do not get sick from cold weather; it's from being indoors a
lot more.

5. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop, even your heart!

6. Only 7 per cent of the population are lefties.

7. Forty people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.

8. Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until they are
2-6 years old.

9. The average person over 50 will have spent 5 years waiting in lines.

10. The toothbrush was invented in 1498.

11. The average housefly lives for one month.

12. 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.


13. A coat hanger is 44 inches long when straightened.

14. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.

15. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than any other time of day.

16. Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.

17. The REAL reason ostriches stick their head in the sand is to search
for water.

18. The only two animals that can see behind themselves without turning
their heads are the rabbit and the parrot.

19. John Travolta turned down the starring roles in "An Officer and a
Gentleman" and "Tootsie."

20. Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State
anthem.

21. In most television commercials advertising milk,a mixture of white
paint and a little thinner is used in place of the milk.

22. Prince Charles and Prince William NEVER travel on the same
airplane, just in case there is a crash.

23. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle built in 1903 used a tomato
can for a carburetor.

24. Most hospitals make money by selling the umbilical cords cut from
women who give birth. They are used in vein transplant surgery.

25. Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana. They were 7th
cousins.

26. If coloring weren't added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.


Answers below...

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They are all TRUE....
Now go back and think about #16!!!

Now what puzzles me is number 12 .............. what on earth do Americans do with their toilets???

[Busman747]

"There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day."
OK, but who decided there was?..........a card company??

[Darby]

Willow:

They are all TRUE....
Now go back and think about #16!!!

HHmmmmm....Spider & Chips...with or without vinegar?

[lettie]

I can divulge that umbilical cords are all thrown away at QPH. We used to save placentae years ago and they went to various companies who used different parts for different purposes, however due to blood borne diseases our placentae have been thrown in the bin for the last 10 years at least. We occasionally get consent from parents to use a little bit of umbilical cord to train our doctors in cord catheterisation.