I SHOULD BE DEAD
I read something I couldn't believe, that one hundred years ago the life expectancy was 47. I thought no way, not THAT recently. I googled life expectancy in U.S. 1900. First thing I see is this chart, year by year. This is crazy stuff. For a man, it was true. The reason this caught my eye so much is that I'm 46. So all else equal, had I been born back when, I'd be on my death bed. Wow. I knew I should have stopped paying the fucking mortgage!
Life expectancy in the USA, 1900-98
men and women
Year
M
F
1900
46.3
48.3
1901
47.6
50.6
1902
49.8
53.4
1903
49.1
52.0
1904
46.2
49.1
1905
47.3
50.2
1906
46.9
50.8
1907
45.6
49.9
1908
49.5
52.8
1909
50.5
53.8
1910
48.4
51.8
1911
50.9
54.4
1912
51.5
55.9
1913
50.3
55.0
1914
52.0
56.8
1915
52.5
56.8
1916
49.6
54.3
1917
48.4
54.0
1918
36.6
42.2
1919
53.5
56.0
1920
53.6
54.6
1921
60.0
61.8
1922
58.4
61.0
1923
56.1
58.5
1924
58.1
61.5
1925
57.6
60.6
1926
55.5
58.0
1927
59.0
62.1
1928
55.6
58.3
1929
55.8
58.7
1930
58.1
61.6
1931
59.4
63.1
1932
61.0
63.5
1933
61.7
65.1
1934
59.3
63.3
1935
59.9
63.9
1936
56.6
60.6
1937
58.0
62.4
1938
61.9
65.3
1939
62.1
65.4
1940
60.8
65.2
1941
63.1
66.8
1942
64.7
67.9
1943
62.4
64.4
1944
63.6
66.8
1945
63.6
67.9
1946
64.4
69.4
1947
64.4
69.7
1948
64.6
69.9
1949
65.2
70.7
1950
65.6
71.1
1951
65.6
71.4
1952
65.8
71.6
1953
66.0
72.0
1954
66.7
72.8
1955
66.7
72.8
1956
66.7
72.9
1957
66.4
72.7
1958
66.6
72.9
1959
66.8
73.2
1960
66.6
73.1
1961
67.0
73.6
1962
66.8
73.4
1963
66.6
73.4
1964
66.9
73.7
1965
66.8
73.7
1966
66.7
73.8
1967
67.0
74.2
1968
66.6
74.0
1969
66.8
74.3
1970
67.1
74.7
1971
67.4
75.0
1972
67.4
75.1
1973
67.6
75.3
1974
68.2
75.9
1975
68.8
76.6
1976
69.1
76.8
1977
69.5
77.2
1978
69.6
77.3
1979
70.0
77.8
1980
70.0
77.4
1981
70.4
77.8
1982
70.8
78.1
1983
71.0
78.1
1984
71.1
78.2
1985
71.1
78.2
1986
71.2
78.2
1987
71.4
78.3
1988
71.4
78.3
1989
71.7
78.5
1990
71.8
78.8
1991
72.0
78.9
1992
72.3
79.1
1993
72.2
78.8
1994
72.3
79.0
1995
72.5
78.9
1996
73.1
79.1
1997
73.6
79.4
1998
73.8
79.5
posted by Jeff Deminski at
8:26 PM
7 Comments:
I am with you guy. Love the posts.
Tom
August 31, 2010 at 5:32 AM
Jeff,
I've known about that for years. Think about it. A hundred years ago there were no antibiotics, so if you got an infection you could die really easily. Pneumonia killed people left and right, and TB (they called it consumption back then) was rampant. There were no heart operations, and surgery in general was still very risky. Medical advances have made life expectancy into the late 70's and 80's something we almost take for granted. If you had been in your 40's in 1900, you wouldn't have been in your 40's, you would've been dead. Insulin wasn't isolated until the early '20's, and it took a while after that to become an actual treatment. People didn't live much past their 20's or so if they were diabetic back then. You were definitely born in the right era!
August 31, 2010 at 5:29 PM
Aw shit, I only have 29 years left according to this!! That's not a lot of time...better get on that bucket list!
September 1, 2010 at 2:13 PM
When Wolfgang A. Mozart was my age... he'd been dead for twenty-four years. So, I got that going for me.
September 2, 2010 at 8:08 AM
When Wolfgang A. Mozart was my age... he'd been dead for twenty-four years. So, I got that going for me.
September 2, 2010 at 8:08 AM
But the biggest factor with this is infant mortality. So it's not so much that you'd probably be dead at 47 - it's more that you may not have made it to age 10. If you did, you could have lived a fairly long life.
October 3, 2010 at 12:19 PM
HEY JEFF,
HOPE THINGS ARE WELL.....SURE COULD USE A NEW UPDATE.
November 20, 2010 at 3:11 PM
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home