A Hundred Years of Emma

Emma, our little Emma, was born 100 years (4 months and 8 days) after her namesake.

Eric was just musing on that fact this morning. Let's expand on this.

When Emma the Elder was born in 1907:

LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES
Only 8 percent of all dwellings were using electricity.
The population of the country was 87,008,000.
New York was the most populated state. (According to the 1900 census, there were 7,268,894 residents in New York, compared to 6,302,115 in Pennsylvania. In the 1910 census, there were 9,113,614
residents of New York and 7,665,111 residents of Pennsylvania.)

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INVENTIONS
Scientists used radiometric dating to determine that the earth was 2.2 billion years old.
Albert Einstein introduced the principle of E=mc2.
Ivan Pavlov demonstrated conditioned responses with salivating dogs.
Lee DeForest invented the triode thermionic amplifier.
The Autochrome Lumiere was the first color photography process to be marketed.

UNITED STATES ECONOMY
A loaf of bread cost 5 cents.
A gallon of milk cost 31 cents.
A Hershey bar cost 5 cents.
A stamp cost 2 cents.
A car cost $500.
A house cost $4,500.
The average household income was $897 a year.
Unemployment was at 2.8 percent.
The federal government spent $.58 billion.

UNITED STATES HISTORY
Theodore Roosevelt was the president of the United States; his vice president was Charles W. Fairbanks.
A fall of the stock market sparked a financial panic across the country in October. J.P. Morgan, E.H. Harriman, James Stillman, Henry Clay Frick and other financiers created a $25 million pool and invested in shares on the New York Stock Exchange to avert a major financial crisis.
The “Indian Territory” and “Oklahoma Territory” became the 46th state, Oklahoma, on November 16.
Pennsylvania adopted its state flag.

-- Info from What Was Life Like in 1907?

Emma the Elder regaled the family with stories of the ice men, with their horse drawn carriages, bringing blocks of ice from house to house to go into everyone's ice box, the precursor to the refrigerator. She saw the wholesale adoption of electricity, the telephone, television, automobiles, airplanes, computers, space travel and more. The right to vote for women and minorities. The introduction and repeal of prohibition. WWI and WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and the fall of the Soviet Union.

It's mind-boggling. My mind, it is boggled.

Emma the Younger will see a whole new world. We may send a manned expedition to Mars in her lifetime. Computers are getting faster and smaller. Entire diseases have been and will be eradicated. The environment is crumbling around us, but if we work together we can save it.

A brave new world, indeed.

Will she see teleporters? Nanotechnology? Life extension? Full body virtual reality games? Flying cars? Silver jumpsuits? Will we be around to see some of it?

I sure hope so.

What do you think life will be like in 100 years?