What was the world like 150 years ago?

We live in a peaceful and comfy cove where the winds of change only blow once in a while. If we see time as a wavy line, we are now in a profound depression, in the midst of events. The age of major geographical discoveries is ended, but active space exploration is just beginning.

Let us look back at how the world was not so long ago. Some 150 years ago (only four full generations), the world was completely different. Incredible developments have occurred throughout this period, both socially and technologically.

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There was no such thing as childhood

Children were not blossoms of life even 150 years ago – they were worthless freeloaders, additional mouths that needed to be fed. As a result, they began working at the age of 7-8, or as soon as they were physically capable. Children in industrial cities worked 12-16 hours in factories and mines, earning three times less than adults. If the kid was born in a rural region, he was fortunate since there was typically enough food, and he could help in the household. To get the latest stories, install our app here

There are no schools

There were no hated schools, and there was no system of widespread compulsory education. This institution has only been around for a century. At the end of the nineteenth century, such an education initially arose in Britain, Japan, and Prussia; by the middle of the twentieth century, it had spread across Europe. Private schools and colleges for the wealthy arose much earlier, but a youngster from a poor home had no other option but to attend church school. He might learn writing and rudimentary counting there, but not mathematics, history, geography, or other subjects.

People in that period were frequently unaware of what was going on in the globe and what was going on in their own town or city. To get the latest stories, install our app here

Racism’s ideology

The ideology of racial superiority dominated the civilized world at the turn of the twentieth century. The majority of Europe and the Americas were either racist dictatorships or their colonies. It wasn’t a joke when they said “the white man’s burden.” On this subject, dissertations have been produced, and relationships between nations have been formed based on this notion. To get the latest stories, install our app here

Religious and scientific discussions regarding whether “black” people were serious were held in the twentieth century. People in general, not by another, although lower race. The white European seriously believed that it was his burden, his service to God, and his highest value to carry civilization through the oppression of all non-whites.

Human rights

The presumption of innocence, the right to life, liberty, personal integrity, and all other basic rights were only approved by the United Nations Convention in 1950. Some nations took care of “human rights” a bit sooner than others. To get the latest stories, install our app here

The French Revolution produced one of the most important contributions, but the practical procedures for safeguarding these rights developed 50-60 years ago.

The standard of medical care

Europe’s average life expectancy varied from 32 to 38 years, depending on the nation. Only a few will make it out of a dozen. The low rates are attributed to the high infant mortality rate, so children were raised to be future-oriented. To get the latest stories, install our app here

All treatment was basically “folk” medicine: patients were treated with herbal decoctions and, of course, bloodletting. Amputation of a limb was the most common result of an open fracture. It was done for profit at best – a bottle of something intoxicating was used as a general anaesthetic. In police training, the lack of smallpox traces on the face was regarded as a unique indicator. Today, all that is left of smallpox is a little patch on the left shoulder.

Life in the city

There were no electric lights 150 years ago. Lanterns powered by kerosene, gas, or whale oil lighted the streets of major cities. In certain nations, people were required to place house lights in their windows at night to supplement public illumination.

Begging was all over the place. In certain cities, the number of beggars may account for 15-20% of the overall population. Many were handicapped at a young age as a result of the poor quality of treatment; they had no alternative but to beg on the streets. There were no pensions or disability payments. To get the latest stories, install our app here

There was no urban street planning, and communications were non-existent. The principal streets of the cities were practically knee-deep in debris, including various types of waste from slaughterhouses, melted fat from lanterns, and, of course, horse excrement.

International transportation

Trains and steamships are the only possibilities. The flight from Europe to America took 3-4 weeks, and the traveller spent the whole time in a tight compartment with no comforts. The boatswain may be convinced to douse the passenger with seawater for a nominal price. That’s it for the shower. It may take months to go from Europe to Africa or Asia. And the last several months have gone by similarly.

Concentration camps and wars

The first prisoner-of-war camps developed around the end of the nineteenth century and swiftly became the standard. This was mostly owing to the industrial revolution, which eliminated the necessity for slave labour. To get the latest stories, install our app here

No good and inexpensive techniques of annihilating huge groups of people have yet been devised, and no human rights or prisoner treatment treaties have yet been approved. As a result, the inmates were allowed to die of starvation, sickness, and suffocation.

Simultaneously, the military industry is growing significantly. Following the advent of the first machine guns, it was widely assumed that large conflicts were a thing of the past and could no longer be fought. The machine guns were much too lethal, capable of annihilating whole companies in seconds. Amputation, gangrene and death were the most common outcomes of gunshot wounds to the arm or leg.

Science and the concept of the universe

The aircraft had not yet been created, and there was no automobile with an internal combustion engine 150 years ago. The notion of evolution was regarded as a fringe concept. Dinosaur bones were mistaken for the skeletons of biblical giants who perished during the Flood. The Earth’s age has been estimated to be several thousand years.