February 12, 1910. A force of 2,000 Chinese troops march into Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso, is forced to flee to India.

February 20, 1910. Boutros Pasha Ghali, the first native-born prime minister of Egypt, is assassinated by an Egyptian nationalist. Egypt is under British control, and the Egyptians themselves have only limited power of self-rule.

February 27, 1910. U.S. surgeons find and remove a nail from the lung of a boy by using an X-ray machine.

May 6, 1910. George V becomes King of Britain upon the death of his father, Edward VII.

May 31, 1910. The Union of South Africa becomes a self-governing dominion of the British Empire. The new government will be led by Prime Minister Louis Botha who was a leader in the defeated Boer army that fought against Britain in 1900-1901. He is now a convinced supporter of South Africa’s independence and participation in the British Dominion.

June 30, 1910. Russian prime minister Pyotr Stolypin easily persuades the Duma to pass a law that ends most aspects of Finnish independence. Russia takes over Finland completely.

August 22, 1910. After defeating the Russians in war and in peace, Japan officially annexes Korea.

October 4, 1910. Republican revolutionaries overthrow the Portuguese monarchy. 20 year old King Manuel II, who came to the throne after the assassination of his father and brother two and a half years ago (1908), flees to Gibraltar.

November 20, 1910. In Mexico, rebels begin the attempt to oust president and dictator Porfirio Diaz, who has ruled Mexico for over thirty years. Leaders in the rebellion include Francisco Madero, Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, Victoriano Huerta, and Pascual Orozco.

More than a million immigrants enter the United States in 1910. The largest ethnic groups are Italians, Poles, Jews, Slovaks, and Greeks.

In 1910:

The average life expectancy for men was 47 years. Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!

In Old California was the first film to be made in Hollywood.

Map of the World in 1910.

The average US wage in 1910 was 22 cents per hour. The average US 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 took place at home.

Ninety percent of all doctors had no college education. Instead, they attended so-called 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 that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

The five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!

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

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

Two out of every 10 adults couldn’t read or write and only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, ‘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 had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.