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Reading in bed -

Often thought to aid the process of falling asleep, reading in bed is a common habit practiced by many today.

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Reading in bed -

Yet in the 19th century, going to bed with a book was described as "little less than tempting God, to sport with the most awful danger and calamity which can affect ourselves and others."

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Reading in bed -

Reading at night had a bad reputation because of the number of house fires caused by the candles providing the light!

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Women in pants -

For centuries, women were forbidden to wear items of clothing that were thought of as men’s.

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Women in pants -

Although the first women’s pants went to market in 1918 with the hilarious name Freedom-Alls, it was frowned upon for a woman to dress in anything other than a skirt or dress until the middle of the 20th century.

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Teenagers with cars -

Arguably this one is still frowned upon, what with teenage drivers having a greater propensity to drive under the influence or text at the wheel.

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Teenagers with cars -

However, just a century ago a 17-year-old with a car was scandalous for an entirely different reason: taking the wheel signaled dishonorable intentions.

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Electricity -

Nowadays it’s hard to imagine life without electricity, but it wasn’t always a popular power source.

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Electricity -

When Thomas Edison electrocuted an elephant in 1903, many people were understandably horrified at the idea of powering their homes with the stuff.

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Not taking drugs -

It’s hard to imagine, but just 100 years ago hard drugs like heroin and cocaine were not only legal but actively encouraged.

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Not taking drugs -

Doctors prescribed heroin and it was an ingredient of cough syrups, while Sigmund Freud used cocaine to help with both depression and indigestion.

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Tomatoes -

During the 18th century, these delicious fruits gained a reputation for being "poison apples," after a number of aristocrats suffered lead poisoning after eating them off pewter plates.

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Tomatoes -

It took a long time for tomatoes to shake their bad reputation–even 19th-century poet Ralph Waldo Emerson described them as "objects of much terror."

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Horseless carriages -

When cars first came about at the beginning of the 20th century, they were shunned by many because of the cost.

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Horseless carriages -

Few felt that cars were a worthy alternative to the trusty horse and carriage that never needed its tires replaced.

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The color purple -

In 1903, the Boston Globe printed an article called ‘Colors That Will Drive the Brain to Madness.’

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The color purple -

The story included such statements as "purple is the most dangerous color there is" and "dead purple will kill you eventually."

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Not consuming radioactive material -

Before we knew the extent to which exposure to radiation harms the human body, people used to drink radithor, a patent medicine made by distilling water with radioactive material.

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Not consuming radioactive material -

Eben Beyers, a prominent American steel mogul, died of radiation poisoning in 1932. A story was printed in the Wall Street Journal with the title ‘The Radium Water Worked Fine Until His Jaw Came Off.’

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Daily washing -

At the beginning of the 20th century, it was uncommon for people to wash more than once a week.

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Daily washing -

Water was often scarce, and it wasn’t until indoor plumbing was introduced that people began to scrub themselves on the daily.

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Women on bicycles -

At the turn of last century, it was widely considered improper for a woman to ride a bicycle.

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Women on bicycles -

In 1895, the New York World published an article detailing all the things a woman should not do when riding a bike. It included "Don’t refuse assistance up a hill."

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Living to 100 -

In 1900, the average life expectancy for an American man was 48.3 years. Today it is 76.3 years.

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Living to 100 -

With people living longer and longer, it is now not unheard of for someone to live well into their hundreds.

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Smoking bans -

Until the middle of the 20th century, it was possible to smoke pretty well anywhere. Restaurants, bars, airplanes - you name the location, smokers were welcome.

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Smoking bans -

Nowadays indoor smoking is almost universally prohibited, something that would have astounded the average person just 100 years ago.

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Public transport -

These days almost everyone uses some form of public transport, especially with the global effort to move towards environmentally friendly ways to go from A to B.

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Public transport -

But trains and buses weren’t always so popular. According to a 1912 editorial in the Chicago Sunday Tribune, the stability handles in subway carriages could cause "a frightful strain upon internal organs."

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Women with tattoos -

Just a century ago, tattoos were a thing of criminality and underground culture. A woman with a tattoo was either a prostitute or a member of the circus.

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Women with tattoos -

Nowadays tattoos are wholly socially acceptable, and studies have actually shown that more women are getting inked than men.

See also: Everyday things that would seem impossible 50 years ago

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