200 years ago:
• No anesthesia. People undergoing surgery were given a shot of whisky and a strip of leather to bite down on.
• No antibiotics. If you got an infection, your choices included prayer and/or amputation.
• No electricity. Candles, kerosene, and whale-oil were burned for lighting.
• No building codes. Emergency fire exits were almost unheard-of.
• No refrigerators or air-conditioners. Food was either fresh, heavily salted, or dried. People died of heat-stroke in their own homes.
• No Internet, automobiles, computers, televisions, airplanes, video games. You worked more than you played.