It has been a long time since either the Chicago Cubs or the Cleveland Indians have won the World Series. For the Cubs, it has been 108 years since they last were crowned MLB champions in 1908, and 68 years since the Indians won the title in 1948. So, since it has been so long since either team won the World Series, I complied a pretty lengthy, but far from comprehensive list of exactly what has happened in the world since that date in 1908. The full list can be seen here.
However, before the timeline, let’s see what the world was like in 1908. First, there were only about 60 countries in the world, or at least 60 places where the President would have considered sending an ambassador to, compared to 192 today. The Ottoman Empire was still in existence, since it did not fall until 1922. There were only 85 known elements on the Periodic Table, while there are 119 today) The atomic model had not even been discovered yet—that would not be discovered until 1911. The population of the United States was estimated to be 88.7 million; the 2014 Census estimates that the population today is 319 million. The song that everybody equates with baseball, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” had just been written, but would not be heard at baseball games until 1934. In 1908, people would hope to see celebrities such as Mark Twain, Florence Nightingale, and Leo Tolstoy. Teddy Roosevelt was the President of the United States at the time, but William Howard Taft would win the Presidential Election a month after the Cubs won the World Series.
Since 1908, Cubs fans have seen 19 different Presidents. (It will be 20 this year if they do not win.) Since the Cubs won the World Series in 1908, all other major Chicago sports teams have combined to win 27 championships in their respective leagues. The NHL (1917), NFL (1920), and NBA (1946) were all formed as well. The Cubs have played 18,479 regular-season games (with a record of 8,381-10,098) since they last won. The MLB has added 14 new teams to their league since 1908. The Yankees have won 27 World Series titles, which required them to play in 153 World Series games, almost one full MLB season by today’s schedule. Oh, and 15,791 players have made their MLB Debuts. Stuffy McInnis was the 1st player to debut in 1909 (for the Phillies), and Spencer Kieboom of the Washington Nationals was the last player to debut in the 2016 season.
Since 1908, there have been quite a few inventions that we take for granted today. For example, in 1908, there were no Zippers (1913), Toasters (1919), Pre-sliced bread (1928), Sunglasses (1929), Ballpoint pens (1935), Duct Tape (1942), Microwaves (1945), Bikinis (1946), Velcro (1948), Barbie (1959), Hand-held calculators (1966), Internet (1973), Post-It Notes (1974), Personal Computers (1976), Mobile Phones (1983), Google (1998), and Facebook (2004).
The only major similarity that the 1908 and 2016 have is the number of planets in the Solar System. This holds true since Pluto was relegated to dwarf planet classification.
Finally, on a more Skidmore-related note, Lucy Skidmore Scribner was in her mid-50’s in 1908, and the school we all know today to be Skidmore College was not only located in downtown Saratoga Springs, but it was also called the Young Women’s Industrial College.
No matter whether the Cubs or Indians take home the title, clearly it's been a long time coming for both sides.