University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: Historical events

Legal abortion and lifelong health

This study examines the long-term health benefits of early-life exposure to legal abortion.

The pest that helped kids live longer

This study explores how a devastating pest, the boll weevil, accidentally improved long-term health for children growing up in the early 1900s Cotton Belt.

Social Security cuts and the toll on longevity

This study examines how a 20th-century Social Security policy cut retirement benefits for certain birth cohorts, resulting in reduced income and shorter lifespans.

Mill closures, shorter lives

This study finds that boys born in New England counties hit hard by the textile industry collapse in the 1920s–30s lived about 3.6 months less if they stayed in those areas.

The lasting impact of WWI veteran bonuses on children’s longevity

This study looks at how a surprise one-time cash bonus in 1936—given to World War I veterans—affected the long-term health of their children.

The longevity of dry laws

This study examines the long-term health effects of early-life exposure to alcohol prohibition in the U.S.

Fewer bank deposits, shorter lives

This study examines how being born during the Great Depression impacted how long people lived.

A generation lost to dust

This study examines the long-run health consequences of being in utero during the Dust Bowl, one of the most severe environmental disasters in U.S. history.

When film fuels harm

Exposure in early life to the social and racial hostility sparked by the 1915 film Birth of a Nation led to significant long-term health impacts on Black Americans.

Polio’s lifelong toll

This study reveals that early-life exposure to the 1916 polio epidemic had long-term consequences on male longevity.