Death rates in the 20th century fever, polio, measles, hepatitis among others. However, war, genocide and Holocausts have led to many millions of deaths throughout the century, and late in the century AIDS had already killed millions, particularly in Africa and south-east Asia. Cancer also killed millions via lifestyle and pollution generated by increased work in factories. During the 20th century, an enormous improvement in public health led to an overall decrease in death rates. Infant mortality rates and maternal mortality rates have dramatically decreased. In the early 1900s, 6-9 women died in pregnancy-related complications for every 1,000 births, while 100 infants died before they were
Death rates in the 20th century In the middle of 20th century America, the leading cause of death was heart disease with an impressive 355.5 deaths per 100,000 followed by cancer at 139.8 deaths per 100,000. Although death rates dropped significantly in the latter part of the 20th century, the leading killers are still constant. The United States saw 192.9 people per 100,000 die from heart disease in 2010 followed by cancer with 185.9 people per 100,000. The world population in the 20th century experienced a large amount of death due to two major world wars. World War II was responsible for the most war related