“When Jules Verne wrote his fascinating book, ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ [1873], he aimed to show the utmost that could be accomplished by the means of transportation of his day. A quarter of a century later we are near the day when the ordinary tourist can make the trip in less than half of eighty days. The Russian minister of communication has stated that when the great Trans-Siberian railroad is opened, early in the twentieth century, the tour of the world can be completed in thirty-three days.”
—Scientific American, January 1898
More gems from Scientific American’s first 175 years can be found on our anniversary archive page.