2007 seems determined to end on a bitter, bloody and worrisome note: Assassination in Pakistan, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, genocide in Darfur, steroids in baseball and global warming everywhere.

But, the end of the year is also a good time to stand back and take the long view, the really long view. When we do, we see that life for all Americans, and many of the world’s people, is better and brighter than it has ever been in human history.

In December of 1999, two men, Stephen Moore and Julian L. Simon, wrote an article for Policy Analysis magazine titled “The Greatest Century That Ever Was,” they listed 25 “miraculous trends” of the past 100 years.

Furthermore, they predicted, despite Americans’ general pessimism about the future, all these trends would continue into the next century.

So, if you are feeling a bit glum on the last day of the year, don’t be. While tigers may attack teenagers, Britney’s kid sister may be pregnant, and politicians continue to snipe at each other from cornfields in Iowa, life goes on, and it’s getting better all the time!

Here are 15 of the trends cited by Moore and Simon:

1. For most of history, the average human life span was between 25 and 35 years. Today, in the U.S., it’s about 77.

2. In 1900, 15 babies out of 150 died before their first birthday. Today only one baby in 150 does.

3. In 1900, 700 Americans per 100,000 died of an infectious disease. Today, it’s only 50 per 100,000, a 14-fold decrease.

4. In 1950, 300 Americans in 100,000 died of heart disease. Today, it’s fewer than 150.

5. Real gross domestic product in the U.S., in constant dollars, has gone from $.05 trillion in 1900 to about $9 trillion today.

6. In 1950, 58 percent of Americans 65 and older lived in poverty. Today, it’s fewer than 10 percent.

7. The average American workweek was 50 hours in 1909. Today, it’s 35.

8. For most of human history, more than half of people worked on farms. Today, fewer than 2 percent do.

9. In 1922, 20 percent of American households owned a radio. Today, 98 percent of American households own a color TV, and 40 percent own three.

10. In 1900, only 1 in 10 U.S. homes had an indoor toilet. Today, 99.5 percent of homes do.

11. In 1907, only 8 percent of homes had electricity, and the cost of electricity was, in constant dollars, 10 times higher than it is today.

12. At 1915 telephone rates, a coast-to-coast, 10-minute phone call would cost $65 today.

13. In 1900, there were 25 horses for every 100 Americans. Today, 91 percent of American households have at least one car.

14. In 1975, an IBM 370-168 mainframe computer sold for $3.4 million. Today, a personal computer with 1,000 times more computing speed costs less than $1,000.

15. In 1949, an ENIAC computer had 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighed 30 tons. Today, a far more powerful laptop computer can weigh less than 7 pounds.