re: What 100 yr old saw the most dramatic change in their lifetime?

I guess it depends on what sort of change.

The oldest one saw our nation come into existence. But culturally and technologically, not much changed.

Second oldest would have seen brutal civil war and some fairly significant technological advancements: electricity, basic communications, and transportation. Western America being settled. New states and territories.

But clearly cultural and tech (including medical) differences between 1925 and now are exponentially more extreme than the other two. Massive population explosions. Even the lowest classes have more comforts and expectations than the vast vast majority of people on the other date ranges.

And also the rise of the fats, device-addled drones, and extreme welfare state.

People alive today will see the Singularity occur.

my grandmother lived from 1911-2011

from before the first commercial radio broadcast to HDTV, internet and social media

from 8 years after the Wright Bros to the ISS

from kids using slates and chalk in school to carrying iPads

In the year 2025
Few posters are still alive
Who saw the murder of LucasP
By a Gnome of Infamy...

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1815-1925

Went from tail end of the Industrial Revolution through the end of WWI

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I'd think it would be 1925 to 2025 but I have to remind myself I'm looking at it through the only perspective I know.

Some arguments for my position : The Model T was the most common car in the 1920s and transportation alone has made significant advancements.

The idea of air travel being as common today was probably just more of a conceptual idea at that time.

Medical advancements - the amount of critical vaccines that came out after 1925 is certainly nothing to take lightly. That in its own right has saved or prolonged the lives of millions.

WW2/Nuclear age/Space race are all pretty obvious and don't need much commentary from me. And this doesn't include all of the other world conflicts from 1925 to present which are significant in their own right.

Other obvious advancements which have been progressive include television, the internet, smart phones, the dawn of AI...

The world is so much different now than it was in 1925 it's tough to even think about

I'd think what country you lived in might drive the answers on this one somewhat. I could see 1825 to 1925 being interesting once you add in the Civil War as a key component for people that lived here.

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Advancements in science, technology, medical procedures, medicines in general, etc. makes the previous 200 year span look archaic in comparison.

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Here is another one...in 1925 only about half of the people in the U.S. had electricity which also means air conditioning.

It's tough to even conceive such a world today. That alone might dwarf everything else on the list when you consider how much of modern life is completely dependent on electricity use.

1825 - 1925

mass marketed medicines / medicine is brought into the modern age
Western hemisphere - borders and nations established during this time are
mostly intact today, with some exceptions
electricity
telegraph, the telephone
assembly - line manufacturing
crude oil discovered in the US in 1784, changing.... everything
the US rises to power to lead the world

Joe Biden witnessed the lack of airports during the Revolutionary War

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Here is another one...in 1925 only about half of the people in the U.S. had electricity which also means air conditioning.

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Hell, I was born in 52 and didn't have A/C in any house we lived in until I bought my first house in 74 and put 2 window units in it.

So, 22 years of living in N.O. with no A/C. Thing is, you don't really miss what you don't have, but once I got A/C my tolerance for the heat and humidity dropped off the charts.

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Industrialization was the biggest change to human existence.

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The agricultural revolution was much more impactful. 1725-1825 no doubt wins because of all the political turmoil in Europe, with the American and French Revolutions and Napoleonic Wars.