So people have been talking about risk and numbers and I realized that I don't have a good sense of how many people actually died from certain things. It feels like millions died in WWII but if you are talking about just American GIs, the number is 291,557. So I went down the rabbit hole. I didn't include everything obviously, but I did include day count estimates since that helps to put things into perspective as well. But it also doesn't show other things. Death counts don't include those injured and for wars, probably don't count potential civilian completely like Revolutionary and Civil. People used to pack picnics to watch the battles and I don't think any of them would be included in death counts.
So, if someone starts quoting statistics, including myself, here is a cheat sheet of a bunch of death counts to help put those statistics into perspective. Also, links to where I got the numbers at the bottom.
Deaths in United States or of US military for war related counts
2 deaths from rabies in 365 days
400 deaths by an animal(s) in 365 days
1,330 deaths by cold exposure (freeze to death) in 365 days
1,347 deaths by airplane crash all types (2018) in 365 days
2,260 deaths War of 1812 (1812-1815) in roughly 1,000 days
2,445 deaths War in Afghanistan (since 2001) in roughly 6,800 days
2,446 deaths Spanish-American War (1898-1902) in roughly 1440 days
2,977 deaths 9/11 terrorist attacks in 1 day
4,431 deaths War in Iraq (2003-2010) in roughly 2,555 days
4,435 deaths Revolutionary War (1775-1783) in roughly 2,900 days
12,000 deaths lowest year for death by flu annually between since 2010 in 365 days
16,217 deaths by murder (2018) in 365 days
27,000 deaths by HPV related cancers in 365 days
36,574 deaths Korean War (1950-1953) in roughly 1,000 days
37,133 deaths by car accident (2017) in 365 days
47,173 deaths by suicide (2017) in 365 days
52,088 deaths by car accident if including estimated 14,955 saved by seat belts (2017) in 365 days
53,402 deaths World War I (1917-1918) in roughly 700 days
55,672 deaths from Flu and Pneumonia (2017) in 365 days
58,220 deaths Vietnam War (1964-1975) in roughly 4,000 days
61,000 deaths by highest year for death by flu annually since 2010 in 365 days
65,510 deaths by Covid-19 in 62 days
70,000 deaths by overdose (2017) in 365 days
83,564 deaths by diabetes* (2017) in 365 days
121,404 deaths by Alzheimer* (2017) in 365 days
169,935 deaths by accidents including car accidents - unintentional injuries (2017) in 365 days
291,557 deaths World War II (1941-1945) in roughly 1,450 days
498,332 deaths Civil War in roughly 1,450 days
599,108 deaths from Cancer (malignant neoplasms in 2017)* in 365 days
647,000 deaths from heart disease (includes heart attacks, AFIB, rheumatic fever, etc. in 2017)* in 365 days
*primary cause on death certificate
https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/seat-belts
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/04/coronavirus-death-toll-vietnam-war-cvd/
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_06-508.pdf
https://www.diabetes.org/resources/statistics/statistics-about-diabetes
https://www.businessinsider.com/deadliest-animals-us-dont-include-sharks-crocodiles-dogs-cows-2019-8
https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/airplane-crashes/
https://www.cdc.gov/injury/features/prescription-drug-overdose/index.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6613553/
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/adults/vpd.html
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
https://www.publichealthpost.org/research/counting-cold-related-deaths-new-york-city/