How the divorce rate has changed over the last 150 years

• The INSIDER data team examined divorce rates over the past 150 years and found some interesting trends. 
• Divorce rates steadily increased from the mid-1800s to the 1950s.
• The biggest increase in divorces was between the '60s and '70s.
• Since the turn of the 21st century, divorce has been on the decline.

It's commonly believed that half of all marriages today end in divorce. It certainly feels that way, as headlines are filled with famous couples parting ways. But it hasn't always been this way. In fact, divorce was once taboo. 

To see how divorce changed over time, the INSIDER data team compiled information within the US from the CDC and data scientist Randy Olson. Since we know the number of divorces every year, but the population changes, we calculated the rate of divorce for every 1,000 people. It became clear that half of all marriages don't end in divorce today. In fact, divorce is on the decline these days. 

Keep reading to see more surprising trends the divorce rate has had throughout the years. 

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From 1867 to 1879, the annual divorce rate was 0.3 divorces per 1,000 Americans.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, people often married to gain property rights or to move social class. All of that changed by the mid- to late 1800s, with the ideas of love and romance becoming the main reason to wed.

But that doesn't mean everyone stayed married. In 1867, there were 10,000 divorces, and by 1879, there were 17,000 that year. However, the rate of divorce stayed at a very low 0.3 divorces per 1,000 Americans.

The rest of the century, the annual rate steadily increased to 0.7 divorces for every 1,000 people.

In the 19th century, divorce was rare, and generally considered taboo. Unhappy couples would often separate but not legally get divorced.

But there were a few pioneers who did legally part ways. In fact, in 1880, the rate rose to 0.4 for every 1,000 Americans with 20,000 divorces, and it increased again in 1887 to 0.5. The rate didn't hit 0.7 until 1898 with 48,000 divorces that year. 

At the turn of the century, the annual divorce rate rose to 0.9 divorces for every 1,000 people in a given year.

At the start of the 20th century, divorce was still considered taboo and a foreign concept. In 1901, the rate rose from 0.7 for every 1,000 people to 0.8 with 61,000 divorces that year. It increased again in 1907 to 0.9, and stayed there for the rest of the decade.