20 Crazy Historical Facts That Will Put Time Into Perspective

A lot of major events in history seem like a very long time ago. However, when you put these events into perspective, you’ll realise that the “olden times” and “modern times” actually cross paths a lot more often than you think.

These insane historical facts will jolt you out of your comfort zone and current perception of time. Events that you thought weren’t recent actually took place at the same time as much more modern-day happenings. How is that possible? I blame the fact that we are living in the Matrix, these are obviously glitches. Or, our perception of time is much worse than we once thought.

Prepare to have your mind blown, you’ll never look at the past in the same way again.

1.) John Tyler, America’s 10th president, was born in 1790 and has two LIVING GRANDCHILDREN

MattSmethurst / Twitter

Yep, this probably is the craziest thing I’ve EVER heard. A man born in 1790 still has grandchildren alive to this day thanks to his children having babies when they were older. Time suddenly seems so much shorter than ever before and I think I’m about to have a midlife crisis…

2.) Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth II were born in the same year

kirbyfood / Imgur

For some reason, I felt like these two wonderful ladies were from different times entirely! When they were both 30-years-old, the met at a movie premiere in London in 1956. I love how nervous Marilyn looks while the Queen is just beaming with happiness. They were both born in 1926.

3.) Harriet The Tortoise saw Charles Darwin in person

J. Cameron / Wikipedia

Harriet the tortoise died in 2006, her estimated age was 175! She was collected by Charles Darwin during a visit to the Galápagos Islands in 1835. It’s crazy to think that a living being that died in 2006, met Charles Darwin.

4.) Woolly Mammoths were still alive when the Egyptians were building the pyramids

Ricardo Liberato , Stephen Wilkes

The Egyptians began building the pyramids in 2660 BCE, when the Woolly Mammoths were still alive and kicking! In fact, these mammoths stuck around until 1650 BC, living in Eastern Russia. Meanwhile, the great pyramids of Eygpt were being built between 2630 BC–2611 BC. So, man was building the most fantastic structures whilst Woolly Mammoths were still happily roaming the Earth.

5.) Oxford University existed for hundreds of years before the Aztec Empire was founded

jjnanni , Tejvan Pettinger

This one just makes no sense to me, it seems humans really haven’t been around for as long as we once thought! The Aztec Empire was founded in 1428 but Oxford University had already existed for hundreds of years by this time.

6.) George Washington never knew dinosaurs existed

Gilbert Stuart , Houston Museum of Natural Science

Another incredibly shocking one. George Washington died in 1799 whilst the first dinosaur fossil was discovered in 1824. These two events seem like worlds apart but apparently not! It shows how quickly our civilisation has developed and changed, that in a mere 25 years the huge discovery of dinosaurs was made, I’m sad George Washington missed it!

7.) Nintendo was founded when Jack the Ripper was still on the loose

meiji150

It truly is crazy to think about how old Nintendo is as a company and how far they’ve come! They had humble beginnings making playing cards called Hanafuda way back in 1889. Little did they know that they would make some of the most iconic video games of all time such as Mario and Pokemon! Jack the Ripper was still committing his terrible crimes in London during this time.

8.) Anne Frank and Martin Luther King Junior were both born in 1929

Dick DeMarsico , Collectie Anne Frank Stichting Amsterdam

Anne Frank was a Jewish victim of the terrible Holocaust, she gained fame through the diaries she kept during her time hiding from the Germans. Martin Luther King Junior was a pioneer for civil rights and equality who made huge positive changes in the world. This is a very meaningful connection. Anne Frank, a victim of the biggest hate crime in history, born in the same year as Martin Luther King Junior, a future peace activist.

9.) Star Wars came out the same year as the last guillotine execution in France

Johann Jaritz , Sunset Boulevard

Both of these huge moments in history happened in 1977, I thought that they were worlds apart! A least one horrible thing ended and something awesome began.

10.) Swiss women got the right to vote the same year the US put a buggy on the moon

Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS , NASA/Dave Scott

Switzerland is often said to be one of the most progressive nations in the world so it’s shocking that women didn’t get the right to vote until 1971, the same year the US was sending objects to the Moon! It’s humbling to see how much we take for granted that people once had to fight for.

11.) The fax machine was invented the same year as the first wagon crossed the Oregon trail

MarsSpecialOps , Jordan Dawe

These historical events seem like they are from different CENTURIES, not the very same year! The fax machine was invented in 1843 which was the same year the first wagon crossed the famous Oregon trail. I bet the wagon was still quicker than the fax machine though!

12.) You could actually take the London Underground to the last public hanging in the UK in 1868

londonist.com , Matt Buck

Hanging was a common punishment in the UK and wasn’t abolished until 1868! The London Underground was invented 5 years earlier in 1863. So, people could have been travelling on the London Underground to watch a hanging…just let that sink in.

13.) Princess Diana and Mother Teresa died days apart in 1997

Anwar Hussein

Princess Diana died in a fatal car crash on August 31st 1997 whilst Mother Teresa died on 5th September 1997 after declining health. It was an incredibly tragic summer.

14.) NASA was exploring space before scientists agreed on plate tectonics

Wikimedia Commons , NASA

Alfred Wegner proposed the theory of continental drift way back in 1912. His theory was not taken seriously by many geologists until 1967, by that time NASA were already in space!

15.) Prisoners arrived at Auschwitz days after McDonald’s was founded in 1940

Legarius , strangehill

Most of us associate the creation of McDonald’s with the good times and affluence of the 50s. However, the very first restaurant opened on May 15th 1940 and a mere 5 days later, the very first prisoners arrived at Auschwitz concentration camp. This is a disturbing mixture of times.

16.) The last widow of the Civil War died the same year Barack Obama became president

GLENN A RAILSBACK III , Rick Bowmer

It’s crazy to think that Maudie Hopkins died in 2008 and was married to someone who fought and died in the CIVIL WAR! How does that even work?!

17.) Ecstasy was invented the same year the Titanic sunk

Robert John Welch

The Titanic sunk in 1912, just four days into the ship’s voyage. The very same year, Ecstasy was invented by Merck to stop abnormal bleeding. They weren’t interested in the drug at the time as it didn’t achieve what they wanted it to. People then began to take it for recreational use thanks to the psychoactive effects of the drug.

18.) Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler were born in the same year

Bettmann

In fact, they were even born in the same week! Chaplin even played Hitler in the 1940 satire “The Great Dictator”. At the time this satire was released, America and Nazi Germany were still formally at peace so it was all in jest, a dark foreshadowing for what was to come.

19.) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published in 2007, the same year the first iPhone model was released

David Paul Morris

They were even released in the exact same summer of 2007. It feels like Harry Potter came way before the very first iPhone!

20.) Buffalo Bill Cody was still alive when the Germans were bombing using Zeppelins

Wikimedia Commons , Wellcome Collection

The Germans were bombing with Zeppelins in 1916, whilst Buffalo Bill Cody was still alive! These are two distinctly different types of warfare, being brought together in one period of time.

It seems that the world has been around for a long time and us humans are only a blip in it’s timeline. Things in history happened a lot sooner than you would think and I wonder what will be overlapping from our time and the future in a few years!

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