Time is a funny thing. We watch it pass every day, yet it can still be surprisingly hard to put into perspective.
Did you know, for example, that Cleopatra lived closer to the moon landing in 1969 than to the building of the Great Pyramids around 2500 BCE? Or that Oxford University is older than the Aztec Empire? Teaching began there around 1096, while the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan was not founded until 1325.
Pretty wild, right? Well, today we put together a list of fascinating timeline comparisons just like these, shared by members of the subreddit r/BarbaraWalters4Scale. Scroll down to check them out and see just how different history can look when you put certain moments side by side.
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David Attenborough Is So Old That There's A Picture Of Him As A Grown Man Meeting King Charles When He Was A Child
This was in 1958, Attenborough was 32 and Charles was 10.
194 Year Old Jonathan The Tortoise Wishes Sir David Attenborough A Happy Birthday
Rip Claudette Colvin, September 5, 1939 – January 13, 2026
Arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man nine months before Rosa Parks and one of four plaintiffs in the court case that declared segregated public transportation illegal.
She wasn't seen as a viable candidate to be the face of a revolution, so she was ignored
Time is a fascinating concept when you really stop to think about it. During a slow workday, an hour can feel like it lasts forever, and a week can seem to drag on endlessly. Then you blink and somehow five or ten years have passed.
We rely on seconds, minutes, hours, and years to keep our lives organized, and these measurements are essential for everything from science to catching a train on time. Still, the numbers on a clock do not always match the way time actually feels while we are living through it.
Although Pelé Lived To The Age Of 82, He Never Knew A World Without His Mother, Who Outlived Him By A Year And A Half And Passed Aged 101
This is more of a curse for his poor mother who has to live through the d***h of her son in the final year of her life
A Man Born In The 1600s Fought In The Revolutionary War
The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine Has Now Lasted As Long As World War I
Humans have been trying to understand this strange idea for thousands of years. According to EBSCO, the ancient Greeks had two different ways of thinking about time. They used the term chronos to refer to time moving forward in order and the term kairos to describe the right or meaningful moment to take action.
Philosophers also disagreed about whether time existed on its own or depended on humans being there to experience change. Aristotle, for example, saw time as a way of measuring change, which shows just how long people have been asking questions about what time actually is.
In 2016, Yisrael Kristal, The Oldest Living Man In The World At The Time, Celebrated His Bar Mitzvah At 113, Having Been Unable To Do So 100 Years Prior Due To Ww1
Harry And Charlie From The “Charlie Bit My Finger” Video Are Now 22 And 20
If Sarah Knauss, The Oldest Living American (September 24th 1880 - December 30th 1999), Had Lived Just Two Days Longer, She Would Have Been Able To Experience Three Centuries
Of course, people still needed practical ways to keep track of it. Before clocks existed, ancient civilizations watched the movement of the sun and stars.
The Sumerians and Babylonians used a number system based on 60, which eventually helped give us the 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in a minute that we use today.
Ancient Egyptians helped develop the idea of dividing the day into 12-hour sections. Over many centuries, different systems slowly came together and gave us the familiar way we measure time now.
Despite Coming Out 83 Years Ago, All 3 Voice Actors For These Characters Are Still Alive
Donald Dunagan as Bambi, age 91. Stan Alexander as Flower, age 93. Peter Behn as Thumper, age 91.
The First Black Woman To Study In An All-White School Is Still Alive And Has An Instagram Account
Buzz Aldrin, 96 Years Old, Is The Last Surviving Member Of The 1969 Apollo Mission. He Has Lived Long Enough To Witness Artemis II
The funny thing is that our brains do not seem to experience time as neatly as our clocks measure it.
Psychologists began studying this more scientifically in the late 1800s and found that people do not directly sense time passing. Instead, we notice events happening and changes taking place around us.
Our brains then use that information to understand what happened first, what came next, and roughly how much time may have passed. Scientists still do not fully understand the exact mechanism behind this, and time perception appears to involve several different parts of the brain.
Saw This Instagram Post Thought It Would Fit Here
Another fun fact: it was only around the time the original Star Wars: A New Hope was released that women were allowed to have a bank account without a man's approval
The 1921 Tulsa Race M******e Has One Living Survivor
This is Lessie Benningfield Randle. She is 111 years old and is the last living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race M******e.
The Tulsa Race M******e was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist m******e that took place in the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, between May 31 and June 1, 1921.
Mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials, attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses.
The event is considered one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history.
Another survivor of the m******e, Viola Fletcher (1914-2025) passed away recently in late November of 2025. Leaving Lessie as the sole living survivor of the m******e.
is this post about a M a s s a cre ? or Marmite? stop this censoring please
D**k Van D**e Was 24 When Legos Were Invented And Is Now Too Old To Play With Them
One possible explanation lies in the chemicals involved. EBSCO notes that dopamine and norepinephrine have both been linked to the way we experience time.
Dopamine is part of the brain’s reward system and is associated with pleasurable experiences. Researchers have found that it seems to speed up our perception of time, which may help explain why we often say that time flies when we are having fun.
This Is The First Juneteenth That Charlie Kirk Hasn't Said Anything Racist
A Boston Tea Party Participant Lived Long Enough To Be Photographed
Samuel Sprague passed in 1844, this photograph was taken in 1842. For reference, the Boston Tea Party happened in 1773 when Samuel was in his 20s.
Peter Mills, The Last Living American Man Who Was Born A S***e, Passed 1972
Norepinephrine, meanwhile, is released during stressful or dangerous situations and appears to slow our perception of time. This may be why people who experience accidents sometimes describe events as happening in slow motion.
Scientists think this response may have been passed down from our ancestors because it helped them survive life-threatening situations. When faced with a predator, feeling as though time had slowed down could give them more time to process what was happening and decide whether to run or fight.
Giving Macbeth Plate Armor Is The Same As Giving George Washington An iPhone
The real King Macbeth passed in 1057. Plate armor (like seen in this image from Roman Polanskis Macbeth film) would only become prominently used in the mid 1200s to 1300s
So this would be like George Washington using an IPhone that came out 200 years after his passing in 1799
Shakespeare’s play is a work of fiction loosely based on real characters. It's fine to set it in any time period you like: it's about the characters not the costume. The original Hamlet, according to Saxo Grammaticus, predates the original Macbeth, but the play has often been performed in modern dress, as have other works. TLDR: oh for God's sake, stop it.
D**k Van D**e, Who’s Still Alive, Had Grey Hair 54 Years Ago
Christopher Lloyd Was Only 47 While Filming Back To The Future
Yeah, HE (Christopher Lloyd) would've been 17 in 1955 in real life! Which is the same age as Marty's parents in the movie.
Even the language we speak can influence how we think about time. As the BBC has reported, English speakers often imagine it moving horizontally from left to right, which may be connected to the way English is written and read. They also use phrases such as “pushing a deadline back” or “moving a meeting forward.”
Mandarin speakers, meanwhile, often picture time vertically, with the past above and the future below. For instance, the word xia, which means “down,” is used when referring to future events, so the phrase for “next week” can literally translate as “down week.”
The Baptized Baby From 2020 Is Now 6
Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) Takes Place In 1936, 45 Years Before It's Release. It's Been 45 Years Since 1981
And in that timeframe, we've managed to downgrade from punching and kilㅤling naㅤzis to "They also have a legitimate opinion that needs to be respected and debated without violence 😭😭"
Seven Generations Alive At Once; C. 1989
(Pictured): Christopher Bollig (0), Lori Bollig (15), Debra Bollig (33), Betty Wolter (52), Anne Wendlandt (70), Ella Sabin (89), Augusta Pagel (109)
Interestingly, people who speak languages that make less of a distinction between the present and future may also act differently when it comes to what lies ahead. One study found that they were more likely to save money and had accumulated more wealth by retirement.
Of course, grammar alone does not determine how someone behaves. Still, it is fascinating to think that the way we talk about tomorrow could affect the choices we make today.
British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan Served In The First World War And Lived Long Enough To Be Photographed Playing Video Games
Good grief. Clive Sinclair and that's probably a ZX Spectrum. Macmillian didn't just fight in the First World War - he was badly wounded (after being slightly wounded...), which explains what I recall as his stiff and awkward movements from when he was old. 'Macmillan saw himself as both a "gownsman" and a "swordsman" and would later display open contempt for other politicians (e.g. Rab Butler, Hugh Gaitskell, Harold Wilson) who had not seen military service in either World War.' Link follows.
Harvard University Had Been Open For 17 Years When The Taj Mahal Was Finally Completed
Spider-Man’s Aunt May Is Still Alive At 98
All of this helps explain why timeline comparisons can feel so strange when we first see them. We know that history stretches across thousands of years, yet our minds tend to sort people and events into separate boxes rather than picture exactly how close together they really were.
Once someone points out that two seemingly distant moments happened within the same lifetime, or that something we think of as ancient existed at the same time as something much more recent, the way we see the past can suddenly change.
The dates were always there. Sometimes, we simply need to put them side by side before we can really feel what they mean.
Joe Biden Is The Only President In American History From The Silent Generation
Still 1,000 xs more competent than Trump is.
America Hasn’t Had A President Who Was Fluent In A Language Other Than English Since World War II
Two Game Of Thrones Actors Had Fathers Born In The 1870s
Charles Dance played Tywin Lannister. His father, Walter Dance was born in 1874.
Max Von Sydow played The Three Eyed Raven. His father, Carl Wilhelm Von Sydow was born in 1878.
Charles Dance was born in 1946. Max Von Sydow was born in 1929.
Game of thrones ran from 2011-2019
2 of 2
Wow! When i was born my father was 40 and i allways thought that was pretty old
Abraham Lincoln’s Father Lived Long Enough To Be Photographed
Thomas Lincoln was born on January 6, 1778, and passed on January 17, 1851. This photograph of him was taken in 1851, shortly before his passing
My father lived long enough to be used in a deepfake-video. In fact, he's still alive
Harry Truman Is The Last Us President To Have Less Than 1 Million Dollars In His Bank Account
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Was Born 11 Days After South Park First Aired
If The United States Lasted As Long As The Qing Dynasty, It Would Collapse In 2044
A Then 114 Year Old Christian Mortensen And 2nd Oldest Man In History Smoking A Cigar In A Wheelchair, United States, 1997
When I was growing up I knew a 95 year-old man who walked 2 miles every day to buy a pint of Jim Beam whiskey and a 5-pack of RoiTan cigars from the market next to my Dad's store. He told my Dad he'd been consuming the liquor and smoking the cigars since he was 25. He always wore a neat and clean 3-piece suit, and a hat. Does this particular type of apparel work some kind of magic?
Ian Mcdiarmid Was Only 37 Years Old When He Played The Emperor In Star Wars Episode Vi: Return Of The Jedi
He was a late stand-in for the originally casted Alan Webb, 75, who fell seriously ill from the flu and was unable to play before passing away that same year in 1982.
Of The 59 People Mentioned In Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire”, Only 3 Are Currently Alive
Wendy Thomas, The Real-Life Wendy’s Girl, Is Younger Than Barack Obama
Roughly 1.3 Billion People Have Passed Globally Since The First Youtube Video Got Uploaded On The Internet (Me At The Zoo; 2005)
The Last Person From The 1800s Passed Less Than A Decade Ago
Always Blows My Mind
Picasso, he truly was a terrible person. If he was alive today or even a decade or two ago he'd be in the Epstein files.
Photographs Have Existed For 200 Years Now
And the earliest radio transmissions from the late 1800s have traveled almost 140 light years from earth..
Christopher Chaplin's Father, Charlie Chaplin, Was Born In 1889 And Chris Is Still Under 65
The Last Time A Pope Wore A Papal Tiara Was In 1963. The First Time Was In The 1100s
Looking at this is quite funny...this man draped in gold (I'm assuming) telling you he's closest to God and in charge of the religion of Jesus. Lmao. Us humans are just so collectively thick.
Napoleon Saw The First Electric Battery
Its worth noting that Napoleon passed in 1821, because the Oxford Electric Bell is believed to have been constructed in 1825 (though was definitely in operation in 1840) and is still ringing today on the same battery.
Someone From The 1900s Decade Has Made It To 2026
It’s the new year in the UK. This is the most recent photo of Ethel Caterham (Dec 25th)
Seeing A Civil War Veteran In 1945 Would Be The Equivalent Of Seeing A Ww2 Veteran Today
The witnesses to this horrific war are leaving us, and in that wake we have a uprise of N@zis again. It's very upsetting to see what's going on in the White House.
Reviewbrahs First Food Review Was A Burger, Nuggets, And Fries For $2.89. That Same Meal Would Be $8.77 Today
Khamenei Is The First Ruler In History To Pass On The First Official Day Of War
D**k Cheney's Passing Is The First Time This Century That Any President, Vice President, Or First Lady Has Passed Away Before The Age Of 90
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) - 93
Gerald Ford (1913-2006) - 93
Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007) - 94
Betty Ford (1918-2011) - 93
Nancy Reagan (1921-2016) - 94
Barbara Bush (1925-2018) - 92
George H. W. Bush (1924-2018) - 94
Walter Mondale (1928-2021) - 93
Rosalynn Carter (1927-2023) - 96
Jimmy Carter (1924-2024) - 100
The Last Widow Of A Civil War Soldier Died In 2020. That Would Be The Equivalent To A War In Afghanistan Widow Dying In 2176
They got married in 1936 when she was 17 and he was 93 - that way, she was eligible for his pension when he died although she never claimed it. '[Her] father volunteered his teenage daughter to stop by Bolin’s home each day to provide care and help with chores. To pay back her kindness, Bolin offered to marry Jackson, which would allow her to receive his soldier’s pension after his d***h' and 'Throughout their three years of marriage there was no intimacy and she never lived with him' Link follows.
A Senator Who Voted Against The Civil Rights Act Was Still In Office During Obama's Presidency
Robert Byrd filibustered against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and continued to serve in the Senate until his death in 2010.
Alan Ruck, Who Played Cameron In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Is Now 70 Years Old
Marty Mcfly's "Future" Was Exactly 10 Years Ago
Last Known Son Of A Civil War Veteran Passed Away On June 7th Of This Year
Ice Spice Was Born On January 1st 2000, Meaning You’ll Never Have To Do Math To Figure Out Her Age
Abraham Lincoln Likely Didn't Know Of The Existence Of Panda's As They Were Unknown To Western Science Until 1869
The Debut Episode Of South Park In 1997 Is Closer In Time To The Moon Landing (28 Years) Than It Is To The Present Day (29 Years)
Despite Living In The 20th Century, There Are No Known Voice Recordings Of George Orwell And Only One Known Video Of Him
'Despite his thirty months at the BBC, despite countless radio broadcasts and panel discussions, no recording of Orwell’s voice has ever been found. ' Link follows.
Alejandro Castillo Is The Only Person On The FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List Who Was Born In Generation Z, He’s Been On The List For Almost 8 Years
Searched it up. Apparently he m******d his ex girlfriend over a 1,000 debt. His girlfriend at the time turned herself in, but he evaded arrest for a decade.
These Would Be The Birth Years Of The Simpsons Family If The First Episode Of The Show Aired Today
Christopher Lee Passed Away Closer To The Year 2100 Than His Own Birth Date
1922 to 2015 = 93 years
2015 to 2100 = 85 years
This man's autobiography would blow your mind if you read it. He was so much more accomplished than being just the Hammer Films version of Dracula and Saruman in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. There's also a pretty good breakdown of his life at Wikipedia under his name
It Has Now Been Exactly 1 Million Hours Since The Titanic Sank
Osama Bin Laden's Mother Is Still Alive She Is 91
The Mcu Briefly Overlapped With The Popularity Of Myspace
Silverfish Have A Lifespan Of 2 To 8 Years. So There's Definitely A Few Pre Covid Silverfish Crawling Around Somewhere
The Owner Of The Twin Towers Is Still Alive
If Jesus Lived An Extra 10 Years, He Could Have Visited London
If The Roman Senate Was Founded In The Year 0, It Would Still Exist In 2200
The Man In American Gothic Was Born In 1867 And The Woman Died In 1990
I believe it was Grant Wood's sister and his dentist.
If The Lewinsky Scandal Happened Today, These Would Be The Birth Years Of Bill Clinton And Monica Lewinsky
The affair between Clinton and Lewinsky began in 1995. This would make Bill 49 and Monica 22.
Not to point out the obvious, but their birth years don't change.... But yeah, he's a creep. Let's rather put it this way: if it happened today, Republicans would love him for exploiting a much younger wo--- haha, nope! They would scream for his dea/th. They only suck daddy Trump's ra/pist d/ck.
Kurt Cobain's Dad Is Alive And Well
There isn't a lot of information about him online. Like, he has barely any information present, but unlike Kurt's mom he doesn't have any online obituaries and he's mentioned in a present tense whenever talked about online.
Hm, kurt cobain would be close to 60 years old today, his father has to be quite old then
The First 4 Five Nights At Freddy's Games Were All Released In Under A Year
Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey And Gwen Stefani Are Now All Older Than Lbj Was In This Picture
If Mary Shelley Published Frankenstein Today, She Would've Been Born In 2005
There Are 4 Known Living People Who Have Attended Every Super Bowl
40 Years Ago On Christmas Eve, Abraham Lincoln's Last Descendant Passed Away
Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith (1904-1985) is Abraham Lincoln's great-grandson. He, along with his older sister Mary Lincoln Beckwith (1898-1975) were the last living descendants of Abraham Lincoln up until they died.
This National Geographic Issue, Released In 2013, Can Only Be Proven Right In The Year 2133
Medieval Knights Encountered The Grand Canyon In Arizona
Francisco Vázquez de Coronado led an expedition across what is now considered the Southwest and Great plains regions of Anerica in 1540. 400 Spanish men at arms joined him.
People tend to associate North American history with the 1600s and 1700s but I find it fascinating that there were straight up knights born in the middle ages, wearing plate armor at places such as the Grand Canyon and modern day Kansas
There's a canyon in Mexico that's far larger than the Grand Canyon, and it barely ever gets mentioned. It's Copper Canyon (Barrancas del Cobre), and it's 25,000 square miles. The Grand Canyon is 1,904 square miles.
If Full House Was Made Today, Uncle Jesse Would've Been Born In 2003
Joe Biden Was Born Closer To Lincoln's Presidency Than To His Own
Biden (born 1942) and Lincoln's presidency (1861-1865)
If Every U.S. President’s Term Ended The Moment They Died, History’s List Of Presidents Would Look Like This
As Of The 2027-2028 School Year, There Will Be No Students In K-12 Schooling That Were Alive At The Same Time As Michael Jackson
Jd Vance Could Be The First U.S. President With Facial Hair In 112 Years. The Last U.S. President With Any Facial Hair Was William Howard Taft, Who Left Office In 1913
He has exactly one path to the presidency, because he ain't winning a vote.
Kane Parsons The 20 Year Old Director Of The Backrooms Movie Was 13 Years Old When The Original Backrooms Thread Was Made On 4chan In May Of 2019
Big Chungus Was Released Closer To The Civil War Than To The Year In Which It Became A Meme
The President In 2061 Could Either Be In High School Right Now Or In 3rd Grade Right Now
He'd have to be able to read and do math before he could be president...oh, wait. Yeah, you don't have to be able to read or do math to be president.
The Oldest Person Alive Lived Closer To George Washington Than Someone Born Today
?? If they are the oldest person alive, they are alive at the same time as someone born today, and are clearly living closer to them than George Washington. The other read is that, because they are much older, they were alive closer to GW's life than someone younger, in which case Duh.
This Baby Seen In Spider-Man (2002) Is Older Than Tobey Maguire's Current Girlfriend
Fallout 4 Was Released Before The End Of S*********n In Us Schools
The Man Serving The Longest Life Sentence In The World Will Be Eligible For Parole In 2730
Freddie Benson Is Older Than Charlie Kirk
Charlie Kirk was born on the 14th of October 1993, while Nathan Kress was born on the 18th of November 1992
Youtuber La Beast Consumed Canned Milk That Was Produced Before Ww1 (122 Years Old, 1903)
There's A Good Chance The Next Dalai Lama Will Be An iPad Kid
Mount Rushmore If It Began Construction In 2026
If construction started in 2026 it would have Trump's face on it 4 times, be sprayed with gold paint and fail due to poor quality in two years.
The Start Of The Covid Pandemic (March 11, 2020) Is Closer To The Release Of Frozen (November 27, 2013) Than It Is To Today
Day difference between November 27, 2013 and March 11, 2020: 2296 days
Day difference between March 11, 2020 and June 29, 2026: 2301 days
Listening To Thriller By Michael Jackson In 2026 Would Be Like Listening To Music Made In 1939 When Thriller Came Out
When Thriller came out, I listened to music from the early 1700s.
The Last Class Born In The 90s To Graduate High School Was The Class Of 2018
If Shakespeare Died In 2026 Henry Viii Would Have Been Written In 2023 But Set Between 1931–1943
American Psycho, Released In 2000, Was Set In 1987. This Would Be Like A 2025 Movie Setting Itself In 2012
Cleopatra Lived Closer To Jesus Than We Currently Do To Tupac
Cleopatra's passing to Jesus's birth (30 BCE to (4 or 6) BCE=26 or 28 years)
Tupacs passing to Today (Sept 1996 to April 2026-> almost 30 years)
The Annoying Orange Has Lasted Longer Than The T*********h Did
Sopranos Actors’ Birth Years If The Pilot Episode (Filmed 1997) Was Filmed Today
If The Simpsons Episode “The Way We Was” Released Today, Homer And Marge Would Have Met In High School In 2008
This format of fact telling is annoying the f**k out of me now. Oh, if this happened today the date would be one day ago and it would be sunrise and guess what, 9/11 would've happened in that universe....ah will you f**k off. Misleading titles again BP.
As Of 2026, Pewdiepie Has Officially Spent More Time Out Of The #1 Most Subscribed Spot Than He Spent In It
Charlie Kirk's Entire Life Took Place Within The Life Of Miranda Cosgrove
The first third (maybe half) had some genuinely interesting things. But it got incredibly absurd by the end.
Load More Replies...AI researched and written article. That’s why the “historical facts” that it generated are so bizarre and mundane.
The censoring of words is way out of hand, There is no point in even doing the articles if they become unreadable.
The first third (maybe half) had some genuinely interesting things. But it got incredibly absurd by the end.
Load More Replies...AI researched and written article. That’s why the “historical facts” that it generated are so bizarre and mundane.
The censoring of words is way out of hand, There is no point in even doing the articles if they become unreadable.
