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When we try to put historical events into perspective, we often simplify things into 'old days' and 'modern times,' because our brains can struggle with the perception of time. Since most of us don't live to be centenarians, we cannot know what it really means 'a hundred years ago.'
But what happens when some of the historical facts that you would consider to belong to the contemporary world are much older than we think, or vice versa?
The amazing fact is that it jolts us out of our easy categorization and forces us to reassess our comfortable time perception. That can only be a good thing about these astonishing facts.
We here at Bored Panda have compiled a series of interesting facts about historical events that surprisingly occurred at roughly the same time, turning them into authentic and pretty fascinating coincidences that will make you think twice about how you look at the past.
Scroll down below to check these random facts out for yourself, and prepare to have your mind blown!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
John Tyler, America's Tenth President, Was Born In 1790. He Has Two Living Grandchildren. So This Means...
Deb Johnston 7 years ago
My grandfather on my father's side was born in 1865. I was born almost 100 years later
Agnes Jekyll 7 years ago
My neighbour's grandfather was a kid during the civil war and used to follow the soldiers around (as school was canceled)
Sylvia Genders 7 years ago
My GG wore hoop skirtsand her brother was killed in the civil war. My grandmothers were pompadours. My parents went through the depression and Ww II...now I have grown grandchildren. So, yeah...
Janet Fox 7 years ago
Okay, I got it when I read from someone else..maybe a little help on the side...lol.
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Jo B. Ventura Gurule 7 years ago
Wow this is fabulous for the family !!! How many of us can say that!!!!
RELATED:
#2
Marilyn Monroe And Queen Elizabeth Were Born In The Same Year. Here They (Both 30 At The Time) Meet At A Movie Premier In London In October 1956
The two were both born in 1926 and once met each other, at the premiere of The Battle of the River Plate in London’s Leicester Square. Monroe was there to accompany her then husband Arthur Miller. You can see her here in the receiving line of guests waiting to shake the young Queen’s hand.
Louplou 7 years ago
Her Majesty is beaming and the beautiful Marilyn Monroe looks nervous - what a gorgeous photo
Darryl Kerrigan 7 years ago
I remember when the 'Madness of King George' came out in cinemas. They had to change the title from 'The Madness of King George III' as American test audiences kept asking what happened to the first 2 films!
Debster 7 years ago
Wow!!! I think the queen has great genetics and has a baby face. Which is very useful as you age. Marilyn was gorgeous but aged much faster.
Liz Sahlin Johansson 7 years ago
You don’t think Marilyn’s hard reality, in perspective to Elisabeth’s, had anything to do with her speeding age...?
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Agnes Jekyll 7 years ago
I think of all that M. Monroe lost out on--but also, would she have been allowed to age as the queen has done, or would there have been constant comments about her beauty?
#3
Harriet The Tortoise, Who Died In 2006, Had Seen Charles Darwin In Person
Harriet the tortoise was reportedly collected by Charles Darwin during his 1835 visit to the Galápagos Islands as part of his round-the-world survey expedition, transported to England, and then brought to her final home, Australia, by a retiring captain of the Beagle. However, some doubt was cast on this story by the fact that Darwin had never visited the island that Harriet originally came from. She had an estimated age of 175 by the time she finally died at Steve Irwin's zoo!
Max L. 7 years ago
Sadly the three of them with the exception of Mrs.Irwin are no more with us
Patrick McKemie 7 years ago
Yes, Charles left us too soon. I'll miss him the most.
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Pamela 7 years ago
I'm glad he didn't eat her. He was said to have eaten a batch of turtles on a trip home because he found them to be very yummy lol
#4
Woolly Mammoths Were Still Alive While Egyptians Were Building The Pyramids (2660 BCE)
Scientists have determined that wooly mammoths were still roaming the Earth until about 1650 BC, the giant creatures could be found on an island off the coast of eastern Russia at the time. Meanwhile, the oldest of the 'Great Pyramids' in Egypt, the Pyramid of Djoser was constructed between 2630 BC–2611 BC, meaning that while man was busy building some of the most incredible structures ever made, wooly mammoths were still doing their thing.
stellermatt 7 years ago
Also Cleopatra was alive closer to the moon landings than the pyramids being built
Night Owl 7 years ago
Yes. I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around it
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Carol Emory 7 years ago
I knew this because I studied Egyptology and Anthropology. Mammoths went extinct because of the manner in which they were hunted, similar to buffalo. They were frightened and chased until they ran off a cliff. Buffalo survived better because the gestation periods of the buffalo were way shorter (9-10 months) compared to mammoths (22 months). Mammoth populations never recovered.
Heather Johnson 7 years ago
So far none of these have really messed with my perception of time but I know it's coming and I'm gonna be blown away! Still, these are very interesting facts and a great read!
Jilltdcatlady 7 years ago
So, technically, the wooly mammoth could have hauled the stones to create the pyramids...?
layne 7 years ago
@Jiltcatlady technically yes. only the last of wooly mammoths lived on an island off the coast of eastern Russia.
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D L C 7 years ago
Well the Fundamentalists would have us believe that early men like the Egyptians rode around on dinosaurs. I saw a documentary on it some years ago; I think it was called " The Flintstones. "
boredhuman 7 years ago
The island they refer to called Wrangel Island. There are people "living" there, on an extremely isolated island. Most of them are Russian scientist and rangers.
Jean Jenns 7 years ago
We humans drove the Wooly Mammoths to extinction, they didn't "die out" for no reason.
Josh Coker 7 years ago
THIS is the kinda stuff what would make history a LOT more interesting in school!
#5
Oxford University Existed For Hundreds Of Years Before The Aztec Empire Was Founded (1428)
The Aztec Empire, began as an alliance of three Nahua altepetl city-states. These three city-states ruled the area in and around the Valley of Mexico from 1428 until the combined forces of the Spanish conquistadores and their native allies under Hernán Cortés defeated them in 1521. Aztec culture had rich and complex mythological and religious traditions, as well as achieving remarkable architectural and artistic accomplishments.
Meanwhile in England, Oxford University was already well-established. It has no known date of foundation, but there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation. It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris.
Aaron Kara 7 years ago
I love what an understanding of history does to our perception of scale and time. The more we learn the bigger the world becomes and the younger our civilisation seems
Ale Guadarrama 7 years ago
The photo is from Teotihuacán, another civilization, ancient than the Aztecs.
Travis Janeway 7 years ago
Teotihuacan (pictured above) was built over two thousand years ago.
Amina Hays 7 years ago
Brilliant *laughs* Have you seen any of the new series with Richard Ayoade?
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Ivy Ruonakoski 7 years ago
Not really. Only the sons of noblemen attended university back then. They had the cash.
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Misterscooter 7 years ago
I guess I never realized how much the Aztecs did in such a short amount of time.
BusLady 7 years ago
Compare that 93 years to the age of the U.S. (242 years). Worldwide, the U.S. is a relatively young country.
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Lisa Catacosinos 7 years ago
I'm one of those people who truly mourn what happened to the Aztecs, Mayans, etc. When I think of how they burned all their books-only a teeny few survived, and the literal gardens with trees and statues and flowers they made of gold. It breaks my heart that greed and avarice, and lust for power and so much more destroyed the true wonders of the world.
Jean Hurst 7 years ago
Today 2018, Current President Donald Trump is breaking my heart in that his greed, avarice and lust for power is currently destroying a true wonder of the world...democracy.
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George Washington Died In 1799. The First Dinosaur Fossil Was Discovered In 1824. George Washington Never Knew Dinosaurs Existed
George Washington died peacefully at home on December 14, 1799, aged 67 years old. A soldier, farmer, and statesman, as well as the first President of the United States under the U.S. Constitution, Washington was commonly referred to as the "Father of His Country" by his compatriots. He, like anyone else at the time, didn't know that dinosaurs existed because they were not scientifically recognized as such until 1824, when British naturalist William Buckland first described Megalosaurus, now regarded to be the first dinosaur to be scientifically named.
Craig Lee 7 years ago
He actually would have had a more southern sounding accent. Both of his parents were born in Virginia and colonists had been in America well over a hundred years. Not to mention current British accents do not sound like they did at those times.
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Carol Emory 7 years ago
Other dinosaur bones were discovered during George Washington's time..they just thought it was from animals currently roaming the earth or from fictional animals that were from stories sailors told locals. There was a thing called Dragons in folklore and mythology. Instances of them might have been re-enforced with dinosaur bones that people believed were dragons.
Jef Bateman 7 years ago
The first dinosaur fossil was scientifically described in 1824. People have probably found them from time to time before that, but thought they were something else. Chang Qu wrote about people finding "dragon bones" a couple of thousand years ago.
Minmi 7 years ago
It took Mantell a long time to get dinosaurs recognised as creatures that went extinct (extinction was not generally accepted), but was beaten by his rival Owen who actually coined the name 'dinosaur' (Owen also took Mantell's spine after his death). Another fact- Buckland tried to eat his way through the entire animal kingdom.
Misterscooter 7 years ago
This one isn't all that astonishing. A lot relatively recent famous people didn't know. Even when they were discovered, news might not have traveled very fast.
#7
Nintendo Was Founded When Jack The Ripper Was Still On The Loose (1889)
Nintendo, the Japanese gaming company associated with video game legends such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda and the Pokemon characters is actually much older than the video game era. They originally made playing cards called hanafuda, and the company was founded way back in 1889, when the infamous Jack the Ripper was creating havoc on the streets of London. The true identity of the Ripper has never been discovered, and he was a prime suspect in the murder of the unidentified woman known as 'The Pinchin Street Torso,' because that is all that remained of her. This happened only weeks before Nintendo came into existence.
Carol Emory 7 years ago
This I knew because I worked at Nintendo for a while. They tell every trainee that Nintendo was founded on playing cards.
Aaron Kara 7 years ago
"I heard Jack the Rippers about tonight, wanna just stay in and get on some Mario kart?"
Aunt Messy 7 years ago
Keep in mind that 1889 is NOT an old company for Japan. In Kyoto, we met one of the last indigo dyers. The family business has been in existence for over 800 years. They're in the "new" shop now, the old one having burned down in the 1300s.
L Jennings 7 years ago
1889 isn't an old company for most places. It is for you guys because you destroyed all your history and built car parks over everything.
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Caroline Murphy 7 years ago
My grandfather was born 10 years after the Jack the Ripper murders.. Still find it weird considering most of my friends' grandparents were born in the 40s (when my dad was born)
Ivy Ruonakoski 7 years ago
He is technically still on the loose as no one still knows who he was.
BusLady 7 years ago
No, he would certainly be in an Assisted Living Facility by now.
Load More Replies... Lunar Panda 7 years ago
Wow! This makes my love for Nintendo so much cooler. I also love to play cards!!! I MUST find a vintage Nintendo playing deck!!
Sara Kate MacFarland 7 years ago
too bad Jack hadn't discovered Nintendo...it might have kept him off the streets!
Elizabeth Molloy 7 years ago
The was already an Underground rail system in London when the Ripper's spree began.
#8
Anne Frank And Martin Luther King Junior Were Born In The Same Year (1929)
One of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust, Anne Frank gained fame posthumously with the publication of The Diary of a Young Girl, in which she documents her life in hiding from 1942 to 1944, during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. It is one of the world's most widely known books and has been the basis for several plays and films.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1954 until his death in 1968. King is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience, tactics his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi helped inspire. Both of these symbols of resistance were born in the same year, 1929.
Daria B 7 years ago
That's a meaningful connection. A victim of one of the biggest hate crimes in history was born in the same year as a boy who would grow into a peace activist.
Beks Czar 7 years ago
I'd say they were both victims of heinous hate crimes that really defined their countries. And the ideas are repeating themselves.
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Ellis 7 years ago
I think it is safe to say Anne Frank isTHE most discussed victim of the Holocaust. Her personal diary and child-like innocence puts a face onthe tragedy - the numbers/statistics are too high to comprehend, but we all understand the sad turn of fate in this young girl’s life. She had dreams too.
Danielle Holder 7 years ago
You read her hidden pages yet? All about sexual positions, and other raunchy thoughts. Not quite the paradigm of innocence.
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Destiney Bolin 7 years ago (edited)
in the words of my teachers- "Wikipedia is not a reliable source"
Agnes Jekyll 7 years ago
that's amazing! Did your grandma know him or was she younger?
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SixStringGuitarPlayer 3 years ago
I actually read her diary/book. The ending so beautiful and so sad.
#9
Today's Oldest Living Tree (A Bristlecone Pine) Was Already 1,000 Years Old When The Last Wooly Mammoth Died
Would you like to visit a living thing, still alive today, that was around in the time of wooly mammoths? It turns out that actually you can! The world's oldest tree is a Great Basin bristlecone pine located in White Mountains, California, and is dated at 5067 years old.
To put that into perspective, isolated populations of wooly mammoths on Wrangel Island didn't finally go extinct until 4,000 years ago, with the small island in the Arctic Ocean serving as a santuary for the great beasts, forced from the mainland by humans and climate change long before.
Martti Laurson 7 years ago
Your own web page tells a different story about the world's oldest tree. https://www.boredpanda.com/worlds-oldest-tree-old-tjikko-sweden/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
James 7 years ago
well spotted martti perhaps we should have been clearer in the text. The bristlecone pine is the worlds oldest 'non-clonal' tree, which means that its trunk is the same age as the root system. 'Old Tjikko' is indeed an older organism as a whole, but has reproduced itself many times from the same root system. You can find more info here: https://futurism.com/meet-the-oldest-trees-on-earth/
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Fiendhunter 7 years ago
Has EVERY tree in the world been dated? I'm just curious as to how did they determine this particular tree is indeed older than the rest of trees around the world. That's an awesome tree btw :pp
Noctis Nix 7 years ago
Well- I assume that this is just the oldest one we know of. If they found an older one that tree would be crowned the new oldest tree.
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Per Andersson 7 years ago
This is wrong. The world's oldest tree is in Sweden. It is 9500 years old.
Jean Atwood 7 years ago
It is protected by not being identified. Only the forest service and scientists know which tree is the oldest. The particular tree shown up there looks like one my husband photographed that isn't on the four mile Bristlecone trail where the oldest tree supposedly is.
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Nichole Antoinette 7 years ago (edited)
The Wolly Mammoth is often depicted as being much larger than it actually was. They were about the same size as modern African Elephants.
Amal Charif 7 years ago
Sorry the olives trees in my country are older, 6,000 years old and still living 1917846846...dc6ca7.jpg 
Amal Charif 7 years ago
in my country we have 6 olives trees still living in a town, i've been to this village and took photos of these trees. they are really old. https://www.flickr.com/photos/amalization/19178468466/in/photolist-vdJEvq-ujbUGp-uYry6w-vdHbxy-uYszRL-vfZsST-uj2gzC-uYqSA1-uYqfWJ-uiZJM7-uja6Xz-vfwdUJ-uYqDh5-vdFZom-vfZd32-uj9GVn-ujaQSx-vg34bt-vftbHW-nhRj6H-nhRcie-nfNNVf
#10
Star Wars Came Out The Same Year As The Last Guillotine Execution In France (1977)
Star Wars premiered in the U.S. on May 25th 1977. At the same time this futuristic sci-fi was wowing audiences around the world, the medieval practice of death by guillotine was still taking place in France, where Hamida "Pimp Killer" Djandoubi was beheaded for the torture and murder of a young woman. This was the last use of the guillotine in France, nobody else has been executed using any means since.
Erik Granqvist 7 years ago
Guillotine was not a medieval practice. It was not introducera until 1792, and that is well out of the middle ages.
Hermit 7 years ago
"Death by guillotine" is not a medieval practice. Even the predecessors of that device, such as the Halifax Gibbet and the Scottish Maiden made their appearance after the late medieval period had finished. Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposed the apparatus as a more humane method of execution than the breaking wheel to the French National Assembly in 1789. The first beheading by guillotine occurred on 25 April 1792, almost three centuries after the end of the medieval period.
Rachelle 7 years ago
For the most part... yes. Many times the guillotine didn't work properly and failed to do the trick.
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Miss Cris 7 years ago
2018 and death penalty still does exist in not civilized countries!!! 🤤🤤🤤
Edmund McLaughlin 7 years ago
Guillotining was never practised in mediaeval times. The French adopted it around 1792 at the urging of Dr Guillotin as a more humane execution method than others that were available at the time. Dr G had seen similar equipment used in England some years before at a demonstration in Yorkshire.
Crouching_Penn_Hidden_Teller@yahoo.com 7 years ago
true. in medieval times they were still usually hanging people, burning them at the stake or the occasional guy with the axe.
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#11
By The Time The Pilgrims Made It To Plymouth Rock, There Was A 'Palace Of The Governors' In New Mexico
People often assume that the first Europeans to settle in the United States came with the landing of the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, MA, in ships sailed from England in 1620. However Spanish explorers had been in the Southwest for almost a century by that time, and in 1610 began building the 'Palace of the Governers' in Santa Fe, already a thriving settlement. So when people say shit like 'speak English, this is America,' point out this fact!
Aunt Messy 7 years ago
Of course the Vikings had settled in North America several hundred years earlier, and made a prosperous living selling cod fished off the Grand Banks in Europe.
Benevolent Panda Mouse 7 years ago
Amazing!!!!! As an indigenous person....the speak english comment always made no sense. Bravo!
Rainy Day Wolf 7 years ago (edited)
I really hate that people from USA call themselves americans... like literally America is the whole continent we are all Americans from Patagonia to Greenland
PeachPossum 7 years ago
Technically, you are talking about two continents, North America and South America, and by definition the inhabitants would be called respectively North Americans and South Americans. This term is regional and does not describe the individual nationalities. The logic for calling the citizens of the USA "Americans" follows already established patterns of usage: Estados Unidos Mexicanos has "Mexicans", La Republica Argentina has "Argentines", the Republic of Costa Rica has Costa Ricans, the Commonwealth of Australia has "Australians". So the United States of America has "Americans."
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Chuck Lantz 7 years ago
One of my favorite come-backs for those "speak English" clowns is to inform them that when California achieved statehood, its first constitution was written in Spanish.
Rainy Day Wolf 7 years ago
well officially Columbus got to America on 1492
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Marnee DeRider 7 years ago
Speak Dakota! This is Minneapolis! I'm living on land that was once occupied by Dakota (a couple of miles from the confluence of Minnesota and Mississippi rivers). The Dakota are still currently banned by law from being in Minnesota, I recently learned :-(
Víctor Alfonso García Olmo 7 years ago
Sí, hombre. Texas was a spanish territory more time than US territory!
See Also:
#12
Swiss Women Got The Right To Vote The Same Year The U.S. Drove A Buggy On The Moon (1971)
Switzerland is often seen as one of the, if not the, most progressive nations on Earth. It comes as a surprise then that women weren't granted the right to vote until 1971, 65 years after Finland become the first European country to do so.
By that time, NASA had already landed on the moon, and were driving a moon buggy around! In the meantime however, Switzerland has caught up massively in terms of women's rights and the gender gap, ranking at number 11, well ahead of the United States at number 45.
Hans 7 years ago
Many of the rights we now take for granted, such as women voting, but also much about our freedom, about no segregation, about a free press etc. are here for mere decades. Yet many people cry for strong autocratic leaders that would "protect" them from those who "endager" them. Very sad.
Heather Johnson 7 years ago
Still so disturbing that we had to fight to vote as women. Should've never been an issue in the first place.
Nadja Lambacher 7 years ago
This was so crazy late... Newzealand was the first, I think in 1895? wow
GlassOfWater 7 years ago
I just googled it and it says 1893. But yeah go the Kiwis for that!
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Lucy Shupe 7 years ago
To add something else,the woman in Wyoming where I live had been voting since 1869.
RaroaRaroa 7 years ago
That's impressive. I thought New Zealand did well by getting this done in 1893.
Load More Replies... Ivy Ruonakoski 7 years ago
Finland was the 3rd country (after New Zealand and Australia) to give women the vote in 1906 and in the 1907 general election 19 women were elected to the Finnish parliament. Currently the representatives are more or less 50/50 between men and women.
Bored Fox 7 years ago
As a Finn I am very proud of that. But at the same time I am also sad that some parts of our laws are very outdated today compared to many other European countries. We were first in Europe to let women vote but with some other things it feels like Finland will be one of the last European countries to change laws.
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Ivana 7 years ago
That is f*****g insane. I did not know that. It really lowers my opinion of Switzerland. I know they are super progressive now, but god damn that is pretty unforgivable. Not to say America is doing so hot now so not saying we are better, just saying Switzerland really just disappointed the hell out of me with this one.
Night Owl 7 years ago
But it makes sense. Because of the direct democracy the only way the women in Switzerland could get a right to vote back then was by getting a majority in an referendum in which only men could vote. And that's just one of the reasons it took so long. Here from wikipedia: "The principal reason for the delay of the Swiss relative to the other European countries is the importance of direct democracy in the political system. The introduction of federal and cantonal universal suffrage necessitated the vote of the majority of the electors, men in this case, for a referendum. Moreover, a new federal constitutional reform must likewise be approved by the majority of the cantons. Another reason is the tight connection, since the constitution of 1848, between the right to vote and military service in the Swiss army, traditionally reserved for men. It is the only nation which granted universal suffrage by a referendum." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage_in_Switzerland
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Kostadin Kalaydzhiev 7 years ago
While in Bulgaria, gypsies were given the right to vote arund 1910, for which the state was criticized by the West for being too progressive.
#13
The Fax Machine Was Invented The Same Year The First Wagon Crossed The Oregon Trail (1843)
The original fax machine, the "Electric Printing Telegraph" was patented in 1843 by Scottish inventor Alexander Bain, the same year that about 1,000 people set off West for Oregon, forming a huge wagon train on what is now known as the Oregon trail. This set the tone for Westward expansion in the USA, and is the beginning of the 'Great Migration.'
Hans 7 years ago
I reckon the fax machine did not look as depicted here. ;)
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Jef Bateman 7 years ago
This is true if you consider a printing telegraph a fax machine. I wouldn't call it that because it does not digitize an image.
karen snyder 7 years ago
Yeah, Totally not the same thing. Fax is short for Facsimile, a reproduction or copy. It wasn't until the early 1920s that real reproductions, like pictures and signatures, could be sent by wire.
#14
You Could Take The London Underground To The Last Public Hanging In The UK (1868)
Hanging used to be a common punishment in the UK, and wasn't abolished until 1868. Micheal Barrett was the last to be executed in this manner, in Newgate prison, London, in front of a large crowd of people.
5 years earlier in 1863, the first journey of the London Underground took place. With a station in operation close by the Newgate prison, it is entirely feasible that many Londoners would take the tube to go and watch somebody get hanged.
Rob Williams 7 years ago
Actually execution by hanging in the UK wasn't fully abolished until 1998! Barrett was just the last public execution.
Edmund McLaughlin 7 years ago
This refers onky to public hanging. Hanging behind closed doors continued well onto the second half of the 20th century.
Karen Dawson 6 years ago
Last "public" hanging, they still hung people up to the 1960s just not in public.
kathryn stretton 7 years ago
Wrong. The last men to be hanged in the UK were Gwynne Evans and Peter Allen who were hanged at different prisons at 8am on 13th August 1964. The last woman to be hanged was Ruth Ellis on 13th July 1955.
Russell Fawcett 7 years ago
You write about the London Underground, could you not find a photo which was taken underground?
#15
Princess Diana And Mother Teresa Died Days Apart In 1997
Princess Diana and Mother Teresa died just days apart, in 1997. Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on August 31st, while Mother Teresa died on September 5th after a struggle with declining health. She died in India and received a state funeral from the Indian government, in gratitude for her service to the poor of all religions in the country.
ispeak catanese 7 years ago
I distinctly remember how the media barely mentioned Mother Teresa's death and funeral services. She was overshadowed for sure.
Sharon Lucas 7 years ago
Mother Teresa was a cold-hearted little troll, and she did not deserve a state funeral.
#16
NASA Was Exploring Space By The Time Scientists Could Agree On Plate Tectonics (1967)
While Alfred Wegener proposed his theory of continental drift back in 1912, his ideas were not taken seriously by many geologists, who pointed out that there was no apparent mechanism for continental drift. Specifically, they did not see how continental rock could plow through the much denser rock that makes up oceanic crust. Wegener could not explain the force that drove continental drift, and his vindication did not come until after his death in 1930. It wasn't until 1967 that the theory of plate tectonics was accepted by the scientific community, by which time NASA and the Soviet Union were already exploring well beyond the Earth's crust, they were launching rockets into space and preparing to land on the moon.
Daria B 7 years ago
That's true, and that's what I thought too. We still don't know our own planet fully yet, and we're already aiming for far away galaxies. Not saying it's wrong, all science is important, just pointing out how funny, although fascinating this fact is.
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Lucinda Overhoussen 7 years ago
Always fascinates me to think that we, know more about the moon than we do the deepest parts of our oceans.
GlassOfWater 7 years ago
I think there was some cool new findings about the tectonic plate theory a few (2?) years ago.
Rich Black 8 months ago
plate tectonics just got a major revision. the entire north American continent is being absorbed into the earth's mantle . . .
Alfie Alfie 7 years ago
So...if all the humongous weight of the continent’s landmass were on one side of the planet, the Earth must have been top-heavy, or bottom-heavy, or whichever way was “up” for billions of years and spun crazily like a child’s toy top at the end of its “spin”. So much for the idea that the planet spins like a gigantic gyroscope. The dinosaurs must have been crazy as hell. 😂🤪🤪🤪
#17
Prisoners Arrived At Auschwitz Just Days After Mcdonald's Was Founded (1940)
While McDonald's is traditionally associated with the good times and affluence of 1950's America, the very first restaurant was opened much earlier, on May 15th 1940. Just 5 days later, the first prisoners arrived at the Auschwitz concentration camp in what is now Poland.
Craig Lee 7 years ago
It's not a connection, it's literally just a list explaining how long / old it's been since something happened. They're just applying it to something people can relate to current times. Not to mention it's just talking about something that happened in history. Are we suppose to forget that the concentration camps existed? Seriously, why is everyone so delicate now that the mere mention of something makes something feel wrong?
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Friedlander Rosenzweig 7 years ago
I feel this connection has a VERY valid imagery. My childhood was filled with visits to one of the very first McDonald’s franchises, which was a huge treat. In contrast, my Dad would tell us, sadly and sometimes with a bit of dark humor (to soften the blow), how he and my Aunt and Uncle , escaped the train to Auschwitz, only to be captured and interned in Bergen Belsen. He did this so we would never forget and history would not repeat itself. So, some of my brother ‘s and my happiest, and saddest times, were sitting in a ‘65 Buick, on weekends, sippin’ on Cokes, while my Dad told us stories. We heard of people giving up and literally willing themselves to die to the opposite of the spectrum. Sometimes, in the that hole, among the victims, rose the very best of mankind... people constantly trading off saving each other’s life for a day- even an hour at a time. Mark and I thought it was one big Hogan’s Heroes. That’s how young and stupid WE were.
Gemma Lees 7 years ago
McDonald's didn't really take off until travelling milkshake machine seller Ray Kroc bought the business (including the founders' last name) for $2.7 million in 1954. It's now worth $104.42 billion! I used to be a Maccies manager 15 years ago when I was at college and every year on Ray Kroc's birthday, a huge cake arrives on the delivery for the staff to share!
SixStringGuitarPlayer 3 years ago
My mom visited Auschwitz. She had to leave because she felt sick looking at the shoes of the prisoners. She didn't even see the gas chambers.
Ercan Ermis 6 years ago
Oldest living tree is not true. There is soma oldest living olive trees in the world more than 1000 years.
#18
The Last Known Widow Of A Civil War Vet, Maudie Hopkins (Seen Here At Her Lexa, Ark., Home In 2004 At 89 Years Old), Died In 2008. That's The Same Year Barack Obama Won His First Presidential Election
Maudie Hopkins married Civil War veteran William M. Cantrell in 1934, when she was 19 years old. She says that it was poverty that drove her to marry the former soldier of the Confederate States Army, who was 86 at the time. Hopkins passed away in 2008 in Lexa, Arkansas aged 93, which meant that a Civil War Veteran's widow was still alive when President Obama became the first African-American to serve as President.
Cherie 7 years ago
I have read about her. It is so bizarre to think that a lady who died in 2008 was married to a Civil War veteran...
Ivy Ruonakoski 7 years ago
It's even more bizarre when you look at their age difference.
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CultOfBambi 7 years ago
19 years old and forced by circumstance to married a 86 year old. And a confederate no less. Shudder.
Debster 7 years ago
Icky. I thought my 15 yo grandma forced to marry my 36 yo grandpa was bad.
Misterscooter 7 years ago
Same year that he was elected, which is interesting, but she didn't know that he won the election since she died in August of that year. And he didn't take office until January of 2009, so this isn't completely true.
Basil 7 years ago
They did! For a while anyways. From her Wiki page: "It was not especially uncommon for young women in Arkansas to marry Confederate pensioners; in 1937 the state passed a law stating that women who married Civil War veterans would not be eligible for a widow's pension. The law was later changed in 1939 to state that widows born after 1870 were not eligible for pensions. Hopkins generally kept her first marriage a secret, fearing that the resulting gossip (of marrying a much older man) would damage her reputation.[1]" Fascinating!
Load More Replies... #19
Harvard University Didn't Offer Calculus Classes For The First Few Years After The School Was Established... Because Calculus Hadn't Been Invented Yet
Modern calculus was developed in 17th-century Europe by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (independently of each other, first publishing around the same time) but elements of it appeared in ancient Greece, then in China and the Middle East, and still later again in medieval Europe and in India.
Harvard was established in 1636 and named for its first benefactor clergyman John Harvard. Harvard is the United States' oldest institution of higher learning, and its history, influence, and wealth have made it one of the world's most prestigious universities. Calculus was off the curriculum for the first few years for obvious reasons, it hadn't been recognized yet!
John Doe 7 years ago
so iguess, no laws of motion, no law of gravity, no nature of light or fundamentals of heat transfer
pinehurst 7 years ago
Makes me want to gravitate to the warm light of insight.
Load More Replies... Rich Black 8 months ago
to be admitted to harvard you had to demonstrate fluency in Latin. "Rhetoric" was a required course once you were enrolled. Not too much in the way of STEM courses, however.
Suzanne Haigh 4 years ago
Surprised Harvard has not claimed calculus as its own invention. Newton is supposed to be an ancestor of mine, but as he did not have any children, ?
#20
Ecstasy Was Invented The Same Year The Titanic Sank (1912)
The 'unsinkable' Titanic sank in 1912, going down in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into the ship's maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.
In the same year pharmaceutical giant Merck was interested in developing substances that stopped abnormal bleeding, and one of its chemists, Anton Köllisch, synthesised MDMA to avoid a patent by rival Bayer. The drug was of no particular interest to Merck at the time, and they only came back to research the substance sporadically over the next few years. It wasn't until 1975 that psychoactive effects of the drug began to be taken seriously, and recreational use spread thereafter through personal networks of psychotherapists, psychiatrists, users of psychedelics, and yuppies.
Source: Wikipedia
SixStringGuitarPlayer 3 years ago
I would love to sit with a Titanic survivor and hear their story.
Alfie Alfie 7 years ago
...so that blue heart around the neck of Jack’s backseat babe was made of cheap glass after all! 🤪🤪
#21
Orville Wright Was Still Alive When Hiroshima And Nagasaki Were Bombed (1945)
The Wright brothers are rightly credited with inventing what we know as airplanes, and it must have been tremondously difficult for Orville Wright, whose brother Wilbur died back in 1912, to see his life's great acheivement be responsible for the greatest single act of destruction man has ever seen. In 1945 U.S. Airforce planes dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing at least 129,000 people, mainly civilians.
Orville died in 1948 and expressed sadness in an interview about the death and destruction brought about by the bombers of World War II:
"We dared to hope we had invented something that would bring lasting peace to the earth. But we were wrong ... No, I don't have any regrets about my part in the invention of the airplane, though no one could deplore more than I do the destruction it has caused. I feel about the airplane much the same as I do in regard to fire. That is, I regret all the terrible damage caused by fire, but I think it is good for the human race that someone discovered how to start fires and that we have learned how to put fire to thousands of important uses."
Eric Mac Fadden 7 years ago
Lucky Santos Dumont never saw it, but unfortunately saw men fly at war.... he also was my granny's cousin...
Renata Spedding 7 years ago
Finally someone who have heard about Alberto Santos Dumont. Let the yankees think they did it.
Load More Replies... Daria B 7 years ago
I empathize with the inventors here. But also, an additional random thought. It's interesting how his analogy about fire could be also applied to nuclear technology as well. It can bring death, if used as a bomb, and it can sustain life, if used for electricity. In the end, it's just as Spiderman says → with great powers comes great responsibility.
Carol Emory 7 years ago
I bet he was devastated knowing his beautiful machine aided in such destruction and death....
Dan H 7 years ago
Perhaps he would have felt better is the bombs were not used and the US incurred nearly a million causalities if Japan was invaded?
Nosfentor 7 years ago
I see you took an old argument preached by warmongering politicians and never actually did the math yourself.
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stellermatt 7 years ago
Shortly after the Wright brothers flew a plane for the first time, their plane was blown over by a gust of wind and destroyed.
#22
Charlie Chaplin And Adolf Hitler Were Both Born In 1889. Interestingly, Chaplin Portrayed Hitler In The 1940 Satire "The Great Dictator"
The Great Dictator is a 1940 American political satire comedy-drama film written, directed, produced, scored by and starring British comedian Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Chaplin's film advanced a stirring, controversial condemnation of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, fascism, antisemitism, and the Nazis.
At the time of its first release, the United States was still formally at peace with Nazi Germany. Chaplin plays both leading roles: a ruthless fascist dictator and a persecuted Jewish barber. Coincidentally, Chaplin and Hitler were the same age, both being born in 1889.
Source: Wikipedia
Nadja Lambacher 7 years ago
They were even born in the same week. Also Chaplin had the moustache first!
Wendillon 7 years ago
Wouldn't it be funny if Hitler was a Chaplin fan and that's why he grew the stache?
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CrunChewy McSandybutt 7 years ago
One of the greatest cinematic speeches ever made was made in "The Great Dictator."
Crouching_Penn_Hidden_Teller@yahoo.com 7 years ago
Charlie hated nazis so much he said he was Jewish even though he wasn't just to p**s them off.
DeadStillPretty 7 years ago
The Great Dictator is great. It also so infuriated Hitler that, after its release, he abolished all American made movies in Germany. Oh, Hitler. Always throwing tantrums about stuff..
Freya the Wanderer 7 years ago
The last sentence reminds me of a certain current world leader--
Load More Replies... Douglas Campbell 7 years ago
Interestingly, while Hitler was diddling his 17 year old niece, Chaplin was diddling 15 year old Lita Grey.
SixStringGuitarPlayer 3 years ago
My dad was born on Hitler's birthday...along with some other disasters.
#23
Eiffel Tower Was Inaugurated In 1889 For The World's Fair, Which Was The Same Year Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' Was Painted
Regarded as among Van Gogh's finest works, The Starry Night is one of the most recognized paintings in the history of Western culture. One of the most recognized buildings, the Eiffel Tower, was built in the same year that Van Gogh painted his masterpiece, 1889. The tower was only supposed to serve as the entrance for the 'World Fair' in Paris, but as we now know, it has become a permanent and much-loved fixture of the Paris skyline. 1889 was quite the year for iconic works!
Michel M. Prins 7 years ago
The timing is perfect, especially since Van Gogh was also very inspired by several French artists!
Night Owl 7 years ago (edited)
Hmm...the grass or bush does kind of look like the Eiffel tower without the lights on ... if you're drunk, close one eye and squint with the other
Tammy Chapman 7 years ago
lmao...you actually made me laugh out loud. Thank you, I needed that.
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Nia Loves Art 7 years ago
I think of this as being part of the same era so it doesn't really change my perception.
Tammy Chapman 7 years ago
This is my daughters' favorite painting. I searched high and low for a copy of this painting and I found one. I gave it to her as a graduation gift when she graduated high school. Her graduation gift for college (she's now a Registered Nurse) was a LOT more expensive. I know this is off topic, but she graduated college in mid-December, then there was Christmas, then her birthday was at the end of January. That was the most expensive month and a half I've ever experienced. And I had to save up for a long time because I live below the poverty level. But, all 3 occasions turned out wonderfully. I was so happy to see her being happy. She's traveling all over the US with her husband right now, maybe one day she'll decide to go overseas. Who knows?
Load More Replies... Liz Sahlin Johansson 7 years ago
Ok... so Gogh got inspired by the tower...? Did J.R.R Tolkien inspire to the Eiffeltower first?
Jean Jenns 7 years ago
Van Gogh, one of the greatest painters of all time, NEVER sold a single painting in his lifetime.
Dianar 7 years ago
The tower had a 20 yr lease and was almost destroyed except for its use as a military antenna in 1909. Parisians hated the Eiffel Tower at first, thinking it was an eyesore compared with the arc de triumph, Norte dame, etc.
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#24
The Ottoman Empire Existed The Second To Last Time The Chicago Cubs Won The World Series (1908)
Before the Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016, they hadn't won one previously since 1908. That means that the second-to-last time the Cubs tasted victory, the Ottoman Empire still existed, before it was dissolved after defeat in World War 1 and became modern day Turkey.
Hollywood 7 years ago
As an American, I can truthfully say that Americans are ridiculously pretentious.
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Alfie Alfie 7 years ago
Wow, Otto shrank from a full grown turkey to a drumstick. So, now we eat turkey for Thanksgiving! Native Americans were named “Indians” by Columbus because he got lost and thought he had found India. Native Americans are just happy that he wasn’t looking for Turkey. 😂
Tammy Chapman 7 years ago
As an American, I wanted to say that I agree with most of these comments. We are not The Only America. I would love to go to South America someday. I've heard that it's beautiful and there are so many things I want to see there. And North America DOES NOT control the world. Thank God!! Can you imagine how much worse it would be if we did, especially with the president we have right now?? He would end up blowing the whole planet up. Many Americans, including our current sorry a*s president, are arrogant and pretentious as hell. And, on behalf of the decent Americans here, I would like to apologize to Origami Chik3n and the rest of the world for the arrogant, ignorant, pretentious, evil ones that cause the rest of the world to think badly of us. Not all of us are like that. And I can't stand the ones that act like that. Unfortunately, I can't fix them, I wish I could. And I wish it was 2020, so we could get rid of the head arrogant, ignorant, evil, wannabe dictator, jackass.
Adrian-Cristian Nicolaescu 7 years ago
This is definitely inaccurate! And the map is as well...sorry, but inbetween Bulgaria and Hungary (and in most of the territory shown as Hungary on the map) there is another country, called Romania. And it occupied those territories since before the years shown on the map as well.
#25
The Colosseum In Rome, Italy, Was Unveiled In 80 A.D., Around The Same Time The Gospel Of Luke And The Acts Of The Apostles In The Bible Were Written
Luke is the longest of the four gospels and the longest book in the New Testament; together with Acts of the Apostles it makes up a two-volume work from the same author, called Luke–Acts. The most probable date for its composition is around 80–110 AD, and there is evidence that it was still being revised well into the 2nd century.
Meanwhile the Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, was completed in 80AD. It is the largest amphitheatre ever built, and could hold between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators. It was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles , animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.
Nosfentor 7 years ago
Only one of those things should have lasted. Because the other is still causing suffering and death.
Agnes Jekyll 7 years ago
I suspect the Roman Empire is alive and well in the Vatican
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toreibjo 7 years ago
And still people do not believe that Jesus actually have lived. His life is better documented than Julius Caesar's. Have you ever seen any historian denying that Caesar lived?
Tammy Chapman 7 years ago
I do believe that Jesus lived. I believe he tried to help people, he cured people of their illnesses and disabilities, he cured lepers, he brought Lazarus back from the dead. He walked thousands of miles to help people and to spread the word to all who would listen. He was a good man who was a very skilled carpenter, and he took care of his family. To me, the best parts of the Bible are the ones written in red. Those are supposed to be his story and his thoughts and words. I really hope that part is true. I do have one little suspicion though. I think that there might have been a relationship between him and Mary Magdalene. Perhaps they were secretly married and nobody knew about it except perhaps his Mother, and maybe the disciples. You never know. If you look at the picture of the last supper, the person to his right (I think she's to the right) looks like a woman. If they had any children, then it is possible that there could descendants. Wouldn't that be a trip???
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Tammy Chapman 7 years ago
It's a good thing to faith in whatever God you choose. But, God DID NOT write the Bible. Men wrote the bible and claimed that God told them what to write. Why do you think there are so many different names and chapters? And it wasn't written all at the same time either. Then it was translated into I don't know how many languages. And I'm sure many things were lost in translation. Then when it was finally translated into English, King James came along and made them rewrite certain parts. He also made them leave certain parts out and added stuff he wanted to put in there. So if you have a King James Bible, there is NO WAY (that I know of) to know what is real and what isn't. I'm very sorry to burst your bubble, but you need to do some research on Religion, God, the Bible (and who wrote it), and the denomination you belong to.
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Aunt Messy 7 years ago
Behold the internet, where interesting facts attract nasty little ticks who make nasty little comments.
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Alfie Alfie 7 years ago
The “veil” must have been humongous, dwarfing Cristo’s tarp-covered buildings by comparison. 🤪
#26
The First Underground Line In London Was Opened On January 10, 1863. At That Time, The Civil War Was Still Raging In The United States
The idea for construction of the London Underground appeared in the 1830s, and on January 10th, 1863, the first underground line was opened. At that time the Civil War in the United States was still being fought, and it wasn't until December 1865 that the famous 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was adopted, meaning that slavery was to be abolished.
Daria B 7 years ago
Seeing this photo makes me curious about the infrastructure related technology. If it was really underground, considering old trains were slower than now, how did they manage to not get the whole place filled with all that smoke, possibly suffocating the passengers, the drivers and everyone else?
Gareth Williams 7 years ago
There were dummy houses built around London that were hollow inside, these were to vent off the steam and smoke. One of them still remains, search for "24 Leinster Gardens"
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Tammy Chapman 7 years ago
lol...I actually went back to look and see if it was Platform 9 3/4. It's not...that made me laugh.
Load More Replies... Rich Auntie Skeleton 7 years ago
So the Underground Railroad meant a totally different thing in the US at the time.
Tammy Chapman 7 years ago
They were NOT happy, because the people in this picture were slaves. This picture was taken during the civil war.
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Sheri Croft 5 years ago
Smoke was a problem and many people got sick and some died. The trains were not deep underground. So vents were used and can still be seen in some of the stations such as Baker Street Station.
#27
Charlie Chaplin Died In 1977, The Same Year Apple Was Incorporated
Another surprising link between two vastly different eras, the silent films of Charlie Chaplin and the beginning of the computer age. Chaplin died aged 88 in 1977, in Switzerland after suffering a stroke in his sleep. Apple Computers was incorporated in the same year, showing just how rapidly technology had advanced in the post-war years.
Louplou 7 years ago
Wow! What a year 1977 was...also the year I was born (ok that's probably less momentous in a global sense!) ;p
LOttawa 7 years ago
1977 had ups and downs. It's the year my older sister was born (meh), my ex husband (urgh) and my current boyfriend (yay) loll
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Hey Giou 7 years ago
Also Clash released their self-titled debut album, "The Clash"
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Trixster Million 7 years ago
Steve Jobs insisted that the price tag for the first Apple computer was $666.66. Because... well, I guess because he was an a*****e.
Id row 5 years ago
I don't understand what's so amazing about Chaplin being born in the same year as Hitler or dying when Apple was invented. Notable events happen the year every single person is born or dies. That's why they have sites dedicated to seeing what happened around the world the day or year you were born.
Benevolent Panda Mouse 7 years ago
Omg Woz....that hair...no, but...ok, Jobs looking kinda cute!
Susann Campbell 7 years ago
Reading all this I feel as time does squish together overlapping events that says, "Time is irrelevant"
#28
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Was Published In The Summer Of 2007. The Same Summer First Iphone Model Was Released
The seventh and last book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in 2007, ending the series that began in 1997 with the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. That same year something came along that has probably done more to kill children's interest in reading more than anything else, the first Iphone.
Susanna Vesna 7 years ago
Only 11 years ago, but feels like another era! Time flies too fast these days!
Cesi Baca 7 years ago
Wow ur right seems like a lot longer. That first iPhone is like a vintage piece now. Still can’t believe you had to hook it up to a computer to download the operating system on the phone. Well at least after u uploaded the software to download the OS on your phone. Crazy.
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Lauren Baker 7 years ago
Wow I was alive when iPhones did not exist but I wouldn't have remembered it. I thought The Deathly Hallows was written way before that. I was alive while the Harry Potter Series was still being written? WHAT?
Stephen Curry 5 years ago
Thankfully, my 9 year old daughter still has more interest in reading than she does in becoming a phone zombie. She is reading the Goblet of Fire at present for the 2nd time.
Linnéa Myde 4 years ago
Great work there! Being pregnant with my first child, I’m going to make sure reading is a fun part of his/her life.
Load More Replies... Sara Kate MacFarland 7 years ago
It's a true tragedy that children aren't reading for pleasure in current times
Hugo Raible 7 years ago
Not sure why the iPhone is presented as such a unique thing. Smartphones and organizers with touch screens had existed before.
Susanne Bækvig 3 years ago
And Harry Potter did more to get them interested in reading than almost any other books. When they first came out I saw children in the bus reading eagerly, when I went to work.
Caitlin Fairchild 4 years ago
.... maybe it's just cause I remember both of these events.... but I think this would only mess with someone's perception of time/history if they are younger than like... 25. I'm not even 30 yet and I even remember things like dial up internet, but when I made a joke about it a 22 year old friend had to have me explain. Her mind was blown and she genuinely thought I was messing with her
#29
The Brooklyn Bridge Was Being Built During The Battle Of Little Bighorn (1876)
'Custer’s Last Stand” at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 took place at the same time that the world's first steel wire suspension bridge, the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, was under construction.
The battle was fought between forces of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and the United States Army. The defeat of US forces, led by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, was the most significant action of the Great Sioux War of 1876.
The Brooklyn Bridge still stands proud, having undergone major renovation works between 2011-2015, and carries roughly 150,000 vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians between Manhattan and Brooklyn each day.
Carolyn Osborn 7 years ago
Did they say the Brooklyn bridge was the first or simply using it as a very well known reference? Other perhaps earlier bridges wouldn’t be known by most people.
Joseph Sterbling 7 years ago
The Roebling suspension bridge in Cincinnati was the predecessor to the Brooklyn Bridge..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Roebling_Suspension_Bridge
Load More Replies... Alfie Alfie 7 years ago
My grandmother’s father fought in that skirmish and made short-shrift of the gold hungry peasant boy Custer.
Grumble O'Pug 7 years ago
Such a poor picture. BP, you need one with him mutilated. As he well deserved.
Juana 7 years ago
He did deserve it, but we do not need to see a picture of anyone mutilated.
Load More Replies... Jackie Dunning 7 years ago
No, there were suspension bridges in the United States earlier than that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeling_Suspension_Bridge - 1849 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Roebling_Suspension_Bridge - 1866
M O'Connell 7 years ago
I would argue that the Wheeling bridge is technically a cable-stayed bridge.
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#30
Buffalo Bill Cody Was Alive At The Same Time The Germans Were Bombing With Zeppelins (1916)
Two distinctly different eras of warfare are brought together in the life of William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846-1917). The showman was one of the most colorful figures of the American Old West, after he started performing in shows that displayed cowboy themes and episodes from the frontier and Indian Wars. He founded 'Buffalo Bill's Wild West' in 1883, taking his large company on tours in the United States and, beginning in 1887, in Great Britain and continental Europe.
Shortly before his death, the legend of the Wild West will have heard about a horrifying new concept in fighting wars, dropping bombs from the sky. German Zeppelins and planes were doing this over Paris in 1916, signalling a giant technological leap in the killing of fellow human beings, far removed from cowboys and Indians on horseback.
Source: Wikipedia
Charlotte West 7 years ago
the Germans have been bombing forever it seems.... two WW because of them. I hope they have had enough.
#31
Artist Pablo Picasso Died In 1973, The Same Year Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" Was Released
Pablo Picasso is regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), and Guernica (1937), a dramatic portrayal of the bombing of Guernica by the German and Italian airforces during the Spanish Civil War. Unlike some other great artists who died young, Picasso lived a long and full life until he passed away in 1973.
Which was, coincidentally, the same year that one of the most groundbreaking and progressive albums ever was released, Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. With an estimated 45 million copies sold, it is Pink Floyd's most successful album and one of the best-selling worldwide. It has been remastered and re-released several times, and covered in its entirety by several acts. It produced two singles—"Money" and "Us and Them"—and is often regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time.
ispeak catanese 7 years ago
He also did the cover art, straying from Cubism for the first time in decades.
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Marika Stanway 7 years ago
Oh.. I never realised I've been alive at the same time with Picasso :) Cool tidbit :)
My dog is my co pilot. 7 years ago
It is also the year Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield came out. An album composed and composed by Mike Oldfield when he was just 19 years old. He also performed 40 different instruments on the album and co produced it. It was the Album that launched Richard Branson's Virgin label.
Tammy Chapman 7 years ago
A 19-year-old guy who could play 40 different instruments? If that's true then he is a true savant. I would love to be able to play 1 instrument. I'm going to have to look him up. I have a bad habit of remembering the songs but forgetting who some of the lesser known (and sometimes well known) artists are. And I didn't even know that there are 40 different instruments. I'll have to look that up too. I hope it's Classic Rock N Roll. I love discovering new/old music. Thanks for the info. : ) p.s. Your dog is adorable.
Load More Replies... #32
Microsoft Was Founded While Spain Was Still A Fascist Dictatorship (1975)
A highly controversial figure within Spain, Franco is seen as a divisive leader. Supporters credit his strong anti-communist and nationalist views, economic policies, preservation of traditional Spanish practices and support of the monarchy of Spain as positive influences over the nation. Critics disparage him as an autocratic dictator who violently suppressed opposition and dissent, banned culture seen as non-Spanish, used concentration camps and forced labour and provided much support to the Axis powers during World War II. Franco ruled Spain as a Fascist state up until his death in 1975, aged 82.
This was the same year that Microsoft was founded by Paul Allen and Bill Gates, and the beginning of a new era in computer technology.
Source: Wikipedia
Jean Jenns 7 years ago
I hope you don't actually believe that any of the three people named were "controversial"...they were totally evil dictators and killed millions.
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Curious Cat 7 years ago
ha.. and Microsoft is still around when America is a facist dictatorship. go figure.
Rich Black 8 months ago
Apple was founded the same year Ayatollah Kohmeini was Iran's Mullah. Iran is stil ruled by a mullah's today . . . .
Walter Horn 7 years ago
Controversial usually means that there are good and bad sides. There's nothing good about Franco. He was a cruel dictator and killer who ruled and lived much too long.
Rainy Day Wolf 7 years ago
Franco's dictatorship lasted 39 years... that's a lifetime... which explains Spain's setback
#33
Abraham Lincoln Was Assassinated On April 15, 1865, Just A Few Months Before The Secret Service Was Created
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 15th, 1865, just months before the Secret Service was founded. The legislation to create the Secret Service was on Lincoln's desk on the night he died, perhaps if they were created a few months earlier they might have foiled the plot to assassinate him.
Debster 7 years ago
Secret service are cool. Dated a SS guy once. Met his coworkers and wives at dinner. The snuck my wallet out had grabbed my drivers license. Then one guy says we know all about you. Proceeded to tell me info. I was freaked out till I saw what they had done. It was really funny.
Lindsay Fairchild 7 years ago
well he was shot on the 14th but passed away from the attack on the 15th
Stacy 7 years ago
When the secret service was created, it was sort of an under cover operation to stop counterfeit currency and the like. They didn't start protecting the president until I believe close to the 1900s.
Load More Replies... #34
Prince William And Kate Middleton Were Married On April 29, 2011, Just A Few Days Before Osama Bin Laden Was Killed
The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom. The groom, Prince William, is second in the line of succession to the British throne. The bride, Catherine Middleton, had been his girlfriend since 2004. Days later, Navy SEALs stormed the compound of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan killing him and ending a nearly ten year search for the Al-Qaeda founder.
Isabela Cincu 8 months ago
The very day i gave birth so i missed watching the wedding live-29.04.2011
SixStringGuitarPlayer 3 years ago
I remember watching their wedding. I think I was in 3rd or 4th grade. Maybe even 2nd. It feels like so long ago, like they've been married forever.
Gergely Sümegi 7 years ago
That weekend was like the end of a Disney movie: the prince got married, the bad guy was killed!
#35
Spanish Surrealist Artist Salvador Dali Died In 1989, The Same Year Actor Daniel Radcliffe, Actress Hayden Panettiere And Houston Rapper Kirko Bangz Were Born
Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali was best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work, and he is also noted for his contributions to theatre, fashion, and photography, among other areas. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters, which is maybe why it's quite surprising to learn that by the time Dali died in 1989, modern celebrities such as Daniel Radcliffe were already here.
Source: Wikipedia
CrunChewy McSandybutt 7 years ago
1989 was a strange year. Dali died, Hirohito died, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Oliver North and the Iran Contra affair... on and on. I was 16 and realizing just how messed up the world can be.
Gerry Higgins 7 years ago
ha! Salvador Dali looks like a character out of Harry Potter books. The name fits as well.
Maualo Velflo 7 years ago
Based on your comments I thought you were a 14 year old.
Load More Replies... #36
The Magna Carta Was Signed In 1215, The Same Year Beijing Was Captured And Burned By The Mongols Under The Direction Of Genghis Khan
The Battle of Zhongdu (present-day Beijing) was a battle in 1215 between the Mongols and the Jurchen Jin dynasty, which controlled northern China. The Jin Dynasty had been able to hold Genghis Khan (Temüjin) and his Mongol army at bay for the first two years of the war, but a decision by Genghis Khan to split his army into three smaller forces saw them overcome the Great Wall of China and advance on Beijing. The battle for Beijing was long and tiresome, but the Mongols proved to be more powerful as they finally took the city on 1 June 1215, massacring its inhabitants.
In the same year the Magna Carta was first drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. It promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown. Eventually, it became the foundation for the protection of individiual liberty everywhere, a powerful and iconic document that has influenced so much of the legal and constitutional freedoms we enjoy today.
Tom Hutcherson 8 months ago
The quote "Fixed fortifications are monuments to man's stupidity" is attributed to General George S. Patton. He believed that such fortifications were ultimately vulnerable and that anything built by humans could be overcome. Patton was a proponent of mobile tank warfare and believed in avoiding static defensive positions.
#37
The Last Known Widow Of A Civil War Vet, Maudie Hopkins (Seen Here At Her Lexa, Ark., Home In 2004 At 89 Years Old), Died In 2008. That's The Same Year Barack Obama Won His First Presidential Election
Caitlin Fairchild 4 years ago
This one is really lame. She was 19 and he was in his 80s when they married in the 1930s. This is NOT the same as if she were actually alive during the Civil War. She wasn't even born I the same century
#38
(2) Nasa Was Exploring Space By The Time Scientists Could Agree On Plate Tectonics (1965)
Eugene F. Kranz, flight director, is shown at his console on May 30, 1965, in the Mission Operations Control Room in the Mission Control Center at Houston during a Gemini-Titan IV simulation to prepare for the four-day, 62-orbit flight.
#39
The Brooklyn Bridge Was Being Built During The Battle Of Little Bighorn (1876)
#40
Yellowstone National Park Was Created In 1872, Just One Year After The German States Unified Into Modern-Day Germany
Yellowstone National Park is located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. It was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world. The unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871, when independent German states decided to form a new German Reich under the leadership of Kaiser Wilhelm I.
Bill Bahr 5 years ago
Interesting! However, this is item #40 in a series entitled "These 36 Historical Facts Will Mess With Your Perception Of Time" Which of the 40 historical facts won't mess with my perception of time (or mind, which has just been blown)? :)
Veryish 3 years ago
Yeah and you sound like the other grump who said "THIS IS JUST A REPEAT OF NUMBER 16" so ner yourself Bill
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When considering the significant historical events over the past century, it's fascinating to reassess how time frames our perception of key milestones. This idea resonates with how photography brought the past century to life, providing a tangible look into history through images. Exploring how historical photos have been used to capture pivotal events can enhance your understanding of their impact.
For a deeper appreciation of historical imagery and its transformative role, consider this compilation of century-old moments that highlight the powerful influence of visual storytelling over time.
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What do you think ?
Aaron Kara 7 years ago
This is a fantastic article. Informative, engaging and fun. Although BP does have some repetitive and arguably facile articles, it's entries like this that keeps me coming back. Brilliant :)
Grumble O'Pug 7 years ago
Some of these are like "big deal" some actor born when some one like Dali died? I think that is ludicrous
Incitatus 4 years ago
It's not about any particular actor. Think bigger. These facts are presented to put our concept of time in an order I which we don't normally think.
Load More Replies... Grumble O'Pug 7 years ago
Not really. Egypt had a super stable flooding cycle, enabling a very long peaceful civilization. In the area where Mega Fauna still had some footing, they were only hassled by the much smaller populations. Read Guns, Germs, and Steel to see how the Levant became a much more vital region for idea sharing and how areas like North America were not really able to capture that same "lightening in a bottle" as it were.
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Manu Schuster 7 years ago
Got another one: Windows Vista is now as old as Windows 95 was when Windows Vista was released.
Sabal Minor 7 years ago
Luv these perspectives and as we age U find yourself doing "comparative aging" on almost everything. Time is weird!
We Were On A Break! 7 years ago
For some time I felt like the level of the articles and posts here were deteriorating but this one is FANTASTIC! Keep it up Bored Panda admins and writers!
Aaron Kara 7 years ago
This is a fantastic article. Informative, engaging and fun. Although BP does have some repetitive and arguably facile articles, it's entries like this that keeps me coming back. Brilliant :)
Grumble O'Pug 7 years ago
Some of these are like "big deal" some actor born when some one like Dali died? I think that is ludicrous
Incitatus 4 years ago
It's not about any particular actor. Think bigger. These facts are presented to put our concept of time in an order I which we don't normally think.
Load More Replies... Grumble O'Pug 7 years ago
Not really. Egypt had a super stable flooding cycle, enabling a very long peaceful civilization. In the area where Mega Fauna still had some footing, they were only hassled by the much smaller populations. Read Guns, Germs, and Steel to see how the Levant became a much more vital region for idea sharing and how areas like North America were not really able to capture that same "lightening in a bottle" as it were.
Load More Replies... Manu Schuster 7 years ago
Got another one: Windows Vista is now as old as Windows 95 was when Windows Vista was released.
Sabal Minor 7 years ago
Luv these perspectives and as we age U find yourself doing "comparative aging" on almost everything. Time is weird!
We Were On A Break! 7 years ago
For some time I felt like the level of the articles and posts here were deteriorating but this one is FANTASTIC! Keep it up Bored Panda admins and writers!
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