Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down Which Major Historical Events Many Folks Don't Realize Happened Around The Same Time

History is fascinating, because while we're busy thinking about important events, sometimes we lose context of how long ago that event actually happened.

We might forget that two important figures in history were alive at the same time, or we might picture an event as if it happened 100 years ago instead of 20.

Remembering the context in which these events happened makes them all the more powerful.


Redditor drichm2599 asked:

"What are two historical events most people don't realize happened at about the same time?"

Diary of a Young Girl

"Anne Frank was born the same year as actor James Hong, who attended the Oscars [this year]."

- CityAbsurdia

Oxford May Be Older Than You Think

"Oxford University is older than the Incan Empire."

- Iknowr1te

"It sounds crazy until you know that the Inca were from late medieval and early modern history, rather than ancient history."

- David_bowman_starman

Galileo at Harvard

"There was a six-year period in which Galileo could have taught at Harvard."

- monkeydo54

Vienna 1913

"Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky, Tito, Freud, and Archduke Franz Ferdinand all lived in Vienna in 1913."

- AdamBombKelley

"So a communist, a socialist, a fascist, and a monarchist walk into a bar..."

- nuclear-launch-codes

"Freud: Clearly all their thoughts dwell on their mothers."

- Guy_with_Numbers

The Guillotine Isn't So Outdated

"The last execution by guillotine in France and the release of the first 'Star Wars' movie took place in the same year (1977)."

- justanotherstr4nger

Meanwhile, 'Toy Story 3' Was Released 13 Years Ago...

"The most recent execution by firing squad in the U.S. took place the same day 'Toy Story 3' was released in 2010."

- ScorpionX-123

The Samurai Address

"There was a 22-year period when Abraham Lincoln could have sent a fax to a Samurai."

"The fax machine was invented in 1843. The samurai were abolished in 1867. Abraham Lincoln died in 1865."

- SnooGrapes2914

Egyptian Civilization

"Wooly mammoths were still around when the Egyptians were building the pyramids."

- BaconReceptacle

"Cleopatra was born closer to the moon landing than to the pyramids being built. By a lot."

- Selith87

"We generally do not appreciate how long the ancient Egyptian civilization was around. Narmer, Pharaoh of the First Dynasty of the Early Dynastic Period, lived over 3,200 years before Pharaoh Cleopatra VII Philopator died, ending the line of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. And there are Pharaohs before Narmer, such as Iry-Hor, a candidate for the earliest person whose name we know."

"Egyptian culture existed for over three millennia, evolving, changing, sometimes enduring massive fractures, collapses, and invasions. Either via conquest or being conquered, they had an uncanny ability to absorb the cultures of other peoples into their own, creating this mutable yet eternal cultural identity."

"The gods of Egypt were old by the time Hatshepsut sent her expedition to Punt. They were even older when Ramesses II fought the Battle of Kadesh. By the time the Roman Republic was founded, they were ancient."

"Ancient Egypt existed for a really f**king long time."

- Nerevar1924

The Dinosaur Timeline

"One that trips me out is that T-rexes are closer to being alive with us than they would be to the Stegosaurus."

“Tyrannosaurus lived 68 - 66 million years ago, and Stegosaurus lived 155 - 145 million years ago. That puts the gap between those two, 77 million years and 66 million years between the Tyrannosaurus and us.”

"Insane, as I always think of dinosaurs being around in the same basic time period."

- Rollotommasi5

Historical Overlaps

"Joe Biden was alive when Nikola Tesla died."

- Shevek99

"Ancient" Civilizations

"The founding of the capital of the Aztec civilization in Tenochtitlan (which would become the foundation for Mexico City a few centuries later) and the beginning of the 100 Years War over in Europe are only about a decade apart (~1325 vs. ~1338)."

"In fact, the major civilizations of the Americas that were ultimately taken down by European conquests and diseases all roughly rose and fell over the course of the 11th through 16th centuries."

"I always find it funny if someone refers to the Incan, Mayan, or Aztec civilizations with words like 'ancient', considering they rose and fell during the same periods as the Mongolian and Ottoman empires, and we don't typically call those ancient."

- rizhail

The Summer of '69

"In 1969 in August Hurricane Camille hit the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the rain storm at Woodstock was part of that storm, and Manson’s group had just gone on the murder spree. The US was as crazy as ever."

- BinxMcGee

So Eerie

"The iconic cover photo of the Beatles' 'Abbey Road' album was taken on the same day as the Manson murders."

- President_Calhoun

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

"Fenway Park opened the same week that the Titanic sunk."

- redsoxsteve9

Kind of Wild

"We are more years in the future from the release of the movie 'Back to the Future' than the movie traveled back in time."

"If we traveled back in time the same amount of years they did, you could still get a VHS copy of 'Back to the Future' in a bargain bin."

- McFeely_Smackup

While we may know these different pieces of history, it's fascinating to think about how they all fit together into the world's timeline. Some of it's interesting, but some of it feels mind-bendingly surreal.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Dr. Sandra Lee
TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle/YouTube

'Dr. Pimple Popper' Star Reveals She Suffered Stroke While Filming Series: 'I Had A Part Of My Brain That Died'

It's already scary to witness a younger person go through a life-changing medical diagnosis, but it's especially jarring to see a medical professional, who presumably knows best about how to care for themselves, go through the same.

Sandra Lee, known as "Dr. Pimple Popper" on Lifetime, is well-known for her bedside manner, medical knowledge and ability to share her knowledge in an accessible way, and, of course, her unique approach to dermatological care.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rob Schneider; Elizabeth Banks
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images; Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Rob Schneider Dragged For Criticizing Elizabeth Banks' 'Dangerous Rhetoric' After She Called Out White Female Trump Voters

After actor and filmmaker Elizabeth Banks—who played Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games—called out white women who voted for President Donald Trump, MAGA actor Rob Schneider lashed out against what he referred to as her "dangerous rhetoric."

Those who've read the book and seen the film adaptation of The Hunger Games know that Trinket—known for joyfully announcing, "Happy Hunger Games and the odds may be ever in your favor!"—is a mistress of propaganda for a hostile government that forces teenagers to fight to the death every year to intimidate critics and keep society's poorest and most vulnerable in line. Trinket eventually embraces the rebellion.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kid Rock
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Kid Rock Dragged After Offering Massive Discount To His MAGA Festival Due To Abysmal Ticket Sales

Musician Kid Rock has hitched his wagon to president Donald Trump for quite some time now, and it seems he too is in the "find out" stage of that particularly exercise in FAFO.

It seems that when the president you form your entire personality around craters to a catastrophic approval rating even for him, your ship starts to sink too.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dan Driscoll; Tammy Duckworth
Cheriss May/Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Army Secretary Sparks Outrage After Shutting Down Army Social Media Accounts For Honoring Tammy Duckworth's Military Service

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is facing heavy criticism after he ordered that all accounts associated with the Army unit "Soldier for Life" (SFL) be shut down after the unit shared a post on social media celebrating Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth's military service.

Duckworth is a double amputee who lost both of her legs in combat in 2004 when her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Tom Homan; Pope Leo XIV
Fox News; Vatican Media/Vatican Pool - Corbis/Getty Images

Trump's Border Czar Ripped For Hypocrisy After Telling Pope Leo To 'Stay Out Of Politics'

President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan was called out for hypocrisy after telling Pope Leo XIV to "stay out of politics" after he clashed with Trump over the widely unpopular war in Iran.

Last week, Pope Leo criticized the war and called on the world "to reject war, especially a war which many people have said is an unjust war, which is continuing to escalate and is not resolving anything."

Keep ReadingShow less