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The Guillotine Isn't So Outdated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.
A long time ago, in a land far, far away (AKA Ancient Greece), it was believed that redheads turned into vampires when they died. This was because redheads are naturally pale and sensitive to sunlight, both of which are characteristics of fabled vampires.
This is known as a ridiculous historical fact. I only know it because of research I did for a paper back in high school.
Apparently, there are a lot of ridiculous historical facts, and Reddit users know a lot of them!
Curious to find out exactly what facts they know, Redditor yeet42021 asked:
“What are some ridiculous history facts?”
Car Accidents Can Never Be Avoided
"In 1895, the entire state of Ohio had only 2 cars."
"Both cars managed to still smash into each other"
– cannedrex2406
"And apparently no one here has learned how to drive better since."
– Supringsinglyawesome
Never Forgot The Scolding
"When Alexander the Great was a child he was reprimanded by a teacher for wastefully throwing two whole fistfuls of rare incense into a sacrificial fire. When he was an adult and captured Gaza, which happened to be the prime agricultural source of the incense he wasted, he sent home 18 tons of it home to the same teacher as a gift."
– oh_its_him_again
"Was that a "Have some of this valuable incense!", or a "It's not so rare after all, is it?""
– ThisIsUrIAmUr
"More like a “F*ck you, I’m Alexander. I’m so great I added it to my name.”"
– Smayteeh
Shoot Me Twice, Shame On You
"Former US President Andrew Jackson was approached by a man who pulled a gun on him.(smaller history fact this was the first assassination attempt on a US President). The man pulled the trigger and the cap went off but the gunpowder failed to light. The man pulled a second gun and fired, but the gunpowder again failed to light. The assassin tried to get away, but not before Andrew Jackson got him and beat the sh*t out of him with a cane."
– nkonkleksp
Mistaken Prediction
"Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day."
"July 4th, 1826. The 50th Anniversary of them both signing the declaration of Independence."
"Adams's last words were: “Thomas Jefferson survives.”"
"He was wrong by about 5 hours."
– MiataCory
Never Forget
"The first bomb dropped on Berlin by the British during WW2 claimed no human casualties. But it did kill an elephant."
– Dapianoman
So Many Interesting Tidbits Here
"When the romans laid siege to Themyscera, a real place weirdly enough, they attempted to tunnel into the city. The Themyscerans released bears into the tunnels."
– OnionsHaveLairAction
"RELEASE THE BEARS OF WAR"
– __xor__
Royal Heritage
"When the Netherlands was occupied by rhe Nazis in 1940 many people fled to Canada, including Princess Juliana of the Netherlands and her husband Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Their daughter, Princess Margriet was born in Ottawa."
"Not knowing if the baby would be male, and hence the heir to the throne, Canada declared the maternity ward of the Ottawa hospital extraterritorial, which means it became an international territory. This meant that the baby would derive its nationality only from its mother, making it 100% Dutch."
– SlothOfDoom
"I'm writing a paper on this for Uni right now."
"The Dutch still send thousands of tulip bulbs to Ottawa as a thank you every year, and as a result, Ottawa has its own tulip festival."
– PegBundysBonBons
Winter Is Evil
"The longest ever US presidential inauguration speech was made by William Henry Harrison on March 4th, 1841. The day had terrible weather, yet Harrison chose to deliver his speech nonetheless, running 8445 words."
"In fact the speech was so long, and the weather so terrible, that Harrison caught pneumonia and died on April 4th, making him the shortest reigning US president ever"
– TiBiDi
Well, That Tracks
"The only Japanese passenger on the Titanic, Masabumi Hosono, survived the disaster, only to loose his job for "Not dying honorably like the others.""
– Compens8ing
Repeated Trauma
"Abraham Lincoln's son (Robert Todd Lincoln) was present at three different presidential assassinations. After McKinley, he decided not to accept any more invitations."
– m_sporkboy
Malta
"The entire country of Malta was awarded the George Cross for its efforts in WWII. It's still on their flag."
PotentBeverage
"Interestingly enough, it sounds like the conditions for the awarding of the cross are kind of similar to how the Knights Hospitallier operated back in the sword and shield days. If you're unfamiliar, they were more or less a precursor to the red cross and the first real paramedics."
Graawwrr·
Potato Propoganda
"Potatoes were not very popular as a food in France. Like they were seen as fit only for animals. Not only that but they were considered generally not digestible by humans. So a pharmacist named Parmentier knew they were good food and wanted to popularize them among the working class. So he got a 2 acre farm to grow potatoes and placed armed guards around it at all times. People assumed armed guards meant something very valuable was growing there so they began to steal the potatoes."
"That's how potatoes became popular in france's working class."
burningmanonacid
Forgot to claim peace
"Montenegro technically was in war with Japan for 101 years and they signed a peace treaty in 2006. Montenegro was alligned with Russia in Russo-Japanese War and they declared war on Japan but they forgot to peace."
Erlichten
Spies
"Once FDR died, Truman didn’t know about the Manhattan Project, but when he found out he subtly tried to tell Stalin they were working on something big. Stalin was like “yeah dude, I knew before you did.” Since he had so many spies in America."
Lafuffa
Seclusion
"Henry Cavendish. The man who was vital in the discovery of gases and discovered hydrogen. He inherited a ton of money from his uncle, and built a special castle, I think. He was incredibly introverted, so it was designed so that he never had to meet or see any of his servants. He communicated with them through notes only. He did, however, appreciate other scientists coming to visit and talk. His works mostly came after his death of course, but I found this guy interesting."
Warden_2102
The Rules of Battle
"During the Viking era, there was a leader named Sigurd. He allied with a Viking warlord named Thorstein. He wanted to conquer more land and expand his territory. He had already been very successful in doing so. This was until he feuded with another leader called Máel Bucktoothed or Máel Tusk, as his front two teeth were abnormally large and bucktoothed."
"They decided to settle their matters on the battle field and both agreed on bringing 40 men each for the battle. However, Sigurd ignored the terms and brought 80 men. Bucktoothed had realised he had been betrayed but did not give up. They killed a number of Sigurd’s men, but alas, they were overpowered and were all killed."
"Here’s the catch; after the battle, Sigurd ordered his men to behead all the enemies and tie them to their saddles as trophies. However, as Sigurd rode home in victory, the severed head of Bucktoothed pierced his leg, which lead to an infection, killing him soon after."
sourcec0de1010
Yeah, I would’ve done the same thing.
Do you have any juicy historical tidbits to add? Let us know in the comments below.