If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years, it’s that history is just one big time warp. We’ve recently come across some wild historical facts that have changed our perception of time and, honestly, they aren’t sitting right with us. Let’s take a look at what we’ve discovered – we’re sure it’ll play with your sense of history, as well.
Jimmy Carter was the first US president to be born in a hospital
Jimmy Carter was the 39th president of the United States – and he was also the first to be born in a hospital.
On October 1, 1924, James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, Jr. was born at the Wise Sanitarium (now the Lillian G. Carter Nursing Center). Surprisingly, not all of his successors were born in such facilities. Both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush weren’t born in a hospital. What’s more, at least seven US presidents were born in log cabins, meaning that more have been born in log cabins than in hospitals!
Very different presidencies occurred during Harriet Tubman’s life
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in March 1822, and she died on March 10, 1913, meaning she was alive in the same eras as both Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan. Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, and perished on July 4, 1826, while Reagan was born on February 6, 1911, and died on June 5, 2004.
This fact puts into perspective how much history truly happened in a short period of time.
How many companies were established around Count Dracula’s time?!
Count Dracula was the main character in Bram Stoker‘s 1897 novel, Dracula. By then, the Coca-Cola Company, Levi Strauss & Co., and Nintendo had already been established.
Coca-Cola originated in 1886, Levi Strauss invented blue jean in 1873, and, in 1889, Nintendo was born (but obviously not in the same capacity that we know it today).
The last Mayan city-state fell after most of 13 colonies were founded
The Mayans are often thought of as an ancient civilization, but, in reality, the it existed during the establishment of most of the 13 original American colonies.
In 1697, the Mayan city-state of Nojpetén fell. To put this date into perspective, all of the 13 colonies, except for Georgia, had been established by the time the civilization fell. Virginia was the first American to be settled in 1607, and Georgia was the last, coming into existence in 1732.
When Harvard was founded, calculus had yet to be invented
Harvard is known as being one of the most respected universities in the world, yet when it was first established, it didn’t teach its students calculus. Harvard is America’s oldest university, having been founded in 1636. However, Isaac Newton wouldn’t invent calculus until 1665.
This means Harvard was around for almost 30 years before calculus was invented!
George Washington never knew dinosaurs existed
The first US president, George Washington, was unaware of the existence of dinosaurs. Washington died on December 14, 1799 – 25 years before the first dinosaur was scientifically named by William Buckland.
Dinosaur fossils had been found for thousands of years before people discovered what they actually were, so it’s quite possible Washington was aware of the prehistoric relics. Originally, it was thought the bones came from a species of gigantic humans or extremely large reptiles.
London Underground opened during the American Civil War
This fact seems completely unbelievable to us; the American Civil War was fought over backward philosophies while the London Underground seems like a feat of modern engineering.
On January 10, 1863, the world’s first underground railway opened in London, England. The line operated between Paddington and Farringdon, and used gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives. In January 1863, the Civil War was still being fought and the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared all slaves were free, had just been passed.
Egyptian pyramids and woolly mammoths existed at the same time
From what scientists can tell, the last woolly mammoths died as late as 1650 BCE, on Russia’s Wrangle Island. By this time, the Great Pyramid of Giza had already been in existence for 1,000 years.
(It’s worth noting, however, that most populations of woolly mammoths disappeared during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene periods, but some survived on islands in present-day Alaska and Russia.)
Last known survivor of a slave ship died in 1940
Matilda McCrear, who was brought over to America on the slave ship Clotilda, died in 1940. McCrear was born in 1857 in Nigeria and was brought to Mobile, Alabama, at the age of two.
According to historian Hannah Durkin, McCrear belonged to the Yoruba people of West Africa. She’d received traditional facial scars, which were visible for the rest of her life. Following the abolition of slavery in 1865, she continued to work in Alabama as a sharecropper with her mother and sister. She passed away in January 1940, when she was 83 years old.
France was still using the guillotine when Star Wars was released
The guillotine is a French execution method that’s perhaps most famous for the beheading of Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. This method seems violent and medieval, yet it was last used in 1977 – the same year the first Star Wars movie was in theaters.
On September 10, 1977, Hamida Djandoubi was beheaded by guillotine in a Marseilles prison for killing former lover Elisabeth Bousquet. The next day, on September 11, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope celebrated its French premiere at the Deauville Film Festival. Djandoubi was the last person to be lawfully executed by beheading in the Western world.
Pablo Picasso could’ve heard Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon
We don’t typically associate artist Pablo Picasso with Pink Floyd, but there’s a chance he heard tracks from the band’s album, The Dark Side of the Moon before he passed away. The popular album was released on March 1, 1973, and Picasso passed away a little over a month later, on April 8.
The Dark Side of the Moon was an instant hit, so perhaps the artist heard a track or two before he died.
Tupac’s musical debut was longer ago than his entire lifespan
Tupac Shakur was one of the most revolutionary rappers of the 1990s, making albums that we still love today.
In 1991 (or over 30 years ago), Tupac released his debut album, 2Pacalypse Now. However, his life was cut short when he was killed in a drive-by shooting on September 13, 1996, when he was just 25 years old.
This means Tupac’s musical debut was longer ago than his whole lifespan – a fact that doesn’t sit right with us.
Ruby Bridges has an Instagram account
Ruby Bridges was the first African-American student to desegregate an elementary school in the Deep South. She was famously photographed with four US Marshals escorting her to and from class. She’s also the subject of Norman Rockwell’s famed 1960 painting, The Problem We All Live With.
Today, Bridges works as an activist, and she even has a social media presence, which really helps put into perspective how recent segregation took place in the United States.
There’s a 22-year window when samurai could’ve faxed Abraham Lincoln
This claim certainly encompasses a lot of different historical facts and figures, but believe it or not, it’s the truth.
Samurai, who were members of the Japanese warrior caste, rose to power in the 12th century and were abolished during the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The first ever fax machine was invented in 1843. The “Electric Printing Telegraph,” developed by Alexander Bain, was the precursor to the modern fax machine. Finally, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, on April 15, 1865.
When we put all of this together, it becomes clear that, for 22 years, a Samurai could’ve sent a fax to Lincoln. While this (sadly) never happened, it’s a good way to get a sense of three different historical events and their time relation.
Laura Ingalls Wilder died during the Nuclear Age
Little House on the Prairie was a popular book series (and television show) that chronicled the life of author Laura Ingalls Wilder. She was born on February 7, 1867, when the horse and buggy was still a common mode of transportation, and she passed away on February 10, 1957, in the middle of the Nuclear Age.
This fact helps us realize how much history and advancement happened in such a short period of time!
Oxford is older than a whole bunch of things…
Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. We don’t know exactly when it was established, but classes were being taught in some form by 1096.
This means Oxford is nearly 700 years older than the United Stages; 400 years older than the English language; 200 years older than the Aztec civilization; and 100 years older than the Magna Carta.
Betty White was older than sliced bread
We often said that Betty White was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but, actually, sliced bread is the greatest thing since Betty White! On July 7, 1928, a bakery in Chillicothe, Missouri, was the first bakery to sell pre-cut bread. To do this, the bakery used the automatic bread-slicing machine that had been invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder.
More from us: 10 Things We’ve Discovered Way More Recently Than You Think
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White was born on January 17, 1922, making her technically six years older than sliced bread.