Genghis Khan, Samurai, and Crusader Walk Into a Bar

Did you know that Mongols, Samurais, and Crusaders all co-existed? Or that there was a 6-year period where Galileo could have taught at Harvard? History may seem like it’s full of long and separate eras, but a lot of things are actually happening at the same time. With that in mind, here are 20 surprising historical comparisons that might shock you.

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1. Nintendo and Jack the Ripper

In 1888, in London, Jack the Ripper began his illustrious crime career. In the same year, Nintendo, which would become world-famous for its video games, was established in Japan. That’s right, Nintendo was founded in 1889.

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2. Since Sliced Bread

There’s a saying, “best thing since sliced bread.” It emphasizes just how significant of an invention sliced bread is, making you think it’s been around forever. Turns out both the filing cabinet and remote control boat were invented 20 years before sliced bread.

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3. The Titanic

1912 was an extraordinary year: the year that the Titanic set sail on her first and last voyage. It was also the year vitamins were discovered, X-ray crystallography invented, and MDMA first synthesized. Good year for medicine, bad year for boats!

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4. Galileo and Harvard

There was a six-year window where Galileo could have been teaching at Harvard. While this didn’t happen, it’s surprising that the iconic astronomer was alive when a fundamental and modern American university was being established. This coincidence underscores how historical timelines can create intriguing “what if” scenarios.

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5. Busy in Vienna

In 1913, Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky, Tito, Freud, and Archduke Franz Ferdinand all lived in Vienna. This bizarre factoid is a telling reflection of Vienna's character and importance in the pre-war period. This could be the beginning of one of those “Three people entered a bar” jokes.

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6. Marilyn and the Queen

Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe share the same year of birth (1926). This can be considered surprising, as these two are highly influential icons of their respective generations, although from completely different worlds. One would become an icon of royalty; the other would become a Hollywood legend.

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7. Cleopatra in Space

Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt was born circa 69 BCE, more than 2,500 years after the Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed, around 2560 BCE. In 1969 CE, human beings landed on the Moon for the first time. This means that Cleopatra was closer to the moon landing than the pyramids.

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8. Rome and the U.S.

The Holy Roman Empire was a central European political entity that existed from 800 to 1806. It was one of the defining institutions in European history for many centuries. On the other hand, the United States of America was a newly declared nation that started its journey of independence in 1776.

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9. Darwin and His Turtle

Charles Darwin was a naturalist who came up with the theory of evolution. He died in 1882 at the end of a long and very successful scientific career. However, his pet tortoise Harriet lived until 2006, more than a century after Darwin’s passing.

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10. Strange Company

The 1916 Battle of the Somme was one of World War I's biggest battles. The conflict lasted for months, claiming the lives of millions of soldiers. It's at this battle that J.R.R. Tolkien, the writer of The Lord of the Rings, first served on the front line. Otto Frank, the father of Anne Frank, and Adolf Hitler, future Nazi leader, both were present as foot soldiers.

Unknown photo studio commissioned by Tolkien's students 1925/6 (private communication from Catherine McIlwaine, Tolkien Archivist, Bodleian Library) on Wikimedia

11. The Ottoman Empire

It is the year the Ottoman Empire, a 600-year-old political and military power, finally met its end. In 1923, 94-year-old Betty White was born, as was Stan Lee, creator of countless Marvel superheroes. This is also the year the U.S. commissioned its first aircraft carrier, and the first use of insulin to control diabetes was reported.

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12. Shakespeare and Virginia

The colony of Virginia was established in 1607, becoming the first permanent English settlement in North America. William Shakespeare, the great playwright, was still living at this time. This shows the connection between the founding of early American history and the last years of one of the greatest writers in history.

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13. Oxford University

Oxford University is a famous ancient university located in England. It has been around since the 12th century. Machu Picchu, the iconic citadel in Peru, was constructed in the 15th century. What's interesting is that Oxford predates Machu Picchu by several centuries, illustrating that human endeavors in education and architecture developed independently in different regions.

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14. Older Than Pyramids

The Irish Neolithic burial site of Newgrange was built in 3200 BCE. The Egyptian pyramids were built around 500 years later, around 2600 BCE. It is hard to imagine that those stone structures from Ireland were built several hundred years before the pyramids.

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15. Pluto’s First Orbit

Pluto, the dwarf planet, was discovered on February 18, 1930. It orbits the Sun once every 248 Earth years. As such, it has not yet completed a single revolution since its discovery. The distance of Pluto's orbit is what makes its speed so slow relative to the inner planets. Pluto's first complete revolution since its discovery won't happen until March 23, 2178.

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16. Guillotines and Star Wars

It's hard to believe that the guillotine, a brutal tool used by France as its primary method of execution, remained in use until relatively recently. The last official execution by guillotine in France did not happen until 1977, which is the same year Star Wars burst into movie theaters with its brand-new universe of action and adventure.

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17. A Day in Santa Fe

In 1620, the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock and created one of the first English settlements in North America. Santa Fe, New Mexico, already had inns, restaurants, and stores for Native American silver. The contrast is striking: how different parts of the continent were so far apart in their development at the same time.

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18. The Oregon Trail

The first wagon train to depart for the Oregon Trail left in 1843. The first fax machine was patented in 1843. It's hard to believe that these two very different things happened in the same year.

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19. Dark Side of the Moon

The last year of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, an innovator and prolific painter and sculptor known for his effect on modern art, was 1973. In the same year, the rock band Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon was released. Pink Floyd would be named one of the most important bands in music history.

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20. Space and the Sea

NASA's Gemini program was in its final months in the 1960s, a series of human spaceflights which furthered our explorations of space and paved the way for the Apollo program to the Moon. Meanwhile, the Plate Tectonics theory was being worked out and accepted, fundamentally changing our understanding of the Earth. It's astonishing that we were still working out the basics of the planet while having broken the sound barrier and reached space.

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