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Time and progress, as we know it, work in mysterious ways. While most of us enjoy technological achievements in celluloid form à la "Barbenheimer," one of the oldest indigenous tribes in the world, the Yanomami, are fighting for their survival in the Amazon.

But this is just a mere example of the different timelines that happen at the same time, yet in different parts of the world. As u/Cuish, who asked the AskReddit community "What other things oddly existed at the same time?", noted, the last execution by guillotine in France occurred in 1977, the same year that George Lucas' Star Wars forever altered the course of sci-fi movies. Scroll down below and explore these intriguing random facts for yourself.

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#1

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Orville Wright of the Wright brothers lived long enough to see Chuck Yaeger break the sound barrier and travel on an airliner that had a wingspan equal to the distance he covered in his first flight (37m) 

cruiserman_80 , Wikipedia Report

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There are many different explanations for the perception of time, including Einstein's wildly popular "Time is relative", one of the pillars of modern physics, theory which claims that the rate at which time passes depends on your frame of reference. 

However, when we observe the occurrence of various significant historical events seemingly close to one another, it can be mind-boggling, considering the odds of such proximity. Can you believe that Harvard didn't have calculus classes when they just opened their doors? Unbelievable!
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#2

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Oxford University celebrated its 200th graduating class by the time the Aztec Empire started in Central America.

LambertonRegistry , Ben Seymour Report

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The phenomenon of perceiving significant historical events clustered closely together, then, can trigger a cognitive dissonance that makes our minds reel. These events, though separated by vast stretches of time in reality, seem to converge in our minds, blurring the temporal boundaries. You know, reading about the events that happened in the span of 2,000 years whilst you've only been on Earth for only a few of Microsoft's Windows generations can be pretty mind-blowing. 

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#3

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously My favourite that I've seen:

When Harvard opened, they didn't have calculus classes because *calculus hadn't been invented yet.*

DJBlok , Emily Karakis Report

Final score:
263points
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#4

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously The last mammoths lived at the time the pyramids were under construction.

Hopeful_Mecha_Angel , Andrés Dallimonti Report

Final score:
232points
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#5

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously I always found it strange that Victorian England and the Wild West happened at the same time.

Latvian_Pete , Abigail Keenan Report

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#6

Dmitri Shostakovich (major Russian composer who became huge in the 1920s) attended a performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” in London, 1975. He actually loved it and watched it again the next day, claiming he wished he could’ve written something for a rock band.

guiporto32 Report

Final score:
214points
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#7

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously I watched the first moon landing with a woman who’d been in Paris for Lindbergh’s first transcontinental flight landing.

Edit: wow this blew up! And my first award!! Trippy, thanks—and I owe it all to Mrs. B.

zestyspleen , NASA Report

Final score:
209points
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#8

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously *Frozen* came out the same year Mississippi officially abolished slavery.

ItsGotThatBang , Disney Report

Final score:
194points
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#9

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously The last execution by guillotine occurred on September 10th, 1977.

The Atari 2600, the first successful home video game console, released the very next day. In a sense, the boundary separating the "era of guillotines" and the "era of video games" is less than 24 hours. It's basically a fine line with no overlap.

SleeplessShitposter , Paul Glazzard Report

Final score:
192points
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#10

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Samurai, the fax machine, and Abraham Lincoln all existed at the same time

An-Ugly-Croissant17 , Ryunosuke Kikuno Report

Final score:
186points
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#11

Women in Switzerland got right to vote in 1971 when India was already having a woman prime minister !

sumidawasi Report

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#12

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Nintendo was founded when Jack the Ripper was roaming the streets of London.

SublimeVibe , Alvaro Reyes Report

Final score:
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#13

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Dali designed the Chupa Chups lollipop logo.

botulizard , Mstroeck Report

Final score:
177points
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#14

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Harriet Tubman was alive at the same time as both Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan.

notasleannotasmean , Kirt Morris Report

Final score:
176points
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#15

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously In 1922, Betty White and the Ottoman Empire both existed.

Glade_Runner , Angela George Report

Final score:
173points
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#16

People walked on the moon before we put wheels on a suitcase

Blythyvxr Report

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173points
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#17

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Something that oddly did NOT exist at the same time: Tyrannosaurus Rex is closer in time to humans than to a Stegosaurus.

Ts4EVER , Jon Butterworth Report

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#18

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Sharks are older than trees and Saturn’s rings.

jjc89 , Jonas Allert Report

Final score:
152points
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davidpaterson avatar
David Paterson
David Paterson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hold on a second. There is still a lot of debate about the age of Saturn's rings in astronomical circles. The observations of the Cassini spacecraft mission should have given us a firm answer, but didn't. The age is still uncertain by a factor of about 100.

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Shark Lady
Shark Lady
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sharks are the ultimate survivors, except for megaladons, they couldn't hack it!

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Kattenkinders
Kattenkinders
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So (those) sharks didn't oddly existed at the same time as trees and the rings of Saturn?

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#19

Salvador Dali attended an Alice Cooper concert once

tmfult Report

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#20

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously The Qing Dynasty of China collapsed in 1912, the same year as the Titanic disaster.

TailsxCream4Eva , Clay Banks Report

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#21

Bro, South African Apartheid ended the year that Jurassic Park came out. We were eating popcorn drooling over dinosaur puppets, while they were still fighting to use the same toilet as white people. Pitiful it took so long. Of course, hindsight tells us Apartheid started and ended with $$$ in mind. It was economic disparity that finally pushed for the end of said segregation...As it goes with much of the civil rights successes throughout the 20th century 😑

Concert-Turbulent Report

Final score:
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#22

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously 2 empires, The Roman Empire and The Ottoman Empire, spanned the entire gap from Jesus to Babe Ruth.

Choice_Hold2805 , David Libeert Report

Final score:
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#23

Winston Churchill:

• rode in a cavalry charge

• commanded nuclear weapons

armsandhearts Report

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#24

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously William Shakespeare and Pocahontas were alive at the same time.

Dabrigstar , Taha Report

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127points
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#25

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Prisoners began to arrive to Auschwitz a few days after McDonald's was founded.

delifte , Jurij Kenda Report

Final score:
126points
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#26

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously The last surviving witness to the Lincoln assassination appeared on the TV game show *I've Got a Secret* several weeks before his death in 1954.

the2belo , Wikipedia Report

Final score:
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#27

Queen Elisabeth II and Marilyn Monroe were born in the same year, 1926.

cosmic_jenny Report

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123points
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#28

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously The first episode of Doctor Who aired the day after Kennedy was assassinated.

EightThreeEight838 , History in HD Report

Final score:
114points
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#29

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Pablo Picasso died the same year Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" was released.

PrescottEagle , Beatriz Miller Report

Final score:
106points
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#30

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Humans and Dodo birds coexisted up until the 1600s 

Ledge_r , BazzaDaRambler Report

Final score:
106points
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#31

You were alive at the same time as the last living Civil War widow. She only died three years ago.

badgersprite Report

Final score:
98points
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#32

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Musashi was wandering around Japan having duels when Michelangelo was painting the Sistine chapel

Cream-of-Mushrooom , Calvin Craig Report

Final score:
97points
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#33

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously The last WW1 veteran lived long enough to see the release of Minecraft.

planetary_facts , Oberon Copeland @veryinformed.com Report

Final score:
96points
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#34

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Anne Frank, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barbara Walters [were born in 1929.](https://twitter.com/WhatTheFFacts/status/446672526572519425), Barbra Walter died in December 2022.

NYSenseOfHumor , Ronni Kurtz Report

Final score:
92points
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#35

Laws making interacial marriage illegal in Mississippi were still on the books in 1994.

sbrooks84 Report

Final score:
91points
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#36

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously There are definitely Japanese people alive right now who have interacted with actual samurai.

(Japan started modernizing and abolishing the samurai in the 1860s, so a samurai born in the 1840s that lived to be 100 would overlap with the lifespan of someone who is 80+ years old)

sailormegtune , Krys Amon Report

Final score:
84points
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#37

If you were born before January 7, 1989, you existed at the same time as Emperor Hirohito.

RockVonCleveland Report

Final score:
82points
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#38

Galileo Galilei could have taught at Harvard.

mosquitohater2023 Report

Final score:
81points
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#39

Cleopatra lives closer to us than when the pyramids were built

TheBlazingFire123 Report

Final score:
80points
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#40

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously The Titanic maiden voyage happened the same year as MDMA was created.

BrianH-84 , Wkipedia Report

Final score:
73points
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#41

Man walked on the moon, Wendy's was founded, and Sesame Street first aired all in the same year.

YodasChick-O-Stick Report

Final score:
25points
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#42

The Jonestown Massacre and the airing of The Star Wars Holiday Special happened within the same 48 hours.

JohnTheMod Report

Final score:
22points
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#43

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Edison, John Philip Sousa, and Clint Eastwood were all alive at the same time.

Glade_Runner Report

Final score:
21points
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#44

The Marquis de Lafayette (from the American Revolutionary War and the Hamilton musical) lived long enough to have seen the first 3D motion picture. (Stereoscopy was invented a year before his death.)

Sir-Viette Report

Final score:
20points
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#45

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously The fax machine was invented the same year that Victoria, British Columbia was established as a trading post.

JustSomeApparition , Mgrasek100 Report

Final score:
19points
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#46

40 Bits Of History That People Are Shocked To Learn Happened Simultaneously Pablo Picasso died 2 years before the Vietnam war ended

AdamMundorf , Ann Report

Final score:
18points
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#47

Anne frank and Martin Luther King Jr. were born the same year.

LordBaranof Report

Final score:
18points
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#48

How about a twist on an old favourite:

Mammoths still existed when Ea-Nasir was selling s****y copper

lumoslomas Report

Final score:
18points
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#49

Goodfellas was released a few weeks before West and East Germany reunited

ST-Parks Report

Final score:
17points
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#50

When the Civil War broke out in America, the modern bicycle had just been invented. (1860 for Michaux and Lallement's 'velocipede' and 1861 for the attack on Ft. Sumter)


Also, Nintendo is only 21 years younger than Tabasco sauce. (1868 and 1889)

pn1ct0g3n Report

Final score:
16points
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#51

King Mongkut of Siam (the King featured in Roger’s and Hammerstein’s the King and I) ruled at the same time President Lincoln entered office. Mongkut even offered the president a couple of elephants for the war effort. Technically, the letter was addressed to Buchanan, but he had left office by the time the letter arrived.

SnooChipmunks126 Report

Final score:
16points
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#52

Aboriginal Australians were on Earth the same time as wooly mammoths.

Octonaughty Report

Final score:
16points
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#53

Henry Kissinger is still alive and opining in 2023

cryptoengineer Report

Final score:
16points
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#54

The last lynching happened in Mobile, AL on 21 March **1981**.

In 1994 the following bands released albums:

- Notorious BIG
- Oasis
- Hootie and the Blowfish
- Usher
- Korn
- Outkast
- Beck
- Soundgarden
- Green Day
- Pearl Jam
- Nine Inch Nails
- The Lion King ( I **can** feel the love tonight)
- The Cranberries
- Bon Jovi
- Ace of Base
- Sheryl Crow


What a decade to be a music fan.

Leucippus1 Report

Final score:
14points
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#55

The Roman Empire could’ve ended in 1922 if you see the Ottomans as legitimate successors to the Eastern Roman Empire as they never officially got rid of the titles Vasileus and Kaysar i Rum

Yodi_worshipper1900 Report

Final score:
14points
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#56

Nikola Tesla could have witnessed the US Civil War and World War 2. (1856-1943)

-Work_Account- Report

Final score:
12points
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#57

Current U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein is older than the Golden Gate Bridge.

DeanCheesePritchard Report

Final score:
12points
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#58

COVID-19 and the last American Civil War pensioner

Irene Triplett was born in 1930 to an elderly Civil War veteran and his wife. Somehow she inherited his pension when her father died and she died in March of 2020.

FarkleSpart Report

Final score:
11points
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#59

John Tyler was the 10th President of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845. He still has one living grandson.

CorgiMonsoon Report

Final score:
9points
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#60

I forget the specifics, but technically a samurai could have sent a fax to Abraham Lincoln.

We-R-Doomed Report

Final score:
9points
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#61

The Islamic caliphate existed during WW1

ArmzLDN Report

Final score:
9points
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#62

Karl Marx once wrote a letter to Abraham Lincoln

PMMeUrHopesNDreams Report

Final score:
8points
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#63

Christopher Lee saw the last public execution.

DrJunkenHog Report

Final score:
8points
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#64

John Cena and John Oliver were both on the same day, ALSO in 1977.

staralchemist129 Report

Final score:
8points
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#65

The last assault on the Capitol happened the same year the last Spider-Man movie (No Way Home) was released in 2021.

Healthy-Upstairs-286 Report

Final score:
4points
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#66

Kobe Bryant and the last Shah of Iran shared the earth for a few months

involmasturb Report

Final score:
3points
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#67

Classic pirates, cowboys, and samurai.

NitroCaliber Report

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1point
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#68

Henry VIII lived long enough to be able to receive a labiaplasty.

Cornholed_Again Report

Final score:
-5points
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