Historic events you won't believe took place at the same time

When timelines collide

Although we might think major moments in history happen worlds apart from each other, quite often they overlap in surprising ways. From the Berlin Wall being built just as the first man went into space, to the fax machine predating the American Civil War, here are some historical events you won’t believe happened at the same time.

Read on to discover historical overlaps that will change the way you see the past...

The Eiffel Tower was completed the same year Nintendo was founded

In 1889, Parisians marvelled at the newly-finished Eiffel Tower during the Exposition Universelle – a world's fair marking the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. That same year, across the world, a Kyoto-based company named Nintendo was established – initially as a playing card business.

Oxford University was founded before the Aztec Empire

Oxford began teaching students way back in 1096, long before the Aztec Empire was founded in the 14th century. One of Europe’s oldest institutions predates one of the Americas’ most iconic civilisations by well over two centuries.

Woolly mammoths still roamed when the Pyramids were ancient history

Most mammoths became extinct around 10,000 years ago, but a small population of woolly mammoths lived on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean until as recently as 1650 BC. That’s roughly 1,000 years after the Pyramids of Giza were built. By the time these last mammoths died out, Egypt’s iconic pyramids were already ancient relics.

Disneyland opened the same year the polio vaccine was declared safe and effective

In 1955, families were celebrating both the opening of the first Disneyland, dubbed 'the Happiest Place on Earth,' and the licensing of Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine – a medical breakthrough that would go on to save millions of lives and transform public health worldwide.

Harriet Tubman was alive when Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb

Harriet Tubman, born into slavery around 1820, lived until 1913 – spanning nearly a century of dramatic change. In 1880, Thomas Edison patented a practical, long-lasting electric lightbulb. Tubman, who had once guided enslaved people to freedom by lamplight on the Underground Railroad, lived to see streets and homes lit by electricity.

Queen Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe were born in the same year

Both were born in 1926, with the Queen just six weeks older. One would become Britain’s longest-reigning monarch while the other is remembered as a Hollywood legend – two starkly different lives for two 20th-century icons. Here they are meeting in 1956 at the Royal Film Show, both aged 30. Monroe died just six years later.

The first McDonald's franchise opened three days before Albert Einstein died

Albert Einstein died on 18 April 1955, just three days after Ray Kroc opened his first franchised McDonald’s in Illinois, USA. One man changed physics, the other fast food – and Einstein just missed out on the chance to try a cheeseburger.

The Titanic sank the same year Oreo cookies were invented

1912 saw the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic, but it was also the year Nabisco launched what would become the world’s best-selling cookie. Tragedy and sweetness, side by side.

Pablo Picasso was alive when Eminem was born

Picasso died in 1973, mere months after Marshall Mathers (Eminem) was born in 1972. One changed the face of modern art; the other would go on to be one of the biggest names in rap. For a brief moment, these two great creative minds shared the same planet.

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Japan's 'last samurai' was alive when the first telephone call was made

Saigō Takamori, often called 'the last true samurai', died in 1877, a year after Alexander Graham Bell made his first successful telephone call. As Takamori led a final stand against Japan’s modernising forces, the world was already embracing a new era of communication.

Harvard University was founded before the Salem witch trials

Harvard University was founded in 1636. Yet as late as the 1690s, Massachusetts was still conducting witch trials – an unsettling overlap of enlightenment and superstition. The famous Salem witch trials took place between 1692 and 1693.

Anne Frank and Martin Luther King Jr were born in the same year

Both were born in 1929, just months apart. One wrote a renowned diary while in hiding from Nazi persecution in Amsterdam, the other became a leading figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. Different continents, same birth year, lasting legacies.

The first battery was invented just months after George Washington died

In 1799, America lost its first president, just months before Alessandro Volta invented the first true battery in 1800. As the United States mourned its founding president, Europe was on the brink of an electrical revolution that would eventually span the globe.

The first fax machine was invented before the American Civil War

Scottish inventor Alexander Bain patented the first fax machine in 1843 – nearly two decades before the US Civil War began in 1861. His device used pendulums and electrical signals to scan and reproduce images line by line, a concept that feels astonishingly modern for the mid-19th century.

The Berlin Wall was being built as the first man went into space

Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in April 1961. Just a few months later, construction began on the Berlin Wall in Germany. Humanity reached the stars while reinforcing barriers here on Earth.

The first man to reach the summit of Everest was still alive when the first iPhone was released

Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of the world's tallest peak in 1953. Hillary died in 2008, a year after the first iPhone was released. He witnessed humanity’s leap from mountaintops to mobile tech.

Star Wars premiered the same year the guillotine was last used

In 1977, audiences queued up to see Star Wars blast onto cinema screens. That same year, France carried out its final execution by guillotine. While Luke Skywalker fought the Empire in a galaxy far, far away, France was retiring a symbol of its bloody past.

The London Underground opened five years before the last public hanging in the UK

The world’s first underground railway – the London Underground – began operating in 1863, ushering in a new era of modern urban transport. Yet just five years later, in 1868, crowds still gathered in public to witness the last state-sanctioned hanging on the streets of London.

The Ottoman Empire still existed when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series

In 1908, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series – an event that would become legendary for how long it took to repeat. That same year, the Ottoman Empire, which had ruled much of the Middle East and Eastern Europe for centuries, was still standing. The empire wouldn’t fall until after World War I, meaning Cubs fans saw their team win a title while sultans still reigned in Constantinople.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn was fought while the Brooklyn Bridge was being built

In 1876, General Custer met his end at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, a defining moment in the American Indian Wars. At the same time, engineers in New York were constructing the Brooklyn Bridge – a feat of extraordinary modern engineering that would open in 1883. As conflict blazed in Montana, one of the most iconic symbols of American progress was rising on the East Coast.

America drove a lunar buggy while Swiss women won the vote

1971 was a whirlwind: NASA astronauts roamed the Moon’s surface in the Lunar Roving Vehicle, expanding humanity’s reach beyond our world. That same year, Switzerland finally granted Swiss women the right to vote in federal elections. As astronauts rode lunar craters, Swiss women were claiming their voice at the ballot box.