Eerie History Facts That’ll Make You Question Time

Reading these facts is sure to tickle your brain. It will make you want to dust off your old history books and look at everything you thought you knew in a different light. Here are some eerie historical facts that’ll make you truly question your understanding of time.

The above picture shows the two meeting in London for the premiere of the movie, The Battle of the River Plate, back in October 1956. It may be hard to believe, but both were the same age when this photo was taken. The two were born in the same year: 1926.

1908 was when the Cubs last won the World Series. At that time, the Ottoman Empire was still ruling. Indeed, it was only dissolved after the first World War. After its dissolution, the empire transformed into what is now known as Turkey. 

Originally, the tower was intended to only be an entrance to the Paris World Fair, but it eventually became a beloved fixture of the city skyline. Clearly, it was a year for the creation of masterpieces. 

Though born in 1790, Tyler actually has a grandchild who is still living today. Let us do the math. His son, Lyon, was born in 1853. At this time, Tyler was already 63 years old. When Tyler’s son, Lyon, had his own child (Lyon Jr.) in 1924, Lyon was already 71. Four years later, Lyon had another child (Harrison) when he was 75. Harrison is the last living grandchild of John Tyler. His brother, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Jr., passed on in 2020.

Apparently, Darwin was conducting a worldwide survey and expedition when he took Harriet and transported her to England. Australia became her final home when she was brought to the continent by a retiring sea captain. However, some claim that Darwin was never in the island Harriett came from, thus casting doubts on Harriet’s origin story.

During this time, these humongous creatures roamed through certain parts of Russia. While Egypt’s Great Pyramids, specifically the Pyramid of Djoser, were being constructed in the years 2630 to 2611 BCE, wooly mammoths were having the time of their lives in the colder regions of the planet.

However, Oxford University has been around longer than the Aztec Empire. Though there is no official date recorded for the founding of the university, evidence shows that teaching began in the institution as early as 1096. It is considered the English-speaking world’s oldest university.

They ended the medieval-style punishment of putting criminals to death by guillotine. Hamida “Pimp Killer” Djandoubi, convicted of ending a woman’s life, was the last to be rid of his head via guillotine in France. His execution happened in 1977. 

Harvard was named after John Harvard, its first clergyman benefactor. Established in the year 1636, it is America’s oldest higher learning institution. In its early years, the school did not include Calculus in its curriculum because it simply didn’t exist yet!

Dinosaurs were only officially brought to the public’s attention in 1824 by William Buckland, a British naturalist. He named the first dinosaur “Megalosaurus,” or the great lizard. Though it sounds imposing, a Megalosaurus is only a quarter of the size of a T-rex. 

Meanwhile, Martin Luther King Jr. was an activist and American Baptist minister who was a civil rights movement leader from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. Both of these famous historical figures were born in 1929.

Believed to be the world’s oldest tree, it was around when the mammoth population in Wrangel Island went extinct 4,000 years ago. Back then, the island was a comfortable sanctuary for these wooly beasts until climatic changes, and other factors (including human hunters) wiped them out.

The measure was intended to create the United States Secret Service – an agency responsible for the protection of American political leaders. Could Lincoln have been protected from this incident if the Secret Service had been created before he stepped foot in Ford’s Theatre? 

Switzerland was so late in giving women the right to vote that NASA was already driving a buggy on the moon when it happened. Fortunately, the Swiss kept up with the times and compensated for their lateness. Indeed, they now rank 11th in the world for women’s rights and shrinking the gender gap. The Swiss are well ahead of America, which is ranked 45th. 

The journey became known as the Oregon Trail. It marked the start of Westward expansion across the country and was the beginning of the “Great Migration.” It’s incredible that wagon travel and fax machines were concurrent technology!

Described as a “living saint,” Mother Teresa’s health had been in decline prior to her final days. The Indian government gave her a state funeral in honor of her service, especially the efforts she made for the poor.

On May 20, the first prisoners of Auschwitz began to arrive at this horrific destination. The global conflict in Europe ended five years later, but only after 6 million Jews lost their lives. Meanwhile, at last count, McDonald’s had served somewhere in the vicinity of 99 billion meals.

The defeat of the American forces was later described as the Great Sioux War of 1876. Meanwhile, the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge proved significant. It continues to offer a path for pedestrians, vehicles, and cyclists to travel between Manhattan and Brooklyn. 

The year of his passing was the same year Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” was released. One of the progressive albums made, it sold more than 40 million copies and is regarded as one of the greatest albums ever created.

This picture was taken in 2004 inside her home in Lexa, Arkansas, when she was 89 years old. She passed away in 2008 at the age of 93, the same year Barack Obama won the Presidential election and became the first African-American president of the United States.

Chaplin and Hitler were both born in 1889. Chaplin wrote, starred in, directed, and scored the 1940 movie, The Great Dictator. The film became controversial because it openly criticized and condemned Hitler and his party at a time when America was technically at peace with Germany.

Though Wegener was not able to explain his theory, he was vindicated in 1967 – thirty-seven years after his passing – thanks to the plate tectonics theory, which was later accepted by the scientific community. At this time, NASA had been sending rockets to outer space and had long since moved beyond issues relating to the earth’s surface.

Five years before this final hanging took place, the London Underground took its first journey. One of the stations in operation was situated near the Newgate prison. It was highly likely that people rode the tube to go watch the hanging due to the convenience afforded by the prison’s proximity to the London Underground.

In the year Nintendo launched, London was busy fending off a villain who terrorized women – Jack The Ripper. His identity was never known, but ‘The Pinchin Street Torso’ was a crime attributed to him. His atrocities began a few weeks before Nintendo came into existence.

Luke is the lengthiest of the four gospels from Jesus’ disciples. It is purported that both Luke and Acts were written by one apostle. These texts are believed to have been penned between 80-110 CE, meaning it was likely being written at the time the Colosseum was seeing most of its action. 

In that same year, Apple Computers was incorporated. Its launch symbolized the start of  a new ear, ushering in the technology that was destined to change everyone’s lives. It was also an example of the rapid advancement of technology after the second global conflict.

Explorers from Spain had long since arrived in the Southwest. Indeed, they may have made it there as early as 1610. At this time, the ‘Palace of the Governors’ in New Mexico was already being built. Plus, Santa Fe was already a flourishing settlement. 

Fifteen days after Disney World’s opening, Sylvester Magee passed away. Some believe he was 130 years old at the time. However, no birth records exist to verify this claim. Still, he was the last known former slave in the country. Magee was in Columbia, Mississippi, when he took his final breath. His body is now in an unmarked grave in Foxworth, Mississippi.

However, Americans were having a different experience. The American Civil Conflict was raging at the time. It was two years after the London Underground’s opening that the 13th Amendment allowed slavery to finally be abolished, thus ending the conflict.

The book was the last to be released since the series began in 1997 via the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Meanwhile, the availability of the iPhone forever changed the way people used technology. Both of these momentous releases had a huge impact on the world – just in vastly different ways. 

Detonators were being dropped from German Zeppelins and planes flying through the sky. Paris experienced this first-hand in 1916. This was far from the cowboy shows Buffalo Bill was presenting. 

The same year Microsoft was founded, Spain was still ruled by autocratic dictator Francisco Franco. Critics described his rule as violent because he suppressed dissent and implemented forced labor as well as concentration camps. He also supported the Axis Powers during the second global conflict. Spain remained a fascist state until Franco’s passing in November 1975. 

Before Orville Wright took his last breath in 1948, he conveyed his sadness at how his invention had contributed to the war. He also hoped his invention could bring world peace, explaining that he deplored the destruction it had caused.

In that year, a new breed of actor was born into the world. Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe was a mere infant in 1989, as was Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere.

Days after this fairy tale moment, the world witnessed a cold, hard reality. Navy SEALs swarmed Osama Bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan. The most wanted terrorist and Al-Qaeda founder was finally eradicated after almost a decade of chasing him.

Genghis Khan’s victory was assured when he divided his army into three small forces to go after the Great Wall of China. His men later wreaked havoc on the city’s inhabitants and took power over northern China. Meanwhile, the Magna Carta served as a highly influential document that still impacts legal freedoms to this day.

When the sixth generation iPod was released five years later, Mauritania similarly had a historic moment in their hands when they officially abolished slavery. At that time, Mauritania was the last stronghold of slavery. The practice has since been criminalized in the sovereign state. 

A year prior to the creation of this park, Germany officially became unified. Prior to the unification on January 18, 1871, Germany consisted of independent German states. In 1871, a year prior to Yellowstone, Kasier Wilhelm I became the leader of the newly unified German Reich.

Since President Abraham Lincoln officially signed the proclamation that made slavery illegal in 1865, it is possible that former slaves who were kids when the Thirteenth Amendment took effect were in their late 70s or early 80s during the 1940s.

Ronnie Lee Gardner was the last inmate to be executed this way prior to the change. His sentencing occurred on the 18th of June, 2010 – the same day the animated movie Toy Story 3 premiered in theaters. The film was a hit, no pun intended.