100 years feels like a long time, but is it? If we're lucky, it's about the time we'll have on this Earth, and depending on when we live we might see quite a bit with it. If you were born in the early 1900s, you saw a world that developed cars, phones, flight, space travel, modern medicine and more. Not to mention two world wars. What a time to exist! But while all of that stuff happened in less than 100 years, it took humanity way longer to do everything else.
It's impossible to truly understand the scale of time with our small brains, but this gallery aims to help you make some new connections. We think of the Aztec empire as ancient, and European superpowers as modern, but for a period of time they coexisted. The entirety of United States history has only spanned a few generations. Did you know that Samurai and knights loved using guns?
1
We are closer to the T-Rex than the T-Rex was to the Stegosaurus. The end of the dinos 65m years ago is closer to the modern day than the previous dino epoch is to the last one.
3
There were Christians in Western China before the first missionaries even visited Scandinavia.
4
Buzz Aldrin’s dad was alive for the Wright brothers first flight and his son landing on the moon. They were 66 years apart.
5
A witness to Lincoln being shot lived long enough to be interviewed on TV. (It’s on YouTube.)
6
There were people born slaves in America that lived long enough to be alive during the first atom bomb.
8
Medieval knights were using firearms. Samurai also loved guns.
9
There are Samaritans, as in "good Samaritan" from the bible, still around.
10
They were paying civil war pensions as little as five years ago. The last recipient may have died by now.
11
Oxford University is older than the Aztec Empire. (1325.)
13
MLK Jr, Barbara Walters, and Anne Frank were all born in the same year.
14
There was a six year window where a samurai could send a fax to Abe Lincoln.
16
The "Wild West" arguably ended in 1918, with the Mexican Revolution.
17
We were able to land a man on the moon and return him safely before anybody thought putting wheels on luggage was a good idea.
19
Witnesses to the hangings of accused witches at Salem could have included passengers from the Mayflower and also people who would later hear about the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
21
The Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest man-made structure for almost 4,000 years.
23
When Thomas Jefferson died, Harriet Tubman was alive. When Harriet Tubman died, Ronald Reagan was alive.
