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Anne Frank and Martin Luther King Jr. Would Be the Same Age Today
Imagine a world where Anne Frank and Martin Luther King Jr. were both celebrating their 96th birthdays in 2025. It’s almost impossible to picture, right? Both were born in 1929, but their lives took wildly different turns—one in a hidden attic, the other on the front lines of civil rights. The thought that they were peers in age absolutely shatters the neat timelines we mentally assign to history. Their stories feel lightyears apart, yet their birthdays tie them together in a single year. It’s a gut-punch reminder of the overlapping struggles and hopes that shaped the 20th century. To think that, in another universe, they might have met, grown old, or even worked together is both haunting and inspiring.
The iPhone and the Final Harry Potter Book Were Released in the Same Year (2007)
Picture this: In 2007, people were lining up in droves—for two entirely different reasons. On the one hand, the world’s very first iPhone was about to change how we communicate forever. On the other, millions eagerly anticipated the final chapter of J.K. Rowling’s magical saga, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” Tech and fantasy collided head-on that year, shaping pop culture and personal lives in ways still felt today. Who would have guessed that the device you use to read, text, and snap photos was born the same year wizards finally defeated Voldemort? It’s a cosmic intersection of innovation and imagination, and a telling snapshot of how fast the world can shift.
The Last Public Execution in France Happened the Same Year as Star Wars Premiered (1977)
1977 is forever remembered for the birth of Star Wars, with its glowing lightsabers and epic battles. But shockingly, that same year, France carried out its last public execution by guillotine. While moviegoers were dreaming of galaxies far, far away, the echoes of a brutal past still lingered in the heart of Europe. It’s nearly impossible to reconcile the futuristic wonder of Star Wars with the grim reality of a public beheading happening at the same time. This jarring coincidence slams together two worlds—one racing toward the future, the other clinging to archaic rituals—and leaves us questioning how progress and tradition can coexist.
President John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln Had Eerie Parallels
Some coincidences are so bizarre, they feel scripted. Both Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy were elected to Congress exactly 100 years apart—Lincoln in 1846, Kennedy in 1946. They became president 100 years apart as well, in 1860 and 1960. Each was succeeded by a Johnson, and both were shot on a Friday, in the head. The list goes on, and the similarities border on the supernatural. History buffs love to debate whether these are just random quirks or something more. Either way, these parallels give you goosebumps and make you wonder if the universe sometimes enjoys a sly wink at our expense.
Harriet Tubman Was Alive When Thomas Edison Invented the Phonograph (1877)
Harriet Tubman’s life story reads like a bridge between worlds. Born around 1822, she risked everything to free enslaved people—but here’s the jaw-dropper: she lived long enough to see Thomas Edison invent the phonograph in 1877. Tubman, who began life in slavery, witnessed the dawn of recorded sound, a leap that feels almost science fiction. Imagine the same pair of eyes seeing both the Underground Railroad and the age of invention. It’s a powerful reminder that history isn’t just a straight line—it’s a wild, tangled cord, with moments of darkness and bursts of brilliance happening side by side.
Nintendo Was Founded in 1889 – The Same Year the Eiffel Tower Opened
Nintendo, now a household name in gaming, started as a humble playing card company in 1889. That was also the year Paris unveiled the Eiffel Tower, a symbol of modern engineering. It’s almost surreal to think of Mario and the Iron Lady sharing a birth year. On one side of the world, Parisians were marveling at a tower that touched the sky; on the other, a small Japanese business was laying the foundation for video game revolutions. This overlap shows how innovation, whether in steel or in play, can spring up in the most unexpected corners—sometimes all at once.
The Titanic Sank the Same Year Oreo Cookies Were Introduced (1912)
1912 is stamped into history as the year the Titanic met its icy fate, a tragedy that still grips imaginations over a century later. But did you know it’s also the year Oreo cookies first hit the shelves? One became a symbol of disaster, the other a timeless treat. The idea that people might have mourned lost loved ones with a glass of milk and a brand-new cookie is strangely comforting and poignant. Two legends—one tragic, one delicious—were born in the same breath, highlighting how life’s darkest moments and sweetest joys are never far apart.
Oxford University Was Older Than the Aztec Empire
It almost doesn’t seem possible, but Oxford University began teaching students in 1096—more than two centuries before the Aztec Empire was even founded in 1325. When you picture ancient Aztec pyramids, it’s wild to imagine that scholars in England were already debating philosophy. This flips our sense of history upside down. The old and the new, the east and the west, all weaving together in ways we rarely consider. It’s a humbling reminder of how vast and interconnected the human timeline truly is.
Queen Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe Met in 1956 – Both Were 30
In 1956, two icons—Queen Elizabeth II and Marilyn Monroe—stood together for a single, unforgettable photograph. Both were exactly 30 years old, yet their worlds were galaxies apart: one draped in royal protocol, the other shimmering under Hollywood lights. The image of them side by side feels almost dreamlike, as if history itself paused for a moment to capture duty and desire in a single frame. Their meeting is a time capsule of mid-century ambition and allure, reminding us that even legends cross paths in the most unexpected ways.
Hitler, Stalin, Freud, and Trotsky Lived in the Same City at the Same Time (Vienna, early 1900s)
It sounds like the setup to a surreal joke, but it’s true: Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Sigmund Freud, and Leon Trotsky all lived in Vienna during the early 20th century. The city’s coffeehouses and streets buzzed with ideas—and, unknowingly, with the presence of men who would soon shape (and scar) the world in unimaginable ways. The sheer density of genius, ambition, and darkness in one place is staggering. Imagine passing by these figures on your way to work, never knowing what was brewing beneath those hats and overcoats. Sometimes, the world’s wildest turning points happen shoulder to shoulder, in total anonymity.
Besides founding Festivaltopia, Luca is the co founder of trib, an art and fashion collectiv you find on several regional events and online. Also he is part of the management board at HORiZONTE, a group travel provider in Germany.
