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27 Modern Things That Are Significantly Older Than We Would Have Guessed

So much for originality

27 Modern Things That Are Significantly Older Than We Would Have Guessed

November 23, 2023

Much to the disbelief of many, some things that are considered modern are actually quite old. Although they’ve been tweaked and updated, many “modern” items have origins that date back centuries. Here are a few of the best examples…

27

Flamethrowers

Hраюбе work ТОЛ FLAMETHROWERS WERE CREATED IN THE 7TH CENTURY. Byzatines used Greek fires in naval battles. They were especially useful because the fire would continue to burn while floating on water. CRACKED.COM — Source: 'Recent' Things That're Actually Older Than Dirt

26

ROLLERSKATING DATES BACK TO THE 1760S. John Joseph Merlin debuted his invention during a masquerade, where he proceeded to crash into a giant mirror. CRACKED.COM — Source: 'Recent' Things That're Actually Older Than Dirt

25

ANIMATION DATES BACK TO THE PALEOLITHIC AGE. 21,000 years ago, artists drew rows of cave images that, when lit by flickering firelight, gave the illusion of motion. CRACKED.COM — Source: 'Recent' Things That're Actually Older Than Dirt

24

Music videos are 20 years older than MTV. S CINEMATIC 50 They were made for the 1960s fad Scopitone, a jukebox that could play video. CRACKED.COM — Source: 23 'Modern' Things That Are JUST. SO. OLD.

23

IBM Simon

The first smartphone was released in 1994. 12 - - Z VIA Class - - BUK the PM SUG This to Her - une A.K. 3 2 F - - - 5 J 6 4 Вимош E WORLD PRO G daas GU 0 7 II O E 311 Korea Cool The IBM Simon had a Photo Last 12 Page Chear Quick touchscreen, a variety of Here Please Die Painte apps, and even predictive typing, beating the iPhone Simon by 13 years. From BELLSOUTH Designed by ISM CRACKED.com — Source: 23 'Modern' Things That Are JUST. SO. OLD.

22

The word Frienemies Was actually a term coined in the 50s to describe the US/Soviet relationship. CRACKED.COM — Source: 23 'Modern' Things That Are JUST. SO. OLD.

21

Lighters

Contrary to popular belief, lighters have been around longer than matchsticks. Chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner invented the first lighter in 1823, calling it 'Döbereiner's lamp.' This predates friction matches by three years. CRACKED.COM — Source: 23 'Modern' Things That Are JUST. SO. OLD.

20

CRACKED.COM Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) = a 21st century invention? Nope! ORCE The Kettering Bug is an unmanned biplane that can hit targets from 75 miles away. It was invented in 1918. — Source: 23 'Modern' Things That Are JUST. SO. OLD.

19

This is a 2000 year old Swiss Army Knife. Made by the Romans, it has a knife, spoon and fork, a toothpick, spatula, and a spike. GRAGKED.COM — Source: 23 'Modern' Things That Are JUST. SO. OLD.

18

Complaining that Christmas has become too commercialized has been going on since the 1800's, or when Christmas as we know it was started. TAKE ADVICE FROM SANTA CLAUS AND GETA GOOD There are worlds of SUPPLY OF money wasted, at this time of year, in getting things that nobody wants, and nobody cares for after they are got. LUNDBORG'S ...it's a pity that you had PERFUMES not such a subject to FORSALE EVERYWHERE practice on as I was when I was a girl. Presents did not fly about in those days as they do now. -Harriet Beecher Stowe, Christmas; or, — Source: 23 'Modern' Things That Are JUST. SO. OLD.

17

Vape Pens

Vape pens have been around since the 1960s. In 1963, Herbert A. Gilbert invented a smokeless, electronic cigarette, but never made it widely commercially available. CRACKED.COM — Source: 23 'Modern' Things That Are JUST. SO. OLD.

16

THE FIDGET SPINNER FIRST DEBUTED BACK IN 1993, Eng AND THE PATENT FOR IT WAS APPROVED IN 1997. CRACKED.COM — Source: 23 'Modern' Things That Are JUST. SO. OLD.

15

GRACKED COM I The first the computer program 011 was published TU in 1843. Ada Lovelace wrote what is considered the 1 first computer program-to calculate Bernoulli numbers - in notes from a lecture 1 Charles Babbage gave about his Analytical 10 Engine, which would have been the first 1 1001computer if it had been completed. 11111 — Source: 23 'Modern' Things That Are JUST. SO. OLD.

14

CRACKED.COM Condoms have been used as protection against disease since the 1500s. And while they didn't have the option of ribbed or extra sensitive contraceptives, a syphilis outbreak provided enough reason for Gabrielle Fallopius in 1594 to come up with a chemical soaked linen cloth to prevent further spreading of the disease. — Source: 23 'Modern' Things That Are JUST. SO. OLD.

13

A Street Arab Thomas A. Edison, Inc. ©April 21, 1898 As this archive footage from 1898 shows, breakdancing like the most moves headspin, hollowback, and rollbacks were being done over a century ago. GRAGKED.COM — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

12

E R OT 9 2 Y U = S + D F A 5 G 6 H J I K * 7 C 8 Kids these days! They can't even spell 6 V 9 В N correctly because they spend so much time M Sym texting on their newfangled cellphones! SPACE Tab Nice try, grandpa, but morse code operators used abbreviations very similar to modern texting lingo, including... B4 for Before TKS/TNX for Thanks GM for Good Morning GN for Good Night OC for Old Chap CRACKED COM — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

11

Put a coin and get a drink? Not only a modern thing... The first coin-operated vending machine was invented about 2000 years ago, by Hero of Alexandria, to distribute holy water at temples. CRACKED.COM — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

10

The Stone Age

CRACKED.COM Life Saving Brain Surgery was performed in the Stone Age And, yes, the patients lived 3 — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

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9

The anti-vaccination movement started with the establishment of the Anti-Vaccination League in London in 1853. America would follow with the founding of The Anti Vaccination Society of America in 1879. BJONIE - YOUR GRAGKED.COM — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

8

People liked to take selfies since the camera was invented. This was taken by Robert Cornelius with the inscription: THE FIRST LIGHT PICTURE EVER TAKEN. 1839 1898 1959 1900 1914 and CRACKED.COM throughout the years 1954 — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

7

CRACKED COM GREECE AND ROME: BRINGING YOU DKK PICS FOR OVER 2500 YEARS — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

6

THE SENATE ONCE ATTEMPTED TO BAN CHINESE RINA IMPORTS IN ORDER TO STEM A MASSIVE OUTFLOW of MONEY TO FOREIGN STATES. 1F YOU DON'T TINA REMEMBER THAT, IT MIGHT BE BECAUSE IT WASN'T MINA THE AMERICAN SENATE THAT PROPOSED THE BAN - GINA IT WAS THE ROMAN ONE. TINA TINA ININA AT THE VERY LOWEST COMPUTATION, INDIA, THE SERES (CHINA), AND THE ARABIAN PENINSULA, WITHDRAW FROM TINA OUR EMPIRE ONE HUNDRED MILLIONS of SESTERCES EVERY YEAR - so DEARLY DO WE PAY for OUR LUXURY AND OUR WOMEN. -- PLINY THE ELDER FRYSTINA GRACKED.COM — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

5

As early as 400 ВС, Persian engineers were building refrigerators called yakhchals to store ice in the desert summers. These great mud-brick domes operated via windcatches and spiral grooves. The yakhchals were also used to make traditional chilled and frozen desserts called faloodeh- hundreds of years before modern ice cream was invented! CRACKED.COM — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

4

CRACKED.COM Think that contact lenses are a modern invention? The first contact lens was invented in 1888 by opthalmologist Adolph Fick, and it was at least two times the size of the lenses we know today. A lens that size covered even the whites of the eyes and, more alarmingly it was made out of glass. For this reason, users could only wear the lens for about four hours at a time, making it no surprise that only a few hundred people ever wore such an impractical lens at the time. It would be more than 50 years later before — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

3

Cat Memes

I CAN HAZ VICTORIAN ERA PHOTOGRAPHY MEME? GEM TOOTHACHE DUNCE DROPS DUNCE THERE - WHAT'S DELAYING MY DINNER Bring up the dinner Betsy Absurdly captioned cat pictures have been around since the 19th century. GRACKED.COM — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

2

CRACKED.COM Non-Polluting Solar Power that will meet the energy needs of the 21st century... INVENTED IN 1866 Unfortunately, it never caught on due to the inexpensive price of coal. — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

1

CONVENTION Forrest Ackerman & Myrtle Jones 1950 C OMA L 1951 1946 1953 Oh, for the days before neRds with too much time on their hands and an Instagram A filters made sci-fi and fantasy undignified! WRONG! FORREST Ackerman and Myrtle Jones У were the first convention cosplayers and set off a tRend that quickly exploded and continues to this day... back in 1939. CRACKED.COM — Source: 30 'Modern' Things That Are Way Older Than You Think

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