It often feels like certain events happened in ancient history while others seem relatively recent, even when the occurrences weren’t that far apart in time. U.S. presidential history is full of time-warp moments that challenge our understanding of the past and blur the boundaries between eras.

The following presidential facts make it seem as if time doesn’t pass in the neat, orderly way we think it does.

George Washington died not knowing dinosaurs existed

The first president of the United States, George Washington was born in 1732 and died in 1799. Dinosaur fossils existed during his lifetime but weren’t scientifically identified until 1824 — many years after the founding father died. The word “dinosaur” was coined by Sir Richard Owen when he described a class of “terrible lizards” as Dinosauria in 1842.

It’s likely that Washington and his peers were aware of the existence of huge fossilized bones. However, they may have believed them to belong to an extinct race of giant humans, per scientific theories at the time.

All the presidents since Hoover left office have been alive during his lifetime

Every one of the 15 U.S. presidents to take office after Herbert Hoover was alive at the same time he was. This is remarkable considering that Hoover was the nation’s 31st president and we’re now on the 47th.

If Kamala Harris had won the 2024 election, she would have been the first president to break this lengthy streak, but not by much. She was born on the exact day that Hoover died: October 20, 1964, just hours after his death.

Jimmy Carter was the first president born in a hospital

The 39th president of the United States was the first to be born in a hospital. Given Carter’s humble background as the son of a peanut farmer, this might seem surprising — especially since neither of his immediate successors, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, were born in hospitals. Reagan entered the world in his family’s apartment, and even Bush, who came from a wealthy family, was born at home.

Lillian Carter worked as a registered nurse at Wise Sanatorium in Plains, Georgia, and delivered James Earl Carter Jr. there.

One man voted for both Washington and Lincoln (72 years apart)

Daniel Waldo was born in 1762 and served as a teenage soldier in the American Revolutionary War. Remarkably, he lived long enough to vote for both America’s first and sixteenth presidents.

In fact, he is thought to be the only person to have voted for both Washington and Lincoln. Waldo cast a vote for Washington in 1788 and another for Lincoln in 1860, with a span of 72 years between those elections. In February 1861, he shook hands with President-elect Lincoln in Syracuse.

Daniel Waldo died in 1864 at the age of 101, having witnessed U.S. history from its earliest days to the Civil War.

A grandson of John Tyler’s passed away in 2025

Although John Tyler, the 10th president of the United States, was born in 1790, one of his grandsons was still alive as of May 2025. Harrison Ruffin Tyler was the son of former President Tyler’s son. But how was this timeline possible?

Lyon Gardiner Tyler was the son of the former president and his wife, Julia Gardiner Tyler. He was born when father John Tyler was already 63 years old. Like his dad, Lyon Gardiner Tyler also became a parent at an advanced age. He was 75 when Harrison Ruffin Tyler was born! Harrison Tyler passed away on May 25, 2025, aged 96.

Harriet Tubman lived at the same time as John Adams and Ronald Reagan

This just doesn’t seem possible, given that John Adams took office in 1797 and Ronald Reagan didn’t become president until 1981 — a difference of 183 years and a handful of months. However, Adams was alive from 1735 to 1826 and Reagan from 1911 to 2004.

Harriet Tubman was born circa 1822 and died in 1913, meaning her lifespan coincided with both the second and the fortieth US presidents’ lives.

Barack Obama is the only president to serve under the same flag design that was in place when he was born

Former President Barack Obama was born on August 4th, 1961 — a year and a month after Hawaii became the 50th state and the current U.S. flag design was adopted. He remains the only president to serve under the same flag design that was in place at his birth.

To verify, we can look at the U.S. flags that were used for 35 years or more (the minimum presidential age). There are two:

• The 48-star flag, used from 1912 to 1959
• The 50-star flag, in use since 1960

Ten U.S. presidents were born under the 48-star flag, but all of them served under the 50-star version. Even Lyndon B. Johnson, born in 1908 under the 46-star flag, governed under the current 50-star design.