Longer overlaps than you would think
Two lives or two eras that ran alongside each other for longer than you would think.
What this page collects
Every juxtaposition here trades on the same kind of surprise. Grouping them is a way to find more of the one you liked, rather than a claim that the grouping means anything in itself: the same two subjects could be put together a different way and land somewhere else entirely.
The surprise is almost always the same underneath. People judge historical distance by how much they know about a period rather than by how long it lasted, and we know far more about the recent past, so it feels longer than it was. Everything older collapses toward everything else older. Drawn to scale, that collapse is visible, and the answer stops being a matter of opinion.
Why time feels compressed goes through that properly.
Where does Alexander Suvorov belong?
Russian marshal
- Joseph Fourierlived 1768 to 1830
Placed against Joseph Fourier
Where does Frank Lloyd Wright belong?
American architect
- Gustave Eiffellived 1832 to 1923
Placed against Gustave Eiffel
Where does Rachel Carson belong?
American marine biologist and conservationist
- Stephen Hawkinglived 1942 to 2018
Placed against Stephen Hawking
Where does Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh belong?
consort of Elizabeth II
- Harry S. Trumanlived 1884 to 1972
Placed against Harry S. Truman
Where does Igor Stravinsky belong?
Russian, French, and American composer
- David Bowielived 1947 to 2016
Placed against David Bowie
Where does Pierre de Coubertin belong?
founder of modern Olympic Games, pedagogue and historian
- Friedrich Engelslived 1820 to 1895
Placed against Friedrich Engels
Where does Marie Curie belong?
Polish-born French physicist and chemist
- J. Robert Oppenheimerlived 1904 to 1967
Placed against J. Robert Oppenheimer
Where does George III of Great Britain belong?
King of Great Britain and Ireland
- Napoleonlived 1769 to 1821
Placed against Napoleon
Where does Johann Wolfgang von Goethe belong?
German writer, artist, natural scientist and politician
- Emmanuel Swedenborglived 1688 to 1772
Placed against Emmanuel Swedenborg