Sometimes the way we learn about the past colors our impression and understanding of it. Minor events can be made to seem huge and extremely significant ones can be downplayed or totally overlooked. It’s hard to be on the lookout for all the different biases that can color what we learn about events we weren’t even alive to witness.
One of the strangest ways our understanding of history can be manipulated deals with time. Some periods or events that have received a lot of attention were far more short-lived than many of us in the present ever realized.
10. The Wild West Was Only About 30 Years Long
At this point there have been more movies made about the Wild West than most of us could ever hope to watch. The time period was immortalized on film because film was just invented right at the tail end of the American Frontier era so the stories of that time were a natural fit for what came next.
As film really grew and became a phenomenon for story telling, movie theaters took off and in the early nineteen-teens movie studios sprang up in Hollywood. Westerns became one of the biggest genres and for over 100 years studios have been making them, though obviously not as much anymore.
As film really grew and became a phenomenon for story telling, movie theaters took off and in the early nineteen-teens movie studios sprang up in Hollywood. Westerns became one of the biggest genres and for over 100 years studios have been making them, though obviously not as much any more.
As popular as the Western genre was in the ’40s and ’50s, you’d think the Wild West was a massive part of American history, but it lasted a relatively short 30 years. What we know of as the Wild West began at the end of the Civil War in 1865. That era ended at the same time film began, in fact, around 1895 to 1897 or so.
Nearly everything we know, or think we know, about Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid and every other famous cowboy took place in that time period. The Wild West saw its death knell with the massacre at Wounded Knee and then the 1891 US Census which declared there was no longer was a frontier and all the land of the West had been claimed.
By 1895, a mostly arbitrary date that many sources use, the age of lawlessness had all but been resolved and the wild had been removed from the west. By 1900, the age of American Industry was the final nail in the coffin.
9. The Gunfight at the OK Corral Lasted Less Than a Minute
Speaking of the Wild West, one single event stands out more than any other in the mythos of the Wild West cowboys and outlaws mystique, and that’s the Gunfight at the OK Corral. This infamous fight has been immortalized dozens of times on film and is generally one of the climactic moments of any film about Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday.
Though there was a long buildup to the gunfight between all the Earp brothers and the Clanton-McLaury Gang, notorious and violent thieves and cattle rustlers near the town of Tombstone. Things came to a head on October 26, 1881 at three in the afternoon when the two groups clashed in a violent gunfight.
In total, 30 shots were fired back and forth and the whole thing took 30 seconds. That was it. Three Clantons died in the fight and Earp’s side suffered non-fatal wounds. Though it’s been a subject of some debate, it’s been said that Virgil Earp, Wyatt’s brother, was the first man to fire his gun, followed by Doc Holliday.
8. Andrew Jackson Paid Off the National Debt But Only For One Year
The US government has been in debt since it began. The US Treasury points out that the government incurred $75 million in debt during the Revolutionary War in 1791 and it’s been going strong ever since. However, there was once an extremely brief moment of reprieve. President Andrew Jackson was the only President in history to pay off the debt. For one year only, the US operated debt free.
It was January 8, 1835 when it was announced that the US national debt had been paid in full. This was thanks to, in part, Andrew Jackson’s utter distrust of banks. He ended up liquidating the Second Bank of the United States, selling off land in the west, and returning the country’s initial investment, plus profit, which was distributed among the states.
Jackson also blocked every spending bill he could and vetoed many programs. This led to a real estate bubble and a Depression that caused a new debt and the country has never escaped it since.
7. The Beatles Were Only a Band for 7 Years
Google “best rock bands of all-time” and you’re going to see The Beatles on a lot of lists. Probably every single list. If they’re not the top entry on most people’s lists, they’re going to be top five. People loved the Beatles and still do. The Beatles have 183 million certified album sales. They released 13 studio albums. That makes them far and away the top selling musical act of all time. That’s almost 100 million more than Michael Jackson and nearly 30 million more than their closest competitor which is, unexpectedly, Garth Brooks.
For all that incredible fame, you might think the Fab Four had been together for far longer than they actually were. The Beatles only performed as a group for seven years, from 1963 to 1970. In that time they produced 20 number one singles and over 40 Top 40 releases.
6. The Pony Express Was Only Around For a Year And a Half
One last trip to the Old West for this entry about the Pony Express. The Pony Express started back in 1860 and, at a time before automobiles, it was a quick and efficient way to deliver mail by a relay of horses. One rider takes a letter, races to the next fresh rider and so on, all across the country. They could cover 1800 miles in 10 days which was much faster than any previous mail service.
Because of the Western expansion, people in the older, established cities in the east needed quick communication with those out west and the Pony Express was the answer. Right up until it wasn’t. Even as the Express was getting underway, a transcontinental telegraph service was being built to connect both sides of the country.
The Pony Express began service on April 3, 1860. On October 26, 1861, the telegraph connection between New York and San Francisco was finalized and the Pony Express was officially terminated, a year and a half after it started.
5. It Only Took 8 Days to Film The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project did what few movies can do. It revolutionized film by creating a new genre. There were other “found footage” type films that existed before Blair Witch, but this was the one that introduced the concept to audiences at large and started a boom in the genre. It’s also the most successful found footage horror movies even to this day, raking in nearly $250 million with a cost of about $35,000 to shoot.
People lined up to see the movie, and it caused a sensation for its groundbreaking viral marketing campaign and the fact people legitimately thought this was real footage shot by real people who had been murdered in the woods.
For all the impact and buzz and the legacy of the movie, it’s remarkable to learn it was the culmination of 8 days of work. It took 8 days to film the movie from start to finish, then it was off to editing.
4. The Anglo-Zanzibar War Lasted Less Than an Hour
There is always a war going on somewhere. Most wars seem to last about three to four months but, historically, there have been some very notable exceptions. Some wars have lasted for over 700 years, at least officially. On the opposite end of that scale is the Anglo-Zanzibar War. It lasted about 40 minutes.
After a treaty was signed between Germany and England regarding Zanzibar, the Brits put a friendly sultan in charge and took on Zanzibar as a British protectorate. The sultan died three years later, potentially poisoned by his cousin who quickly took over leadership.
Britain did not want someone in charge that they hadn’t appointed so they told the new sultan to step down. He responded by gathering military forces to his palace. With 3,000 soldiers at his back and some artillery to defend the palace, the sultan locked himself in.
The British already had two warships on standby and sent for reinforcements. Several more arrived over the next two days and Britain officially requested the sultan to give up. The sultan called their bluff saying he didn’t think they’d attack. Britain responded by basically saying “we don’t want to but we will if you make us.” That was the end of formal communications.
At 9:00 a.m. on August 27, the British ships opened fire. Two minutes later, the sultan’s defenses were nearly all destroyed. The palace was on the verge of collapse. The sultan apparently fled and 38 minutes later his flag was removed and the palace was taken.
3. The First Oscars Ceremony Was Only 15 Minutes Long
The 74th Annual Academy Awards aired in 2002 and the broadcast was just shy of four and a half hours. These lengthy broadcasts have been routinely criticized for being just too damn long. It’s funny to think of how far we’ve come and how much more refreshing it must have been back in 1929 when the Academy held the first awards ceremony. It lasted a brisk fifteen minutes.
In 1929 it wasn’t on TV, of course, which helped cut down on time anyone was willing to spend. There was also just one speech given, only 270 people attended (at $5 a head, and dinner was included) and all the winners had known three months in advance they were winning.
The ceremony had only 15 statues to hand out, and only two actors of the five nominated showed up to receive them. Two others were traveling, and one had gone back to Germany, where he lived.
2. Mr. Bean Only Ran for 15 Episodes
Even if everyone doesn’t recognize Rowan Atkinson’s name, pretty much anyone who’s been online for more than a few weeks at least knows his face. Atkinson, who’s been acting for decades, is the man behind the iconic character Mr. Bean. The awkward, mostly silent, perplexing-looking clod of a man who bumbles into countless goofy situations.
Atkinson made the character famous thanks to his remarkable physical comedy which includes some masterful face making. For a lot of Gen Xers, Bean was a staple part of their comedy upbringing. And it’s for that reason, alongside all the memes and gifs that the show spawned, that it’s surprising to learn there were only 15 episodes of the show ever produced. Friends had 24 episodes per season for seven seasons.
The very first Mr. Bean aired in January 1990. Episode two came 11 months later. Episode three rushed out just two months after that. Then it was another 10 months. It would go on like that for six seasons, never releasing more than four episodes in a single year.
The character appeared in several shorts over the years, as well as Bean the movie, but the show that started it all only had that remarkably short run.
1. Romeo and Juliet Takes Place Over About 5 Days
Romeo and Juliet is one of the most well known plays ever written, and even all these years later it is still used to reference any number of romantic ideals. We still call a romance-minded guy a Romeo because of the play, and people who never read the ending compare it to young love all the time.
While the story follows the meeting, romance and tragic end of these young lovers (who are only 16 and 13, if you recall), the entire story takes place over a work week. It’s just five days from “Oh my God, who is that?” to “Welp, we’re dead.” The most generous reading has them dead on the morning of the sixth day.