Life r/AskUK

‘What ‘thing’ is surprisingly old?’ – 24 brands, companies and items that are way more ancient than you think

If you were a proud owner of a Nokia 3310 in the year 2000, it probably already feels like technology from a company of bygone age. And it is, but not in the way you think, because Nokia was founded in 1865, a whopping 160 years ago. And it’s not the only thing that’s way older than you’d think. User fizzy-good posted this on the AskUK subreddit:

What ‘thing’ is surprisingly old? For example, Vimto – first made in 1908!

And lots of people chipped in with some very unexpected answers.

1.

‘Nintendo. Founded in 1889.’
ScratchChrome

2.

‘The tube, I can never quite get my head round the fact that Jack the Ripper could have just hopped on/off at Aldgate.’
Fancy-Professor-7113

3.

‘In Downton they could be sat eating a Dairy Milk and drinking Vimto.’
Ranoni18

4.

‘And Irn Bru! First introduction in 1901’
BabyAlibi

5.

‘Fax machine. Patented in the 1840s.’
Exact_Setting9562

6.

‘Oxford University. 1096.’
FiendishPup

7.

‘Marks & Spencer was founded as a market stall in 1884 with a borrowed fiver.’
Majick_L

8.

‘The girls name Tiffany. It’s first recorded use in English dates back to 1600.’
Bosshoggg9876

9.

‘I think I read somewhere a while ago that Cleopatra lived closer in time to the launch of the iPhone than she did to the creation of the Pyramids.’
inside-outdoorsman

10.

‘Stella lager – 1366. There is a chance that Henry VIII was doing tinnies of Stella when Anne Boleyn was beheaded.’
matthewgoodwin1

11.

‘Us. The ’90s are as long ago now as the ’60s were when we were born.’
Darkgreenbirdofprey

12.

‘Sunglasses. Or at least dark glasses. In 12th century China, judges used to wear glasses with lenses made of smoky quartz to hide their expressions.’
Erivandi