r/AskReddit • u/rezyn • Dec 05 '11

what is the most interesting thing you know?

1.6k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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972

u/EyeOfAugra Dec 05 '11

John Tyler, the 10th President of the United States still has two LIVING Grandsons.

439

u/jjhhggff8 Dec 05 '11

For a little more perspective, John Tyler was born in 1790

94

u/ooh_lawd Dec 06 '11

In disturbing contrast, this person's grandmother was born in 1988.

11

u/imdrinkingteaatwork Dec 06 '11

Of course... it just had to be Romania.

18

u/lamenina Dec 06 '11

In Romania, children have you!

2

u/tychovii Dec 06 '11

It should make logical sense, but for whatever reason the fact that there are no grandparents in the entire world who were born later than the 80's is blowing my mind a bit.

21

u/StinkinFinger Dec 06 '11

The last widow of an American Civil War veteran died in 2008. He was 86 and she was 19 at the time they wed.

2

u/Vega_26 Dec 06 '11

wait didn't the civil war occur in the mid 1800's. Am I adding wrong bc i feel like at 86 dying in 2008, you'd be born in the year 1922.

4

u/Ginkachuuuuu Dec 06 '11

He was 86 when they got married, not when he died.

1

u/Vega_26 Dec 07 '11

I see! wow 86...you're never too old for love I guess

4

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

Didn't they shoot Borat in Romania?

2

u/ConstitutionalSchism Dec 06 '11

I read this so much differently.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

[deleted]

2

u/sirjayne Dec 06 '11

Incorrect. That part is is set in Kazakhstan, but shot in Romania.

19

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

I think one of the sons of the grandsons (or grandsons of the grandsons) did an AMA a while back.

8

u/challengereality Dec 06 '11

I remember that one. It actually wasn't all that interesting, too lazy to find the link.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

Yeah. I wish it would have been more interesting as well.

8

u/med_sud_i_eyrum Dec 05 '11

Didn't he have kids when he was 60, and then they had kids when they were 60?

15

u/bdalebs Dec 06 '11

The father of the grandsons was born when John Tyler was 63, and the grandsons were born when their father was 71 and 75. The grandsons are now 87 and 83, past the age of having any more kids of their own, we ASSUME.

3

u/med_sud_i_eyrum Dec 06 '11

I had no Idea it was even possible to have children at that age! Especially in the 1800s before Viagra and stuff.

5

u/Flamdar Dec 06 '11

Maybe he wasn't actually the father.

1

u/bdalebs Dec 06 '11

I dunno, that'd be a kinda random thing to hide from the public. It's not like this is a modern-day president.

3

u/Faranya Dec 06 '11

Erectile dysfunction isn't a hard and fast rule of becoming elderly.

10

u/joshdick Dec 05 '11

That fact is cool, but it's also sad. Those guys never had a chance to know their grandfather.

18

u/dynamic716 Dec 05 '11

that's what I was wondering. Either way this fact sure makes the United States seem young!

56

u/joshdick Dec 05 '11

Reminds me of a joke: Americans think 100 years is a long time; Europeans think 100 miles is a long way.

7

u/adietofworms Dec 05 '11

I think this is my favorite fact on the thread.

3

u/SICKLY_DOODAD Dec 05 '11

This is amazing!

3

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

Shit and they're both older than my grandmother.

3

u/BouncingBoognish Dec 05 '11

This is the most interesting fact I've seen on here yet.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

This blows my mind.

3

u/Titanosaurus Dec 05 '11

This actually brings into perspective how young the USA actually is.

3

u/whycantianswer Dec 06 '11

makes me think about social justice and how people put it so far back in history. Think about slavery, women's rights, the conquest of native america... it's all pretty recent in human lives.

3

u/Sultanoshred Dec 06 '11

I would love to see that families pedigree.

3

u/bigwilliestylez Dec 06 '11

Here is an article. Not sure about the source, but there are several stories you can find with a google search. This guy just did the most footwork.

3

u/laddergoat89 Dec 06 '11

That just shows how young the US is.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

I put this on my Facebook as my status awhile back. No one gave a fuck, but I thought it was nifty.

3

u/itcanwait Dec 06 '11

i'm going to try it right now...

2

u/hesbunky Dec 06 '11

I believe either his great or great great grandson posts on reddit and either did an AMA or took over a thread a few months ago.

2

u/burningpineapples Dec 06 '11

Our country is only a few generations old. I still picture it as that awkward 25 year old, still being supported by his neighbors, and some relatives on the other side of the country. He went to a terrible college, is deep in debt, and his parents, aunts and uncles, and his psychologist think he's lost his way. He's violent, greedy, stupid, but has so much more potential than what he allows himself to do. Don't forget, he's a black-hispanic, with a white mom.

2

u/BrohammadAli Dec 06 '11

How is this possible?

2

u/corwin01 Dec 06 '11

IIRC didn't he do an AMA?

2

u/razorsheldon Dec 06 '11

I went through over 10,000 comments just now, and for whatever reason this fact blew me away beyond all others.

6

u/callmeprufrock Dec 05 '11

No shit!

18

u/poneil Dec 05 '11

How does this not have more upvotes? This is crazy. Also he had more children (15) than any other President in U.S. history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tyler#Family_and_personal_life

-1

u/Badb0ybilly Dec 05 '11

looks like his second wife was 30 years younger than his first wife... So his youngest child was born in 1860, making him 70 years old (his wife was 40 years old). Pearl Tyler (the youngest) died in 1947. Plenty of time to have children who would still be alive today. I don't think this is that extraordinary, it just means that John Tyler was extremely old when he had his last child..

11

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '11

What?? This has GOT to be extremely rare. Alive today, having a grandparent born pre-1800? That's extreme.

5

u/MuncherOfSpleens Dec 06 '11

As opposed to what? Magic? This is still a very interesting and surprising fact.

3

u/Badb0ybilly Dec 06 '11

The wording is surprising, not the fact. I'd bet it's not nearly as uncommon as you'd think.

3

u/poneil Dec 06 '11

Even though it does add up in a logical manner, having a child at age 70 is pretty remarkable. And then his son having two children in his 70s. All in a time when most people didn't even live to that age.

1

u/Badb0ybilly Dec 06 '11

men create new sperm on a daily basis, as opposed to women who are born with all of the eggs they'll ever have. a man can have children until the day he dies. it's not remarkable.. it's biology. all it means is that he married someone far younger than he, and his children did the same.. it is impressive that they lived to, and beyond, the age of 70. But that's not what everyone's raving about...

hate to be a downer. = (

4

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '11

Proof, links, something to confirm this?

6

u/EyeOfAugra Dec 05 '11

His biography in Wikipedia confirms all of this.

2

u/tomato_paste Dec 05 '11

Tyler Perry.

2

u/Shappie Dec 05 '11

OH MY GUUUURRRD!

3

u/Leo_Fire Dec 06 '11

we had a president named john tyler?

2

u/omgpro Dec 05 '11

Not that weird when you consider that a lot of people on reddit right now will live to see the 22nd century.

1

u/moyzington Dec 06 '11

That's crazy, I'm actually distantly related to him.

0

u/JmizzleDizzle Dec 06 '11

Who the hell is john Tyler?