The historical timeline you keep in your head is all messed up!
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| photo credit: Ron Porter |
As early as 1096, teaching had already started in Oxford. By 1249, the University of Oxford had grown into a full-fledged university.
Oxford isn't the oldest university, not by a long shot.
India’s Nalanda University had already operated for hundreds of years and been burnt down by invaders before Oxford got its act together. But Oxford, as one of the oldest universities in continuous operation, doesn't feel that old. It’s a product of our time. You can still enrol at Oxford. You can still go to Merton College.
The Aztec civilization of central Mexico, on the other hand, feels like ancient history. Archaeologists dig up Aztec ruins, museums put on Aztec exhibits. But the origination of the Aztec civilization, marked by the founding of the city of Tenochtitlán by the Mexica at Lake Texcoco, didn’t come until 1325.
[source: Smithsonian]
