Sliced bread was first sold in 1928, and it’s often held up as the gold standard of invention. But truthfully? It arrived after some pretty major breakthroughs.

Here’s what was already changing the world before anyone thought to pre-slice a loaf:

• The Telephone (1876): Bell was calling people across town long before they had pre-cut bread for sandwiches.

• The Light Bulb (1879): Homes were glowing decades before factory-sliced toast.

• Cars (1885): We were driving before we were slicing.

• Radio Waves (1886-1888): Heinrich Hertz first demonstrated radio waves in the lab

• Movies (1890s): Film stars were walking red carpets while people still cut bread by hand.

• The Airplane (1903): The Wright brothers took off 25 years before sliced bread hit shelves.

• The Zipper (1913): People were fastening up pants before they were slicing bread.

• Radar (1917): Scientists were detecting ships with radio waves before bakeries were slicing loaves.

• The Traffic Light (1920): Cars were already stopping and starting at signals before sliced bread rolled out.

• Insulin (1922): Doctors were saving lives with medical breakthroughs before anyone thought to save time with bread.

• Television (1923 prototypes): Moving pictures flickered to life in living rooms before pre-sliced bread appeared.

• Bicycles (1800s): Rolling through towns long before Wonder Bread rolled out.

• Hot Air Balloons (1783): The French were floating over Paris more than a century before sliced bread.

And just for good measure:

• The word “sandwich” (1762): People were stacking meat and cheese between slices for 166 years before anyone bothered to slice the bread for them.