Happy birthday, America!

This July Fourth, the USA celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, marking the formal separation from England in 1776.

Much has unfolded over the past two centuries, including inventions, conflicts, health crises, and space exploration. Yet numerous items persist today that existed well before the nation's founding.

Travel back to 1776 via time machine and you would encounter many of these in some form, from a chilled Stella to a steaming Twinings brew or the newest Hartford Courant issue.

Here are 10 things older than the USA.

The Methuselah Tree

Methuselah, named after the Biblical patriarch said to have reached 969 years, is a Great Basin bristlecone pine in California's White Mountains. The National Park Service lists its age at 4,765 years.

The tree sits in a protected secret spot, though online searches can reveal its approximate location.

Taos Pueblo

Taos Pueblo ranks among the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States, per its tourism site.

Home to Tiwa-speaking Pueblo people present since 900 AD, the primary adobe buildings date from 1000 to 1450.

Visitors may tour parts of Taos Pueblo while respecting rules that safeguard local culture and traditions.

The Hartford Courant

The Hartford Courant traces to 1764 as the weekly Connecticut Courant. It claims status as America's oldest continuously published newspaper, according to the University of Connecticut.

In colonial times it covered events like the Stamp Act and became the colonies' most circulated paper, per ConnecticutHistory.org.

The paper printed the full Declaration of Independence in July 1776.

Barclays Bank

Barclays originated in London in 1690 through bankers John Freame and Thomas Gould. It adopted the Barclays name in 1736 when Freame's son-in-law James Barclay joined as partner.

Today it stands among the world's 20 largest banks and the second-largest British bank after HSBC, based on a 2026 S&P Global Market Intelligence report.

Oxford University

Beyond predating the United States, Oxford describes itself as the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

Its site notes teaching at Oxford dating to 1096. Growth accelerated after the University of Paris barred English students in 1167.

By the late 1600s roughly 3,200 undergraduates attended; enrollment now exceeds 12,000.

Harvard University

Harvard University in the US also began before American independence.

Founded in Massachusetts in 1636 as the colledge, it relocated to present-day Cambridge the next year, per university records. Its first nine graduates finished in 1642.

More than a century later eight alumni signed the Declaration of Independence.

Stella Artois

Stella Artois, the Belgian beer enjoyed worldwide, started in Leuven in 1366, making it 660 years old.

The name derives from the Latin for star, as it began as a Christmas gift for locals.

It reached the US market officially in 1999 amid Interbrew's global growth.

The Pressure Cooker

Today's pressure cookers differ from the 1679 invention by French physicist Denis Papin, yet Instant Pots follow the core design of his steam digester.

Both trap steam to raise internal pressure and boiling point, speeding cooking.

A home version gained US popularity in 1939 when Presto unveiled it at the New York World's Fair.

The Greenland Shark

The Greenland shark lives at least 250 years and possibly up to 500, according to NOAA.

This means some in the North Atlantic depths may predate the US.

Known as the longest-lived vertebrate, it reaches up to 23 feet though most stay under 13 feet, per Britannica.

Twinings Tea

Twinings has served London tea drinkers since Thomas Twining opened Tom's Coffee House in 1706.

Tea demand rose sharply in the West afterward, boosting Twinings. A local writer noted during the 1773 Boston Tea Party that the rebels did not discard Twinings tea.