Prometheus. Prometheus is thought to be the oldest tree ever and was at least 4,900 years old when it was cut down back in 1964. The bristlecone pine (what is it with these trees and living forever?) used to stand in Nevada's Great Basin Wheeler Park.

The oldest non-clonal tree ever recorded to be cut down was a Great Basin bristlecone pine named Prometheus (also known as WPN-114). Located on Wheeler Peak in Nevada, USA, the tree was felled in 1964 by a graduate student, Donald Rusk Currey, for research purposes. At the time, Currey was unaware of the tree's record-breaking age; subsequent ring counting revealed that Prometheus was at least 4,862 years old, and likely over 5,000 years old. This act remains one of the most controversial events in dendrochronology history but directly led to the creation of Great Basin National Park and a global movement to protect ancient bristlecone pines. Today, the stump remains a somber monument to the oldest known individual living thing ever intentionally killed by humans.