In Strange Adventures #12 (July 1951), a story by Jack E. Miller called “Sideways in Time” features the world’s first time traveler who, intending to go back to 1620, is accidentally sent “sideways” into an alternate timeline. In this timeline, gorillas are the dominant species and humans are the mute animals. This is 12 years before The Planet of the Apes novel and 17 years before The Planet of the Apes film, in which astronauts are sent into what turns out to be the (spoiler alert) far distant future.