I found some old newspapers while I was tidying up the attic recently.
“while” = two actions happening at the same time

I almost fell asleep during the meeting this afternoon.
“during” + noun (“the meeting”)

The US belonged to the UK until 1776, when it gained independence.
“until” = up to a point in time

I was looking for my phone. Meanwhile, my wife had found it and was looking for me.
“meanwhile” = at the same time, but different action

We called the police as soon as we discovered the house had been robbed.
“as soon as” = immediately after something

We spent ages looking for the shop and by the time we found it, it was closed.
“by the time” = something already happened before another moment

There were many important discoveries during the 1800s.
“during” + period of time

Luke and I met while we were working together in a café.
“while” = same time actions

2.

Although it’s very popular nowadays, during the 1950s pasta was an unusual meal in the UK. Not many British people had been to Italy, and very few people knew how pasta was made. So, for April Fool’s Day in 1957, the BBC news programme Panorama decided to make a story about spaghetti growing on trees.

During the programme, viewers were told that the harvest that year was particularly good because of the weather. And while the presenter explained how spaghetti was grown, there was a film of workers in the background cutting the spaghetti from the trees.

As soon as the programme had been broadcast, the BBC started receiving phone calls from people who wanted to grow their own spaghetti. Meanwhile, the BBC continued the joke by instructing anyone who wanted to grow a spaghetti tree to “place a piece of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce.”

3.

I woke up three times during the night.

Sorry I didn’t speak to you earlier, but I phoned you as soon as I could.

We were very late and the party had finished by the time we got there.

We walked all day until it got dark, and then we went home.

We just couldn’t find the plane tickets. We looked everywhere. Meanwhile, the taxi to the airport was waiting for us outside.