There is a slight difference in meaning between your examples. To understand the difference, you must know when to use each tense. Simple past - a completed action, a statement of fact in the past, something that interrupts another thing in the past. Past continuous - a continuous action in the past. Can often be interrupted by an action in the simple past. All of your examples are correct, however, the most common way to express this sentiment is to put both actions in the simple past. (A statement of fact.)

They aren't the same thing