Which came first? · Counterintuitive
Which came first: the ballpoint pen or The Jungle Book?
The ballpoint pen came first, in 1888 (first patent). The Jungle Book followed 6 years later, in 1894 (published).
- First1888
The ballpoint pen
invention · first patentJohn J. Loud patented a ballpoint pen in 1888 to mark leather; it was too rough for writing on paper.
- Second1894
The Jungle Book
book · publishedRudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book while living in Vermont; it came out in 1894.
More pairs that fool people
- Which came first: the ballpoint pen or the NFL?
- Which came first: the FA Cup or The Jungle Book?
- Which came first: the ballpoint pen or Spam?
- Which came first: Coca-Cola or The Jungle Book?
- Which came first: The Jungle Book or Nintendo?
- Which came first: the ballpoint pen or the first Nobel Prizes?
- Which came first: National Geographic magazine or the Russian Revolution?
- Which came first: the death of Frederick Douglass or National Geographic magazine?
All which-came-first pairs · About Older Than You Think · Quiz games
Years from Wikidata, each checked against the item’s English Wikipedia article on 2026-10-18. A year stands for what its label says: a founding, a first patent, a premiere.