Which came first? · Counterintuitive

Which came first: the daguerreotype photo or the gorilla?

The daguerreotype photo came first, in 1839 (announced). The gorilla followed 8 years later, in 1847 (described).

  1. First1839

    The daguerreotype photo

    invention · announced

    The daguerreotype, the first practical kind of photograph, was announced in Paris in 1839.

    Checked against Wikipedia and Wikidata

  2. Second1847

    The gorilla

    animal · described

    Scientists only described the gorilla in 1847; its name comes from a word Hanno used for "wild men" in Africa.

    Checked against Wikipedia and Wikidata

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.