Which came first? · Tricky
Which came first: the electron or Merck?
Merck came first, in 1668 (founded). The electron followed 229 years later, in 1897 (discovered).
- Second1897
The electron
particle · discoveredJ. J. Thomson discovered the electron in 1897.
- First1668
Merck
company · foundedMerck traces itself to 1668, when Friedrich Jacob Merck took over a pharmacy in Darmstadt, Germany.
More pairs that fool people
- Which came first: the electron or Peugeot?
- Which came first: the electron or Tel Aviv?
- Which came first: Merck or the Spanish Steps?
- Which came first: the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach or Merck?
- Which came first: Merck or Newton's Principia?
- Which came first: Clair de lune or the electron?
- Which came first: the Brandenburg Gate or the death of Rembrandt?
- Which came first: the abdication of China's last emperor or the Hudson's Bay Company?
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.