Which came first? · Tricky

Which came first: the birth of Florence Nightingale or Les Misérables (the novel)?

The birth of Florence Nightingale came first, in 1820. Les Misérables (the novel) followed 42 years later, in 1862 (published).

  1. First1820

    The birth of Florence Nightingale

    person · born

    Florence Nightingale was born in 1820 in Florence, and named after the city.

    Checked against Wikipedia and Wikidata

  2. Second1862

    Les Misérables (the novel)

    book · published

    Victor Hugo's Les Misérables came out in 1862 and builds to the Paris uprising of 1832.

    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.