Which came first? · Counterintuitive
Which came first: The Hobbit or Iceland?
The Hobbit came first, in 1937 (published). Iceland followed 7 years later, in 1944 (becomes a republic).
- First1937
The Hobbit
book · publishedThe Hobbit came out in 1937; Tolkien first wrote its opening line on a blank page of an exam paper.
- Second1944
Iceland
country · becomes a republicIceland became a republic in 1944, though its parliament dates back to 930.
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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.