Which came first? · Counterintuitive

Which came first: the okapi or Radioactivity?

Radioactivity came first, in 1896 (discovered). The okapi followed 5 years later, in 1901 (described).

  1. Second1901

    The okapi

    animal · described

    The okapi, a forest cousin of the giraffe, was only described by scientists in 1901.

    Checked against Wikipedia and Wikidata

  2. First1896

    Radioactivity

    discovery · discovered

    Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896, by leaving uranium salts on photographic plates.

    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.