- Don’t throw away the super-sticky goo you made by accident. It might be worth a fortune.
It’s that time again! By that we mean it’s time to take a look at all the times something was done for the first time in the world.
This series of ours has been running for quite a while. However, there have been so many times something happened way earlier than you think or took place under such strange circumstances that we just can’t help returning to this subject.
So, without further delay, let’s get into yet another installment of six fun and weird world firsts.
If you’d like to catch up on the whole series, here are the previous articles:
- 6 Fun and Weird World Firsts
- Another 6 Fun and Weird World Firsts
- Yet Another 6 Fun and Weird World Firsts
- 6 More Fun and Weird World Firsts
1. World’s First Customer Complaint — 1750 BCE
People have probably complained about getting screwed over by unscrupulous merchants as long as we have done trade. The world’s first written customer complaint, however, dates back to the Mesopotamian city-state of Ur in 1750 BCE.
The complaint is etched in cuneiform writing into a clay tablet known as the “Complaint Tablet.” In it, a person called Nanni writes to Ea-Nasir, a merchant.
According to Nanni, the copper he bought from Ea-Nasir is complete garbage. Not only that, but apparently the servant picking up the copper received extremely poor service from Ea-Nasir. To make things right, Nanni demands to receive another copper shipment, free of charge.
We can only imagine that if Ea-Nasir didn’t comply with the request, Nanni sent another tablet demanding to speak to his manager.
2. World’s First Dental Filling — 11000 BCE
Considering how intricate work dental surgery is, you might imagine it hasn’t been practiced for very long. At most, people probably yanked out the ailing tooth and that was it. Right?
Well, you’d be surprised. Archeologists have found 13,000-year-old human teeth that have obvious drilled cavities that were filled to treat toothaches.
That said, the Stone Age dentists didn’t exactly have modern resins to fill the tooth with. Instead, they stuffed teeth with a mixture of bitumen, plant fibers, and hair.
Hey, it beats having a horribly painful tooth.
3. World’s First Batch of Super Glue — 1942
If you accidentally snap something — anything — into two, you’ll probably try to fix it with super glue. Considering how useful super glue is, it’s kind of funny that its accidental inventor initially considered it useless trash and threw it away.
In 1942, amid World War II, a team led by chemist Harry Coover was working on developing acrylic gun sights for the U.S. Army. While researching appropriate materials, Coover’s team stumbled upon an incredibly sticky material called cyanoacrylate. It was worthless for gun sights, so they ignored it.
By coincidence, Coover happened to develop the stuff again in 1951 while working on airplane canopies. This time, however, he realized the potential of a glue that could adhere to anything.
Fast-forward to 1958, and the first super glue bottles appeared on store shelves.
4. World’s First SMS Message — 1992
These days, the Short Message Service (SMS) is an almost ancient technology, with internet-based messaging almost completely taking its place. In the 1990s and 2000s, however, texting through SMS was all the rage.
The world’s first SMS message was sent by Vodafone engineer Neil Papworth to his boss, Richard Jarvis, on December 3, 1992. Testing out this new messaging tech, Papworth sent the words “Merry Christmas” to Jarvis’ Orbitel 901 phone.
That said, Papworth didn’t send the message from a phone. Instead, he had to type it out on a computer, since phones at the time didn’t have keyboards or any other way to produce letters.
That’s how far ahead of his time Papworth was.
5. World’s First Recorded Narrative Story — 9000 BCE
In 2022, archeologists unearthed a series of unusual reliefs at Sayburc, an 11,000-year-old settlement in modern Turkey. Each carven relief in the series depicted the same characters in various situations, leading researchers to believe they depict the world’s oldest recorded continuous story.
Essentially, they’re kind of a prehistoric comic book.
Sadly, we have no idea what exact story the stone images tell. It must be a hoot, though, considering the main character is a man constantly grabbing his erect penis.
At least this discovery proves that humanity has always been preoccupied with our genitals.
6. World’s First Butthole — 600 Million Years Ago
Have you ever wondered which creature first developed an anus? No? It’s just us?
Well, too bad, because we actually know who the world’s first butthole belonged (and belongs) to! That creature is a comb jelly, a primitive marine organism that has been floating around in the world’s oceans for at least 600 million years.
It’s unknown why comb jellies developed a separate butthole, instead of pooping out through the same orifice they eat with like every other creature at the time. However, considering that comb jellies are related to every living creature on Earth, having an anus must come with some significant benefits.