History's First Recorded Name
The earliest recorded name belonging to an individual is 'Kushim'. Found on a Sumerian clay tablet from around 3400 BCE, it references not a king or a mythic hero, but a humble accountant.
Unbreakable Code of Incas
The Incas managed a vast empire without a written language. Instead, they used quipus — knotted strings — for records and messages. Despite studies, the full extent of their encoding system remains undeciphered.
The Great Library Misconception
Contrary to popular belief, the destruction of the Library of Alexandria wasn’t a single cataclysmic event. It declined over centuries due to multiple factors including budget cuts, wars, and a shift in cultural hubs.
The Secret Roman Recipe
Roman concrete, used in magnificent structures like the Pantheon, outlasts modern concrete in sea water. The secret? Volcanic ash, which helped the concrete to prevent cracks and grow stronger over time.
A Forgotten Ancient Computer
The Antikythera mechanism, discovered in a shipwreck off Greece and dating back to 100 BCE, is an ancient analog computer used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses with astounding precision.
Unheard Voices of History
The vast majority of human history is undocumented. Ordinary lives, especially those of the lower classes, women, and indigenous peoples, often went unrecorded, leaving a gap in our understanding of the past.
Cleopatra's Misplaced Timeline
Cleopatra VII, the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, lived closer in time to the moon landing in 1969 than to the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2560 BCE.Ancient Egyptian Electricians
Ancient Egyptians may have used a form of battery called the Baghdad Battery, dating back to 250 BCE, to electroplate objects with gold.
Whose name is earliest recorded?
A Sumerian king
An accountant named Kushim
A mythic hero
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