Noted pop culture historian Paris Hilton made a claim Sunday afternoon that apparently ruffled some feathers.
The DJ and Hilton hotels heiress shared pics of herself with Britney Spears back in 2006 and included the following caption on Twitter, “11 years ago today, Me & Britney invented the selfie!”
11 years ago today, Me & Britney invented the selfie! pic.twitter.com/1byOU5Gp8J
— ParisHilton (@ParisHilton) November 19, 2017
Considering Hilton’s throwback snaps were taken 190 years after the invention of the camera, it’s more than safe to say that she was not the author of humanity’s first selfie—but that didn’t stop people from “actually”-ing her anyway.
All Sunday afternoon, fans piled into Hilton’s mentions with receipts:
https://twitter.com/WalterAsensio/status/932329625405059077
https://twitter.com/Aanth/status/932339732117323776
https://twitter.com/mixer1av/status/932326776700780544
1910 one of the first mirror selfies pic.twitter.com/YU7QKNQXo8
— iLoveRoses9 (@love_roses9) November 19, 2017
This one is 1839.
— ddsnorth ™ (@ddsnorth) November 19, 2017
This is the first ever photograph selfie in history, taken by Robert Cornelius in 1839. It’s now in the collection of @librarycongress. 📷 pic.twitter.com/eS5a3Zy6sT
So let the record show, folks: Robert Cornelius took the first selfie we know about in 1839.
