On Sunday, Paris Hilton claimed credit for inventing the selfie.
The heiress and occasional media figure also gave an assist to her famous friend Britney Spears.
“11 years ago today, Me & Britney invented the selfie!”
11 years ago today, Me & Britney invented the selfie! pic.twitter.com/1byOU5Gp8J
— Paris Hilton (@ParisHilton) November 19, 2017
Quite the claim.
Twitter, however, promptly did some fact checking, showing evidence of selfies going back 100 years. In fact, the first known camera selfie — then just known as the more banal self-portrait — dates back to 1839.
The Hilton claim was so breathtaking, it caused a firestorm on Twitter — that is still raging. Even BBC couldn’t resist some trolling.
OH HEY @ParisHilton, here's a brief history of the selfie, beginning in 1839 💅🏽
↪️https://t.co/AciMPclzky https://t.co/x6fZQbECyc
— BBC Newsbeat (@BBCNewsbeat) November 20, 2017
In response to Paris Hilton's claim that she invented the selfie 11 years ago, here's 16yo me in Fiji in 1986. 📸 pic.twitter.com/yvmRCsGmiC
— Sree Sreenivasan (Threads: @sreenet) (@sree) November 20, 2017
NO #ParisHilton #MrBean was the first to create a Selfie #PQSRecommends #selfie pic.twitter.com/ySgzDM7asy
— Paul Quibell-smith 🔶 (@QuibellPaul) November 20, 2017
https://twitter.com/IsSharonHomeYet/status/932568426375245825
George Harrison. 1966. pic.twitter.com/NclJMIpoK6
— George MacDonald (@geomac24) November 19, 2017
Or was it Buzz Aldrin? Also in 1966. pic.twitter.com/YBevKzT0qw
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) November 20, 2017
Would you believe December 1920.https://t.co/0FVqu4GA8j pic.twitter.com/wSQATOrxp5
— Ahron Shapiro (@AhronRShapiro) November 20, 2017