No, Paris Hilton Didn't Invent The Selfie. Twitter Has Proof

Selfie: A photo one takes of oneself, typically taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.

On Monday, socialite Paris Hilton posted some happy throwback pictures of herself with popstar Britney Spears. But her wild claim in the tweet didn't go down too well with Twitterati. In the tweet Paris Hilton said, "11 years ago today, Me & Britney invented the selfie!". Soon, the entrepreneur was deluged with "selfies" taken way before her time, some even before social media even existed.
 

11 years ago today, Me & Britney invented the selfie! pic.twitter.com/1byOU5Gp8J

— Paris Hilton (@ParisHilton) November 19, 2017

One user said it was Bill Nye - the science guy who invented the selfie back in 1999. Photo by the user showed Bill Nye taking a selfie on a plane using an old film camera.
 

Sorry, @BillNyeSaves did it way before you. It was 1999 pic.twitter.com/yEHZN5BVvd

— ItsMixerOne (@mixer1av) November 19, 2017

Even Madonna did it way before
 

Sorry. Pre Thelma & Louise pic.twitter.com/YAFmaTJcWf

— Mulled Wine Mincer (@Aanth) November 19, 2017

Um, no. #1985 pic.twitter.com/uAykItPKS5

— madonna's fault (@madonnas_fault) November 20, 2017

So did Susan Sarandon, in 1991 film Thelma & Louise
 

Liar. pic.twitter.com/yM9hHWzwCf

— Rodrigo (@WalterAsensio) November 19, 2017

Hell, even Kramer did it on Seinfeld
 

oh realy because heres kramer inventing the selfie in 1995 pic.twitter.com/dtmR0Kh3lP

— Seinfeld Current Day (@Seinfeld2000) November 19, 2017

The Beatles certainly did it before her
 

George Harrison. 1966. pic.twitter.com/NclJMIpoK6

— George MacDonald (@geomac24) November 19, 2017

No @PaulMcCartney did pic.twitter.com/HbsUYJZcNn

— Matty Brougham (@Matty_Brougham) November 20, 2017

And then this
 

1910 one of the first mirror selfies pic.twitter.com/YU7QKNQXo8

— iLoveRoses9 (@love_roses9) November 19, 2017

Some said their own selfies were taken before hers
 

11 years ago was 2006, I took this picture in 2002 so no Paris I think that It was me who invented the selfie pic.twitter.com/Rd5g3fJM1R

— Joshua Jamilosa (@jaymayzing3) November 20, 2017

Someone claimed a man named Robert Cornelius took the world's first selfie in the 1830s, that's nearly 200 years before Paris Hilton's version. The 30-year-old took the oldest existing selfie outside his lamp shop in Philadelphia.
 

Robert Cornelius' Self-Portrait: The First Ever "Selfie" (1839). Probably goes further back because of self-portraits. pic.twitter.com/QFocZUzPyZ

— Jude (@JudeJudejude007) November 19, 2017

The first modern day group selfie or "groupfie"?
 

We celebrate #smday w/ a look back at the 1st modern #selfie by Byron Company, 1920: http://t.co/MmgsV42MeX pic.twitter.com/lp4D2pO98C

— MuseumoftheCityofNY (@MuseumofCityNY) June 30, 2014

According to BBC, the word "selfie" was accidentally invented in Australia in 2002 on an online forum. A man named Nathan Hope posted a blurry photo of a cut on his lip and wrote, "sorry about the focus, it was a selfie".

Thanks for the pop culture lesson, Twitter!