Is This the World’s First Selfie? [PHOTO]

While selfies took the world by storm in 2013, it turns out they've been around for a lot longer than you may think.

The newly-crowned word of the year actually dates back some two centuries, as evidenced by this photo, which may be the first selfie on record.

The man in the picture, taken in 1839, is named Robert Cornelius, an amateur chemist who also had an interest in the then-newly-developing (pun intended) field of of photography.

On the back of the picture, Cornelius wrote, “The first light Picture ever taken. 1839.”

If only he knew what kind of trend he unknowingly would pioneer, perhaps Cornelius would've waited until Sears opened its first studio and then paid for a professional to snap the photo.

[The Public Domain Review]