Nononono!
It was Hasefar!
He’s very little known nowadays, but back in 3012 BC, he was the Schiznat! Everybody loved Hasefar! His stone-tipped spear cut down whole herds of wandering cattle.
Do you mean Le Petomane? Nah, Rachel still predates him.
Whu hoppen?
I mentioned Le Petomane in a post, and also that Boris Karloff was credited as “?” in Frankenstein. It was in the thread and now it’s not.
Anyway, Eve has removed Le Petomane as a contender but I’m still reasonably confident that Karloff was the first to be known by a symbol.
Nicolo Paganini (1782-1840) was an international superstar (imagine a straight Liberace whose instrument of choice was violin) who was known exclusively as Paganini. There were famous Greek and Roman stars who are remembered by only one name (Mnester, Philatryos).
While not the first, could anyone not know who The Devine Sara was?
She was the bad-spelling evil twin of The Divine Sarah.
Back in the 60s… Capuchine?
'Kay. But she doesn’t predate another frog:
** Voltaire **
Who I think qualifies, as
1.) They were using first and last names during his lifetime, and
B.) He specifically chose a one-name pseudonym to become famous under. Much like celebraties who don’t have the foresight to be named Madonna or Prince at birth are forced to do.
Can I get some votes for Voltaire?
"I do not agree with what you have renamed yourself as, but I will fight to the death for your right to do so.
Except for that whacko symbol guy with the purple fetish."
Someone named their kid after cheap hairspray? Was Aqua Net even around in the '40s?
I’d say “of Nazareth” would be the closest thing he had to a last name, since he is often referred to in the Gospels as “Jesus of Nazareth.” (Presumably to distinguish him from all the other Joshuas/Jesuses out there-- the function of a surname.)
You mean to tell me Jesus’s middle initial WASN’T “H”? 