With today being the first of April, I was wondering, what is the oldest known joke?
As far as I am aware, the oldest joke is from 1900 BC Sumer and goes like this:
"Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap."
Another very old joke comes from 1600 BC Egypt, attributed to Pharaoh Snofru:
"How do you entertain a bored pharaoh? You sail a boatload of young women dressed only in fishing nets down the Nile and urge the pharaoh to go catch a fish."
The study was conducted by students and faculty at the University of Wolverhampton under the auspices of Dr. Paul McDonald, and was commissioned by the TV channel Dave in an attempt to understand the ancient origins of humor.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/07/31/uk-britain-joke-life-idUKL129052420080731