The Ishango bone is an animal bone with a series of carved notches, found at Ishango on the shore of Lake Edward in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was discovered by the Belgian geologist Jean de Heinzelin de Braucourt and is estimated to be about twenty thousand years old, dating to the Upper Palaeolithic. The notches are arranged in groups along three columns, and some researchers have argued that they show an early form of counting, arithmetic or a lunar calendar. Others think that they may be simple tally marks, and the interpretation remains debated. The bone is held at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels.
Before and after
- 8 December 1949Founding of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
- 21 December 1949Birth of Thomas Sankara
- 25 December 1949Birth of Nawaz Sharif
- 26 December 1949Birth of José Ramos-Horta
- 1950Discovery of the Ishango bone
- from c. 1950s to 1970sDecolonisation of Africa
- c. 1950sInvention of Holter monitor
- c. 1950sRise of pop art
- 1950Discovery of californium
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The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.