naure.com
TechnologySurprise 5/5Difficulty 2/5Reviewed on September 14, 2026

The world's first webcam was created to monitor a zoo.

Why it is true

In 1991, researchers at the University of Cambridge set up a camera pointed at the laboratory coffee pot so they would not have to walk there to see if there was coffee. The camera transmitted images to three local computers.

Source: University of Cambridge

Would you rather be asked first?

This is the reading side of the site, so the answer is in the sentence above — that is the whole point of it. Test yourself works the other way round: the question comes on its own, and the fact and the explanation only appear once you have answered.

Test yourself →10-question challenge

Related facts

More in Technology

See all →