Wang Yuanlu

01The study used only mitochondrial DNA, which passes exclusively through mothers — 'Eve' had a contemporary male counterpart, 'Y-chromosomal Adam,' who lived roughly 60,000 years later.
02The name 'Mitochondrial Eve' was coined by journalist James Wainscoat, not the scientists; lead author Allan Wilson publicly disliked it.
03Eve was not the only woman alive at the time — she was simply the last woman whose unbroken maternal line survives today.

01Gerda Wegener's paintings of 'Lili' were exhibited and celebrated in Paris art circles in the 1920s before Einar's transition.
02Einar underwent at least four surgeries in Dresden and Berlin between 1930 and 1931 — among the earliest such procedures on record.
03The Danish government annulled Einar and Gerda's marriage in 1930, one of the first such legal acts related to gender transition in Europe.

In 1900, a self-appointed monk named Wang Yuanlu swept dust from a sealed cave wall in Dunhuang and uncovered 40,000 manuscripts hidden for 900 years. He then sold them to foreigners for pocket money.