Some historians say that Arabic mathematician Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi invented the zero.
But they’re wrong. the zero has been around since ancient Mesopotamia.
Hindus and Greeks knew them, too.
They just didn’t have a pretty symbol for it.
The truth is, al-Khowarizmi was baking some eights, and he accidentally dropped the tray.
Most of the eights shattered, but a few split along the center, creating pairs of zeroes.
Others split lengthwise, making pairs of threes, but he already had a batch of those cooling on the windowsill.
Pressed for time, he baked more eights, and flipped some sixes into nines.