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First canon-meme in history is now here in the shitters: "Kilroy was here" originated during World War II. The character Kilroy, depicted as a bald man peering over a wall with the caption "Kilroy was here," became a symbol of American GIs. The exact origin is unclear, but: - **James J. Kilroy** from Massachusetts claimed to be the inspiration. He was a shipyard inspector who wrote "Kilroy was here" to mark his inspections, preventing workers from claiming they had already checked the area. - The phrase spread through U.S. soldiers, who wrote it wherever they went, from ships to battlefields, making it a symbol of the GIs' presence across the globe. - Its popularity grew as a form of graffiti, with the image and phrase becoming a morale booster, symbolizing that American forces had been there first or that no place was too remote for an American soldier to reach. This simple act of marking presence turned "Kilroy was here" into one of the earliest known memes.