maths.cam.ac.uk

grV14 TIL that British mathematician Lord Kelvin was so confident in his abilities, he once is said to have sent a servant to find out who was the second-highest scoring student in a mathematical competition at the University of Cambridge. The servant returned and replied "You were, sir".
yVWv8 TIL that the top mathematics student at Cambridge University is known as the Senior Wrangler. In 1880 J. J. Thomson was so confident he was #1 that he sent his servant to find out how others had ranked. When Thomson asked "Who was Second Wrangler?", he was told "You were, sir"; Joseph Larmor was #1.