The number zero was first used as a filler in a record. Many cultures across the world, including the Egyptians and the Sumerians, independently discovered zero. According to Harvard professor Robert Kaplan, a pair of angled wedges were used to create the first zero in Mesopotamia over 5000 years ago. The Babylonians, who came after the Sumerians and the Chinese, were among the later civilizations. However, it was only used as a placeholder in these two civilizations, as a method to distinguish ten from one hundred or to denote an empty column in the case of hundreds and thousands. There is no way to offer legitimate credit for the discovery of zero to any civilization.