In 1939, George Dantzig was a student at the University of California, Berkeley...
… And like many students, he was sometimes late.
One day, when his math class had already begun, Danzig entered class and saw two statistical problems written on the blackboard. Thinking that it was homework for the next lesson, he hurried to write them down without question. And a few days later, he gave the solution to each of these two problems.
Six weeks passed when his statistics teacher (Jerzy Neyman) visited him with unexpected news. Danzig learned that he had solved two of the most famous statistical problems that have not yet been solved.
He later said that the problems "seemed a little more difficult than usual."
Even though the name Danzig remains relatively unknown, this anecdote has become popular over time. It may remind you of that famous scene with Matt Damon in the movie Good Will Hunting.