I'm 52 years old and it has been this way since I can remember but for some reason I can't make it not bug me. Any time we have the biggest/oldest/smallest/fastest/etc example of something, it's described without any qualification of seen, known, observed, etc.

For example, this isn't oldest recorded transaction, it's the oldest widely known record of a transaction (probably).

Why does that still bother me? Obviously nobody is saying it's the oldest recorded transaction, right? That would make it the first recorded transaction, and nobody is calling it that.

And here I am likely triggering your own pet peeve of useless comments on HN. xD

It can be the oldest without being the first, if the earlier ones no longer exists