Egg of Columbus
According to legend, when Christopher Columbus told Cardinal Mendoza about how he discovered land west of the Atlantic ocean, one of the people with them said, "What could be easier than to discover a new land?" To which Columbus offered him a simple task: to put the egg on the table and make it balance on its end. When none of the other people could do it, Columbus took the egg, smashed it from one end, and placed it on the table, showing that it was actually very simple. Seeing this, everyone began to object, saying that they could do the same. To which Columbus replied, "The difference, gentlemen, is that you could do it, when I did."