Ok then, fine (mempool will not display a lot of those in a way you can parse, if you're interested you can verify using your own node). This is an entire block almost completely dedicated to images. Using P2FK. No op return was needed.

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This is a 2013 transaction. datacarriersize did not prevent it.

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This is from 2017, using yet another method

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Ok but surely there isn't one from earlier, right? Damn is that an entire program written on chain?

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Warren buffet needs to be immortalized on chain of course

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This is a tx from june, no op_return. Costed 134 sats (less than op_return would have today by the way)

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This is a tx from april of this year, note, only a small op_return (which could have been avoided).

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Oh and regarding legality... This is illegal in the US (no, it's not CSAM), but the change for that was used to publish the wikileaks data

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Ok but surely there's no way people have been putting stuff on chain before then right? (nobody knows what this data is, it's probably some encrypted discussion people were having back in 2011)

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(and all other txs involving 18qr2srETSvQq4kP7yBYRqQ4LzmjhtRmcD, 1MaZAHzEFfinRJ2dwK6YtNDfvWMBkiAxDr, 1AgwESN7RKNZtaqzbqu6kPg3RS6C2qCgHi, 1AZUPm5PC5QguquNsBg7HhWUYz5dfm2nU9, and 1J1aR7ayNp9sma8QVyyWGF87PzDU1vp5BD) Let's have a tribute to len sassaman

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Naturally you can use coinbase descriptors too, so let's put prayers on chain!

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Maybe we should look at the first jpeg, since apparently that's new, right?

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Ok but surely you can't have an mp3 of spok telling you to live long and prosper, right?

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And of course, how could we forget, the first non-monetary transaction?

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