1. The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. 2. The theorem has been known for over 4000 years, though Pythagoras is often credited with its discovery around 500 BC in ancient Greece. 3. While the earliest proofs are unknown, Euclid provided the first written proof around 200 BC, and there are now over 600 different proofs of the Pythagorean theorem.