The LMFDB describes the elliptic curve 11a3 (or 11.a3) as "The first elliptic curve in nature". It has minimal Weierstraß equation $$ y^2 + y = x^3 - x^2. $$ My guess is that there is some problem in Diophantus' Arithmetica, or perhaps some other ancient geometry problem, that is equivalent to finding a rational point on this curve. What might it be?

Edit: Here's some extra info that I dug up and only mentioned in the comments. Alexandre Eremenko also mentions this in an answer below. The earliest-known example of an elliptic curve is one implicitly considered by Diophantus, in book IV of Arithemtica, problem 24 (Heath's translation): "To divide a given number into two numbers such that their product is cube minus its side". Actually this is a family of curves over the affine line, namely $y(a-y)= x^3-x$, though Diophantus, in his usual way, only provides a single rational point for the single curve corresponding to $a=6$. This curve is 8732.b1 in the L-functions and modular forms database (the Cremona label is 8732a1). So presumably the comment about 11a3 is not meant to mean "historically first".

The LMFDB describes the elliptic curve 11a3 (or 11.a3) as "The first elliptic curve in nature". It has minimal Weierstraß equation $$ y^2 + y = x^3 - x^2. $$ My guess is that there is some problem in Diophantus' Arithmetica, or perhaps some other ancient geometry problem, that is equivalent to finding a rational point on this curve. What might it be?

Edit: Here's some extra info that I dug up and only mentioned in the comments. Alexandre Eremenko also mentions this in an answer below. The earliest-known example of an elliptic curve is one implicitly considered by Diophantus, in book IV of Arithmetica, problem 24 (Heath's translation): "To divide a given number into two numbers such that their product is cube minus its side". Actually this is a family of curves over the affine line, namely $y(a-y)= x^3-x$, though Diophantus, in his usual way, only provides a single rational point for the single curve corresponding to $a=6$. This curve is 8732.b1 in the L-functions and modular forms database (the Cremona label is 8732a1). So presumably the comment about 11a3 is not meant to mean "historically first".

The LMFDB describes the elliptic curve 11a3 (or 11.a3) as "The first elliptic curve in nature". It has minimal Weierstraß equation $$ y^2 + y = x^3 - x^2. $$ My guess is that there is some problem in Diophantus' Arithmetica, or perhaps some other ancient geometry problem, that is equivalent to finding a rational point on this curve. What might it be?

The LMFDB describes the elliptic curve 11a3 (or 11.a3) as "The first elliptic curve in nature". It has minimal Weierstraß equation $$ y^2 + y = x^3 - x^2. $$ My guess is that there is some problem in Diophantus' Arithmetica, or perhaps some other ancient geometry problem, that is equivalent to finding a rational point on this curve. What might it be?

Edit: Here's some extra info that I dug up and only mentioned in the comments. Alexandre Eremenko also mentions this in an answer below. The earliest-known example of an elliptic curve is one implicitly considered by Diophantus, in book IV of Arithemtica, problem 24 (Heath's translation): "To divide a given number into two numbers such that their product is cube minus its side". Actually this is a family of curves over the affine line, namely $y(a-y)= x^3-x$, though Diophantus, in his usual way, only provides a single rational point for the single curve corresponding to $a=6$. This curve is 8732.b1 in the L-functions and modular forms database (the Cremona label is 8732a1). So presumably the comment about 11a3 is not meant to mean "historically first".