The first hypernucleus was discovered in Warsaw in September 1952 by Marian Danysz and Jerzy Pniewski. It happened during a time of confusion concerning the newly detected heavy unstable particles. The study of hypernuclei was of considerable help in understanding the properties of strange particles. An account is given of the early history of strange particles and hypernuclear physics.

PACS numbers: 01.65.+g