What came first: the pixel or the blink

I was doing to some vague surfing looking for strangeness and I came across a "blinkies" webring. A group of people who just couldn't let the BLINK tag die.

Jo's Blinkie Obsession
My World

And then "dolls"
Realm of the Forbidden

And then off to some strange places, I'll let you discover yourself.

Which all reminds me of happily blinkless k10k. So which leads me to my question. When did pixel art evolve, who started it and what are it's major genres. There could be a PHD thesis in this...