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TIL that Wolverine was created because Marvel's then editor in chief Roy Thomas wanted a Canadian hero to boost north-of-the-border sales.

x6Prg TIL Ada Lovelace, daughter of poet Lord Byron, is considered by some to be the first computer programmer. She wrote notes on Charles Babbage's "Analytical Engine" that included an algorithm for calculating a sequence of numbers. Lovelace envisioned the machine creating art and music.
yQ76v TIL the Vietnamese revolutionary Ho Chi Mihn's political outlook was developed during his time living in America. He became influenced by the Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey and even attended several of his meetings on black nationalism.
rEn1 TIL MTV contacted Weird Al and told him they would not air his “Don’t Download This Song” video if references to filesharing programs were not in some way removed, so he “made the creative decision to bleep them out as obnoxiously as possible, so that there would be no mistake I was being censored.”
neoLG TIL that the US may have adopted the metric system if pirates hadn't kidnapped Joseph Dombey, the French scientist sent to help Thomas Jefferson persuade Congress to adopt the system.
ZgZQ TIL that in the 1970 Mr. Olympia final, the judges could not decide between Arnold and Sergio Olivia so the two of them, exhausted, agreed to walk off. Sergio left, but Arnold, after taking one step, turned back to the judges, made fun of Sergio for leaving, and started posing again and won.