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TIL the ribbon that signified the opening of the Sydney Harbour bridge was slashed early by the sword of Captain Francis de Groot, who rode up on a horse and claimed the bridge in the name of “the decent and respectable people of New South Wales”.

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Z8Av4 TIL Of the only medical case of a person being both a dwarf and a giant | Adam Rainer was 111.5cm (3 foot 7.9 in) at age 19, yet 234cm (7 ft 8 in) at age 51
5YMKp TIL that counter strike was a mod of half-life created by two programmers which was released in 1999. Due to the popularity of the mod, sales for half-life went up and, subsequently, the two friends were hired by valve who also acquired the game’s intellectual property.
wLOAP When 50,000 of Mark Rober's 3 million YouTube subscribers participated in a basic coding challenge, the data all pointed to what Rober has dubbed the Super Mario Effect. The YouTube star and former NASA engineer describes how this data-backed mindset for life gamification has stuck with him along his journey, and how it impacts the ways he helps (or tricks) his viewers into learning science, engineering, and design. Mark Rober has made a career out of engineering, entertainment, and education. After completing degrees in mechanical engineering from Brigham Young University and the University of Southern California, Rober joined NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2004. In his nine years as a NASA engineer, seven of which were on the Mars rover Curiosity team, Rober worked on both the Descent Stage (the jetpack that lowered the Rover to the surface) and some hardware on the Rover top deck for collecting samples. In 2011, Rober’s iPad-based Halloween costume helped launch both his creative costume company, Digital Dudz, and his YouTube channel, which now boasts 3 million subscribers and 400 million views. His videos focus on creative ideas and science- and engineering-based pranks and activities. Rober is a regular guest on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!". Today, he does research and development work for a large technology company in Northern California, where he lives with his wife and son.
jNNrp TIL that in 1919, William Little, an African American soldier who fought in World War I, was lynched because he refused to take off his uniform when he got back home to Blakey, Georgia.
lMwN TIL Roman Emperor Constantius described himself on occasion as ‘redditor lucis aeternae’, bringer of eternal light.