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TIL about Grace Hopper who was the inventor of the first compiler, the intermediate program that translates English language instructions into the language of the target computer.

Read more history-computer.com

via reddit.com

yx78 TIL that the Masaai people of Kenya donated fourteen cows to the US after 9/11.
gM474 TIL that "Spandex" is just an anagram of "expands", and was designed by a chemist at DuPont in the 50's.
Jdnk TIL that Mao and the Chinese Communist Party leaders had a quota of up to 4 deaths in a thousand, as they went about breaking up the social structure and land reform after the formation of the People’s Republic. Landlords were first up for executions.
wxl8 TIL that in 1978 France rolled out a pre-World Wide Web online service (MiniTel) that gave it’s users access to online shopping, search engines, cybersex, message boards etc … France Telecom only retired the service in 2012 after 30 years and 800 000 units still in use.
J1g74 TIL that giraffe has one of the highest blood pressures in the animal kingdom. It reaches up to 280/180 mm Hg.