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TIL Futurama writer Ken Keeler invented and proved a mathematical theorem strictly for use in the plot of an episode

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dDKOK TIL Douglas Engelbart never received any royalties for the invention of the mouse. In an interview he said "SRI (Stanford Research Institute) patented the mouse, but they had no idea of its value. Some years later it was known that they had licensed it to Apple Computer for something like $40,000."
QD6p TIL that the Gatling gun was invented by a doctor who noticed that the majority of soldiers died in the civil war due to diseases not gun shot wounds
WkMKd TIL of the Invention Secrecy Act. The government has a program in place which specifically deals with inventions that are deemed to be "threats to national security" (open thread for choice quotes). There are currently 6102 inventions under lock and key, some of which "pertain to energy generation".
epl76 TIL about St Innocent of the Orthodox Church. A Russian priest, he traveled to Alaska in 1823 to preach to the natives. He learned many languages and translated the Gospel into an Aleutian language and also for the Tlingits. Although he had a church, he mostly traveled by canoe to visit his parish.
7rrj7 TIL on July 5th 1916 the no.2 construction battalion was created and the only predominately African canadian battalion since confederation. It allowed black men who were previously turned away to enlist.