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TIL at the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781, the British were marching facing the French army, ignoring the Americans. Marquis de Lafayette, commander of the American Light Infantry brigade, ordered his band to play Yankee Doodle, and the British troops instantly turned to face U.S. soldiers.

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ANKr4 TIL At least 11 people have been born in Antarctica. The first was Emilio Palma, born in 1978 to Argentine parents at Esperanza, Hope Bay, near the tip of the Antarctic peninsula.
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.
PYX1J TIL about Planned Obsolescence, the designing of consumer goods to have a limited lifespan.
b9B9N TIL a village in Mexico, besieged by crime and corruption, cleaned up by blockading the town from criminals and kicking out the mayor, police, and all political parties. Electioneering is banned. Now, the town is self-governed and policed, offers recycling services, and protects the local forests.
kObQW TIL film critic Roger Ebert started his journalism career as a kid with a stamp collecting newsletter called "Ebert's Stamp News". He was able to get 6 subscribes, and actually mailed the newsletter to them.