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TIL Augustin Mouchot, a French math teacher, was a 19th-century inventor of the earliest solar-powered engine. It converted solar energy into mechanical steam power. In 1878 he showcased his solar-powered concentrator at the Exposition Universelle in Paris & took home the gold medal from the fair.

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8gKX TIL: Scientists bred extremely sexually attractive male mosquitoes whose offspring are unable to breed. So these mosquitoes will hopefully dominate the mosquito gene pool, and in a generation or two, billions of mosquito larvae will be reproductive dead-ends.
1ak14 TIL that the ancient Egyptians had structures marked with cubit scales—now called "nilometers"—to measure the Nile River's water level during the annual flood (the foundation of their civilization), to predict how much it would fertilize their cropland and whether the flood would be destructive.
N7p4M TIL that pencils are yellow because in the 19th century, the best graphite came from China. Because yellow was a royal colour in China, pencil companies began to colour their pencils yellow to show both high quality and an association with China.
4n6b TIL Sony and other Japanese companies have banishment rooms where they transfer surplus employees and give them menial or useless tasks or even nothing to do until they become depressed or disheartened enough to quit on their own, thus not getting full benefits
6mOQ TIL frosting is a buttery, thick coating for a cake while icing is a sugary, thin glaze that hardens when dry.