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TIL a Russian mathematician solved a 100 year old math problem. He declined the Fields medal, $1 million in awards, and later retired from math because he hated the recognition the math community gives to people who prove things

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RrL9 TIL in 2010 a New York Valedictorian gave her graduation speech condemning the American education system for its “brainwashing” and lack of depth.
rRAax TIL that, in 1922, Nikola Tesla imagined that his favorite pigeon told him that she was dying. When she actually did shortly after, he said that "something went out of his life and he knew his life's work was finished".
awYo TIL that, in the aftermath of Katrina, the neighboring town of Gretna, whose levies held, turned away refugees from New Orleans at gunpoint
4kM6w TIL An aboriginal man with a tomahawk was the first Australian to capture a Japanese POW during WWII. He snuck up to a downed pilot and took him to the military base on a neighboring island.
0wpxy TIL Scott Fahlman is credited with originating the first ever smiley emoticon, which he thought would help people on a message board at Carnegie Mellon to distinguish serious posts from jokes. He proposed the use of :-) and :-( for this purpose, and the symbols caught on.