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1694

TIL The term “scientist” was coined in the 1830s to describe Mary Somerville. A woman. Because the usual term “man of science” didn’t apply and she wasn’t just a physicist, geologist, or chemist - she was all three.

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xV80B TIL of Bobby Driscoll, famous Disney child actor in the 1940s and 50s (including the voice of Peter Pan), who died penniless and alone at age 31 in an abandoned NYC building. When his body went unclaimed, he was buried in an unmarked grave.
0wnPA TIL the first Nigerian Prince scam started over a hundred years ago, and the perpetrator was an American boy who requested $4 and a pair of old pants in exchange for Nigerian riches.
erWD TIL there was Chinese general who defended a town against 150,000 soldiers with only a lute and his reputation for being clever. He opened the gates and sat on the town wall playing the lute. The opposing general thought it was a trap and retreated.
Z8olo TIL that Mohamed M. Atalla an Egyptian engineer, physical chemist, cryptographer, inventor and entrepreneur invented the MOSFET and the PIN
4AR TIL that under the qui tam provisions of the false claims act, you can file lawsuits on behalf of the federal government for medicare fraud and you get to keep 15-30% of the final settlement.