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TIL the Irish Myth of "Stingy Jack” about a man who tricked the devil and therefore kept out of hell but is not welcome in heaven. He wanders the earth with a Lantern and Halloween is his time of year.

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6EKNY TIL that in the 1904 Olympics marathon various competitors were high and/or mildly poisoned, a competitor came out in 4th after stopping to eat apples and take a nap, and the first black African to compete in the Olympic games ran 2 kilometers out of the course because he was being chased by dogs.
78oyL TIL that in 2009, hundreds of brightly-colored bird specimens were stolen from the Natural History Museum London. It was later found that a student had sold them online to be used for fly-fishing lures.
QNE5a TIL there's a species of caterpillar, belonging to the Nematocampa genus of moths, that responds to loud noise (e.g. shouting) by enlarging long appendages on its body until fully erect
An64 TIL that even under a worst-case scenario, no Rubik’s Cube is farther than 20 moves from being solved.
e5xE TIL in 2008, Nebraska implemented a law to allow parents to drop off unwanted newborns at safe havens; the law didn’t state an age limit, and nearly all the children abandoned were over ten years old- some were even 17!