› added 6 years ago

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TIL that "Xmas" is not an attempt to remove "Christ" from "Christmas", but rather a shortening to the Greek letter chi, which is the first letter in the Greek spelling of Christ.

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dbZ TIL President Roosevelt visited Hawaii in July of 1934, making him the first acting president to set foot on the island.
QJEOM TIL that in 1168AD, Fustat, the then-capital of Egypt was ordered to be burnt to the ground by its own vizier to stop it falling into the hands of the crusaders
8eLlG TIL original Trek was cancelled after season 2, the Klingon ship model was made as merchandising, and then Trek was renewed for a third season, allowing the show to use the model which had not been created to be a series prop.
jNwaQ TIL that adolescents who smoke marijuana as early as 14 do worse by 20 on some cognitive tests and drop out of school at a higher rate than non-smokers. But if they hold off until age 17, they're less at risk, and performed equally well as adolescents who did not use cannabis.
xVEbk TIL there is a city in Washington named 'George'. Every year, George, Washington celebrates the 4th of July by baking the world's largest cherry pie.