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TIL the Christmas tree, though associated with Christianity, has a pagan origin. Pagans cut down evergreen trees & moved them indoors to recognize the winter solstice, which occurs between December 20 & 23. The "magical" evergreens could withstand the life-threatening powers of darkness & cold.

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baPj TIL of the Haast Eagle which went extinct in the 1400’s, it was a bird that weighed 20-30 lbs, had a 10 ft wing span, and was one of the only birds capable of lifting a full grown human and was able to lift up to 500 lbs
QJbk9 TIL a Neural Network (AI) for converting satellite images to street maps learned to "cheat" by subtly encoding the original image in the output.
VXD4 TIL that Vladimir Putin criticized George W. Bush’s dog Barney for not being large and robust enough.
xVA4b TIL of Peribsen, an early Egyptian pharaoh whose royal name identified him with the god Seth, rather than with Horus as tradition dictated (particularly strange, since the two gods were mortal enemies). Little is known of his reign, but he's conspicuously absent from later king lists.
oB1L TIL- it is illegal to deny the occurrence of the Holocaust in 17 countries.