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TIL In Iceland, the tradition of Jólabókaflóð, or the "Christmas Book Flood," involves exchanging books on Christmas Eve and then spending the evening reading. This tradition stems from World War II when paper was one of the few commodities not rationed in Iceland.

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4X0Wb TIL The actual Mulberry bush that the nursery rhyme "Here we go around the Mulberry bush" is named after died in 2017 and was completely cut down and removed in 2019. In the 1980s cuttings were taken from it and they have grown into full trees now.
d8BkE TIL when he accepted the role of Scrooge in A Muppet Christmas Carol, Michael Caine said he wanted to play it, "like I'm working with the Royal Shakespeare Company," as if there were no puppets around him. On set, he had to walk across narrow planks between the Muppets and their performers.
xDJB TIL that given Sean Connery’s rugged appearance and rough charm, a former lover of his initially thought he was “a most appalling person” and was not attracted to him until she saw him in a kilt, upon which she declared him to be “the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen in her life.”
8GbG TIL that after a nuclear disaster in Japan in 1999, the operating company declined government funds and paid compensation itself based not on a legal liability but rather its moral responsibility.”
Wk6K9 TIL the famous 'Pony Express' that was vital in sending mail from east to west during the wild 1800's was actually a failed venture that bled money and lasted only a mere 19 months.