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TIL that on Saint Patrick’s Day began as a “feast day” in honor of the anniversary of the day he died. To honor him, Christians could put aside their Lenten restrictions on food and alcohol consumption on this day, which is why excessive drinking has become so permanently linked to the celebration.

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Brkxd TIL we only know about MKUltra because while the CIA was trying to destroy all the files on it due to paranoia around Watergate, some of them were sent to the wrong office and not destroyed
aYP0 TIL: In Mexico If you escape from prison and do not break any laws, you will not be charged for anything and if you are caught time will not be added to your sentence… escaping is in human nature and there not only legal but considered to be the right thing to do.
rNA70 TIL a 1993 clan feud between 2 villages in China's Hunan province turned into all out warfare as the villagers armed themselves with homemade guns, dynamite and even cannons to settle old scores. They even constructed trenches and fortifications. After 34 hours, the police quashed the fighting.
7d4L TIL Hegesias, an Ancient Greek philosopher, was banned from teaching in Alexandria after writing a book called Death By Starvation, which argued that death is superior to living. It inspired many suicides, leading to his nickname: “The Death-Persuader”
pYyw4 TIL in 1862 John Langdon Down was the first to describe a distinct mental disability, calling it "Mongolism" due to his perception that children with it shared facial similarities. Now called Down Syndrome, was discovered in the 1950s to be caused by the presence a third copy of chromosome 21.