› added 3 months ago

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TIL that the Puritans banned the celebration of Christmas, believing it to be 'popery'. In England, the ban was from 1647 to 1660 and pro-Christmas rioting occurred. In Boston, the ban was from 1659 to 1681 but it was unfashionable to celebrate Christmas there until the 19th century.

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via reddit.com

vQxR TIL: A Detroit man is incredibly good at winning carnival games. In fact, he has won nearly 250,000 large stuffed animals in his lifetime… and donated them all to various charities.
6xNQ TIL the way Helsinki survived WW2. In 1944 the USSR began a massive air attack on the city to force Finland to leave the war. Finns used fires and searchlights to trick Soviet bombers into dropping bombs outside the city. Russian diplomats were surprised to find an intact Helsinki after the war.
m1RVx TIL that Hollywood actor Paul Kelly was imprisoned in San Quentin for manslaughter, after failing to kill his lover's husband. 30 years later, Kelly played the warden of the prison in the film 'Duffy of San Quentin'.
9P4r TIL that an executive defeated Bill Gates 35 out of 37 in a video game, when they met again a month later Gates “won or tied every game. He had studied the game until he solved it.”
KYZdR TIL in an attempt to assassinate Hitler, a Nazi officer hid two time bombs in his jacket and led Hitler on a tour of a museum. Hitler raced through the museum and left before the bombs exploded, so the officer had to rush to the bathroom where he defused the bombs "at the last second."