› added 3 years ago

116

TIL that Xmas is has historically been used as far back as the 16th century and the X is a Greek substitution for their letter χ pronounced “chi” in place of the first character of the Greek for Christ - Χριστός

Read more wordhistories.net

via reddit.com

EgnNX TIL a number of capybaras made their way into North America after the Isthmus of Panama was formed. Their descendents, extinct since the Ice Age, are in the Neochoreus genus and have been found as far north as the Carolinas.
R5Dxj TIL that Radio City Music Hall in New York was originally intended to showcase vaudeville-style acts, but the initial opening was a disaster with singers and dancers dwarfed by the cavernous 6,200 seat hall. It then primarily became a movie theater and venue for large scale concerts and stage shows.
b9yOE TIL: Of the plight of actor Dudley Moore; amongst his most famous roles was that of the perpetually drunk "Arthur". His death was from a form of Parkinson's disease that in the early stages has a symptom of the sufferer appearing to be extremely intoxicated.
4X0Ob TIL: Much (but not all) of Weird Al Yankovic's music is satire, rather than parody. Thus it is not protected by the Fair Use Doctrine.
AN7nl TIL of the Boy Scout Nuclear Science Merit Badge. The requirements to receive the badge include building a Geiger counter, planting irradiated and nonirradiated seeds, and visiting an accelerator (research lab) or university where people study the properties of the nucleus or nucleons.