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TIL that Christmas used to be illegal in Massachusetts. After 1681, Christmas was no longer a crime, but was completely taboo. Anyone caught making merry or singing carols was prosecuted for disturbing the peace. It remained taboo until 1870, when the federal government made it a national holiday.

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kJZMW TIL in 2015, 18-year-old Julian Hernandez learned he was listed in a database for missing children when he met with his high school guidance counselor to apply for college. This would lead to him discovering that his dad had kidnapped him from his mom when he was 5. His dad was sentenced to 4 years.
Boly TIL that Prof. Benjamin has been arguing that highschool students should not be thought calculus, and should learn statistics instead. While calculus is very important for a limited subset of people, statistics is vital in everyone’s day-to-day lives.
DQBbg TIL the sumo wrestling ring (dohyou) is constructed by the ring ushers (yobidashi) before every tournament. They destroy the previous ring and the new one takes 3 days to build. One reason for reconstruction is that the rice straw bales might rot and cause the ring to crack.
wojAP TIL that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the two largest center's of Christian population in Japan during WWII. The atomic bombing in Nagasaki killed 66% of the Christians in the city.
neBlY TIL that the Keep Calm and Carry On posters were rarely used in WW2. The phrase only came to popular attention after a poster was found in a book shop in 2000 and put on display.