› added 12 years ago

97

TIL Christmas was influenced by Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness that included human sacrifice, intoxication, going from house to house while singing naked, rape and other sexual license.

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LbvV TIL the majority of states have official “ancient emblems"—several of which are fossils. An effort by an 8-year-old girl to give South Carolina its own official state fossil was thwarted however, because some lawmakers object to officially recognizing the woolly mammoth fossil on religious grounds.
8aR1Z TIL that George Washington was actually a Redhead and that he did not wear a wig. Instead, he powdered his hair
WkkXL TIL that Marry, Mary, Merry, Bury, Larry, Leery, Fairy, and Ferry aren't all pronounced the same in other english accents
MWp8 TIL I learned that Jack MacDonald (A 98 year old secret Philanthropist, war veteran and lawyer) Lived the life of a poor person and saved all his money to donate to charity after his death. He donated 188 million dollars to 3 Washington institutions after his death at age 98.
Mev90 TIL of a French soldier who was taken as a POW and fed only potatoes during his captivity, and survived. Feeling like he should have died, he made it his life’s mission to convince the world of the nutritional value of potatoes, and his tomb in France is decorated with potatoes as a tribute.