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TIL that the notion of a "white Christmas" was popularized by the writings of Charles Dickens, whose stories that depicted a snowy Christmas season were based on his childhood, which happened to be the coldest decade in England in over a century

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4Log TIL that Martin Luther King, Sr. was one of several members of the Morehouse College board of trustees held hostage on the campus by a group of students that included Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson was suspended for his actions.
Z846a TIL Bill Nye originally got his break into the Entertainment industry after 4 times of being rejected to join NASA's astronaut training program in the late 70's, and stumbled into a new career path by winning a Steve Martin look-alike contest in 1978 that launched his career into stardom.
xVPA5 TIL that the original purpose of the hood ornament on a car, before they were artistic and ornate, was a visible thermometer for the car's coolant. Image in comments.
8apZV TIL flow is the mental state in which a person is completely absorbed in an activity, resulting in a loss of their sense of space and time.
Brkvx TIL: Bōnenkai is a Japanese drinking party that is organized at the end of a year. It literally translates to "forget the year gathering" and is meant to forget the woes and troubles of the past year, and hopefully look to the new year