› added 6 years ago

119

TIL telling ghost stories around a fire was originally a Christmas Eve tradition. Beginning with Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" it was an annual tradition throughout the Victorian Era and only changed when Halloween became popular in the 1920s.

Read more smithsonianmag.com

via reddit.com

WkoE9 TIL At a prison facility in Nuuk, Greenland some inmates reportedly hold the keys to their own cells (to afford them privacy), and others may leave the premises during the day to go to work or school. Perhaps surprisingly, inmates are even allowed to go hunting with rifles to shoot birds and seals.
GAndJ TIL the hottest day on record in September was recorded today in California‘s Death Valley at 127 degrees Fahrenheit (52.8 degrees Celsius)
R5nZ6 TIL about the Barnum Effect, a common psychological phenomenon whereby individuals give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically to them, yet are general enough to apply to a wide range of people, such as astrology and personality tests.
kObXW TIL that Armenian cucumber is not actually a cucumber. It's also known as "snake melon" in English, and is a muskmelon like cantaloupe. It's called "qithaa'" in Classical Arabic (mentioned in the Qu'ran re:the Promised Land), "Arab/Palestinian cucumber" in Hebrew, and "fakoos" in both languages.
OGkKY TIL Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States, died from a cherry overdose. On July 4, 1850, Taylor reportedly consumed copious amounts of cherries and iced milk causing him to die of cholera morbus.