› added 8 months ago

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TIL Robert Hoagland vanished from Newtown, Connecticut, in 2013, with suspicions of foul play. in fact, he had actually resettled in Rock Hill, New York, under an assumed name, Richard King, which was not discovered until after his death in late 2022.

Br5VL TIL that Hydrilla was introduced to America in the 1950's from someone who discarded a used aquarium containing the plant into waters near Tampa Bay, FL. It is now one of the most invasive marine plant species in the Western hemisphere and notoriously difficult to eradicate much less manage.
mx95p TIL that Jimmy Boyd's I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church in Boston when it was released on the grounds that it mixed kissing with Christmas. Boyd was photographed meeting with the Archdiocese to explain the song. After the meeting, the ban was lifted.
16rwO TIL the Carrington Event was the most intense geomagnetic storm in recorded history, creating an Aurora so bright people in northern America could read a newspaper by the aurora's light, and damaging telecommunications equipment around the world
699EW TIL early versions of the Pomeranian were larger and were used as sled dogs. Over time they were bred to be smaller and were used as companion dogs instead. This increasingly occurred after Queen Victoria became fond of this breed.
D1EQp TIL Rick Riordan, author of Percy Jackson, wrote a teacher who was showing the movies in class: "No. Stop. Please. No class deserves such a punishment". On another occasion he wrote: "I would rather have my teeth pulled with no anesthesia".