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TIL that "piggy" bank originally had nothing to do with pigs. "Pygg," in Olde English, was a type of clay used to make jars, containers..., and coin banks. It was also pronounced like "pug." As time passed, the "y" in "pygg" was pronounced like a short "I," and the rest is history.

Lk1j9 TIL during prohibition, merchants would sell "bricks" of grape concentrate with a label that warned consumers not to mix the concentrate with yeast, water, and sugar and age the mixture for seven days, because "an illegal alcoholic beverage will result".
nW6yP TIL that in fashion, Labor Day is (or was) considered the last day when it was acceptable to wear white or seersucker. The tradition lies with the migration of wealthy 19th century New Yorkers back from their summer-home Newport Mansions and the accompanying change back from summer clothes.
OWy7 TIL During the WWII invasion of Normandy, a new Canadian tank gunner destroyed 3 tiger tanks with his first 5 shots in combat, including a famous German tank commander with over 130 kills. The Canadian tanker’s only prior experience was firing a half dozen tank rounds during training.
VB5x4 TIL there has only ever been 167 featured cast members of Saturday Night Live
KYV7a TIL that Ohio's state motto is "With God, all things are possible". In 1958, Jimmy Mastronardo (10 years old) noticed that Ohio was the only one of the 48 US states without a motto. He got 18,000 signatures on a petition and persuaded the state legislature to pass a bill and the governor to sign it.