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TIL Sarah Josepha Hale, the author of "Mary Had a Little Lamb," campaigned for decades to make Thanksgiving a national holiday, writing to five presidents. Lincoln finally agreed in 1863.

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8eJvX TIL At age 19, future President Lyndon Johnson secured a job teaching elementary school to impoverished Mexican-American students in 1928. Within three months, Lyndon developed various programs including contests in spelling and public speaking, coaching sports
7rbmO TIL Shortly after the release of "The Empire Strikes Back" Darth Vader's name was changed to Lord Fener in Italy. This is because the word "vader' in Italian sounds like "toilet".
OGlb1 TIL about the 1815 Mount Tambora massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia with what followed called "the year without a summer". Global temps plunged, crops failed, people starved, and a cholera pandemic spread. Geological evidence suggests a 1-in-6 chance of a massive eruption this century.
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l7Mnr TIL Of the estimated 208,874 tonnes of gold that has been mined throughout history, around two-thirds of it has been mined since 1950.