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TIL that in pre-Norman England, Father Christmas, originally wore a green suit with a long green hooded cloak, as well as a wreath made of holly, mistletoe or ivy which represented the coming spring.

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via reddit.com

WmKX TIL Danish philosopher Søren Kirkegaard published his works using amusing pseudonyms (perhaps best of all, Hilarius Bookbinder). Everyone in Copenhagen knew that Søren was the author, so at times he added to the title page of a book the scholarly note that it had been “edited by Søren Kierkegaard.”
rd4x TIL the European Space Agency and EU are currently deploying an alternative to GPS, called “Galileo”. As well as being accurate to 1cm, it will also have a “Search and Rescue Service”, where distress signals can be picked up from anywhere on Earth. The full system will be completed by 2019.
MeQxa TIL in 2001 the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan, ancient Buddha statues built into an Afghan mountain. Shortly after their destruction, researchers uncovered an archeological cave site behind the statues. The Taliban unintentionally uncovered new Buddhist treasures through their actions.
o10W TIL of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who was the president of a Tibetan Buddhist region of West Russia about the size of Austria, and is also the president of the World Chess Organization. He can also speak 6 languages.
Vyy4 TIL The first TV remote controls were called “clickers” and did not use batteries, they transmitted an ultrasound when the user clicked the button, striking a metal rod inside to send an audible signal to the TV