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TIL that in 1867, an American businessman attended a reading of A Christmas Carol and was so moved by it, that he closed his factory on Christmas Day and sent every employee a turkey.

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awvBA TIL Ben Franklin "predicted" Titan Leeds, a rival publicist, to die on Oct. 17, 1733. When he proceeded to not die, Franklin published an obituary anyways. When Leeds challenged this, Franklin insisted he did in-fact die and would only acknowledge the "inferior imposter" until Leeds actual death.
Y7VRv TIL that the oral history of the Klamath indigenous people describes the eruption of a volcano and subsequent creation of Crater Lake in Oregon, events that geologists date to almost 8,000 years ago.
awKLy TIL about "Quaker Cannons," invented during the American Revolution by George Washington's 2nd cousin, William. Having no real artillery while assaulting loyalist troops in a fortified barn, Washington had a log painted to resemble a cannon and threatened to open fire. The enemy leader surrendered.
XEMZQ TIL in Outback Australia in areas where nobody used to worry about drink driving, distances were often measured in beers. The distance to a nearby town could be ‘only a sixpack’ but a longer trip to the nearest city could be as far as 'a carton’
ADjag TIL that Medieval mapmakers supposedly inscribed the phrase “Here Be Dragons” on maps showing unknown regions of the world. Unfortunately, however, it appears that, apart from an inscription on a single, 16th-century globe, this claim is unfounded.