› added 5 years ago

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TIL that the city of Ontario, Oregon during WWII allowed Japanese Americans to settle in the city at the time when much of the West Coast supported their exclusion, and helped them escape internment camps. All thanks to then-mayor Elmo Smith.

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JYRv8 TIL the tradition of putting Christmas lights up outside started in Denver, CO on Christmas Eve, 1914. D.D. Sturgeon, founder of Sturgeon Electric, wanted to give his ill son some Christmas joy, so he wrapped his pine trees with electric bulbs, which were dipped in red and green paint.
eoLk TIL during World War II, the British secret service set up fake charities to distribute care packages with special copies of the board game Monopoly to prisoners of war in Germany. The game contained real compasses; metal files; French, German, and Italian money; and maps.
m1mNY TIL Plywood has been around for at least 4500 years
o0YL TIL With less then 24 hours notice before the 2014 Olympics Hockey final Canada vs Sweden, Alberta changed the liquor law to allow bars to open at 5 am and serve liquor so people could watch the game at the bar.
OKx4 TIL “knock on wood” derived from Pagans touching, tapping or knocking on trees believing they were the homes of fairies and dryads who would wake and bless them with luck.