From Boston’s earliest days, Christmas was not celebrated. Holiday goodies like pudding and mince pies were banned- December 25th was a mandatory work day, and town criers walked through the streets reminding the populace: “No Christmas! No Christmas! No Christmas!” In fact, in 1620, the Puritans spent their first Christmas in the New World building their first structures. The next […]
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This Day In History: December 24, 1972 The Bob Hope Christmas Show racked up more than a million miles during WWII, entertaining the troops in the U.S., Europe, the Pacific Theater and North Africa. He brought his show to Korea in the early 1950s and entertained U.S. troops at military bases in Japan throughout the rest of the decade. U.S. […]
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In this video from our YouTube channel (click here to subscribe), we look at why certain Asian countries use chopsticks instead of more common eating utensils. To make sure you don’t miss out on many more videos like this, be sure and subscribe to our new daily channel! If you liked this video, you might also enjoy Our Mega List […]
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This Day In History: December 23, 1948 On December 23, 1948, seven Class A war criminals that included the former Prime Minister of Japan, Hideki Tojo, were executed by hanging at Sugamo Prison. The executions were carried out by the American occupation authorities. According to official U.S. documents detailing the procedures, “The execution will be witnessed with due solemnity and […]
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In this video from MinutePhysics, Henry Reich looks at why December has the longest days of the year. If you like this video, go check out and subscribe to MinutePhysics here. You can also join us in supporting Henry’s efforts to make more videos like this by donating via MinutePhysics’ Patreon page here. If you liked this article, you might also […]
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On Monday, December 14, 1903, the Wright brothers took the Wright Flyer out in their first attempt to fly it. The plane “flew” only for a few seconds, stalling when Wilbur pulled up too sharply as soon as the plane was in the air. Three days later, after repairing the damage done to the craft, Orville took his turn at […]
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In this video from our YouTube channel (click here to subscribe), we take a look at the story that no publisher wanted that became an impromptu Christmas card that became a flop of a film that nonetheless later became one of the most famous movies of all time. To make sure you don’t miss out on many more videos like […]
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This Day In History: December 22, 1956 Gorillas are intelligent animals that live together in small groups, usually led by a single male silverback. The first gorillas kept in captivity were held in stark, concrete cages with metal bars. Lacking any stimulation or entertainment, they became bored and depressed. Needless to say, this wasn’t a prime breeding environment. As such, […]
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In the Swedish town of Gävle, about 100 miles north of Stockholm, residents have been erecting a giant straw goat in the town center since 1966. The Gävle Goat, also known as the Yule Goat and the Gävlebocken, may be a massive Christmas decoration, but there is never any guarantee that it will still be standing for the holiday. That […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader To date, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has fulfilled the wishes of more than 250,000 kids with life-threatening illnesses. Here’s the story of the wish that started it all. DIAGNOSIS In 1977 an Illinois woman named Linda Greicius made a trip to Phoenix, Arizona, to spend time with her mother, who had […]
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Jeremy R. asks: What do the little buttons on Darth Vader’s suit do? It’s said that the best villains are the ones where you know almost nothing about them. However, thanks to the Star Wars Expanded Universe, we know almost everything about Darth Vader, even how he poops, and he’s still consistently voted to be one of the greatest cinema […]
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If you’ve noticed the fewer number of articles being published the last couple weeks on TIFO, this post is the cause. 
It now holds the record for the longest time spent researching and writing any single article on TIFO by a very good margin. It turns out there are an awful lot of Star Wars “facts” commonly repeated all […]
This Day In History: December 18, 1892 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was riding high from the success of his ballet The Sleeping Beauty when he was commissioned to compose a double-bill program for Imperial Theatres- an opera and a ballet. This included Tchaikovsky’s last opera Iolanta and The Nutcracker, choreographed by Marius Petipa, who collaborated with Tchaikovsky on The Sleeping Beauty […]
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In this video from our YouTube channel (click here to subscribe), we take a look at the origin of one of the most popular songs of all time, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and the 13 year old girl who popularized it. To make sure you don’t miss out on many more videos like this, be sure and subscribe to […]
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If you’ve never seen A Knight’s Tale, the cliff notes version of the story is that Heath Ledger’s character, William Thatcher, pretends to be a knight to compete in various jousting competitions across Europe for fame, fortune, and the love of a woman. Since Thatcher is a peasant, in order to be able to compete, he claims to be a […]
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This Day In History: December 15, 1892 Jean Paul Getty, more commonly known as J. Paul Getty, was born on December 15, 1896 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The son of a self-made man, George Getty (a blue collared laborer turned lawyer turned oil prospector), J. Paul Getty used a business loan from his father to go on to create a global […]
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In this video from our YouTube channel (click here to subscribe), we take a look a look at the fascinating and unlikely origin of one of the most popular Christmas stories of all time. To make sure you don’t miss out on many more videos like this, be sure and subscribe to our new daily channel! If you liked this […]
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Ron L. asks: Did George Washington’s doctors kill him with their treatments? After the Revolutionary War, George Washington looked forward to a quiet retirement as a gentleman farmer in Virginia. But this was not to be as he was repeatedly called back to serve the needs of the new nation he helped create. When he was called to serve as […]
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