fact
Christmas used to be illegal in Massachusetts. After 1681, Christmas was no longer a crime, but was completely taboo. Anyone caught making merry or singing carols was prosecuted for disturbing the peace. It remained taboo until 1870, when the federal government made it a national holiday. 00
Robert Shields, maintained an incredibly detailed diary for 25 years. The diary chronicles every five minutes of his life from 1972 until a stroke disabled him in 1997. The entire collection fills 94 boxes and is estimated at 37.5 million words. 00
The first woman to run for President of the United States was Victoria Woodhull in 1872, 50 years before women could vote. She had Frederick Douglass as her running mate, and spent election day in jail due to being arrested for obscenity. 00
Jack Nicholson was raised by his grandparents while his birth mother, June Nicholson, pretended to be his sister. He only found out who his real mother was when he turned 37. 00
Steve Jobs often went to his biological father’s Mediterranean restaurant in San Jose and even shook his hand. At the time, his dad didn’t know that Jobs was the baby he gave away for adoption, and Jobs didn’t know that he was his father. 00
Target had to apologize after a labeling error resulted in plus-sized customers feeling insulted. Target was selling two dresses of the same color but at different sizes. The small was listed as “Gray” while the larger’s color was listed as “Manatee Gray”. Target pulled the dresses. 00
April 18, 1930, was such a slow news day that at 6:30 PM, the BBC’s radio announcer said, “There is no news.” 00
One of the 26 known copies of the United States’ Declaration of Independence was purchased for $4. The man purchased an ugly painting for the frame & found the declaration behind the painting. He later sold it at auction for $2.42 million. 00
Pittsburgh is the only city where all the major sports teams (Steelers, Pirates, Penguins) all share the same colors, as black and gold represent the ingredients to make steel (coal and iron ore). 00
Facebook created two AI chatbots to converse with one other, only to shut them down when they began speaking in a language they had created for themselves. 00