Today I learned

TIL that In 1867 an American businessman attended a reading of the Charles Dickens story "A Christmas Carol." The businessman was so moved by the reading that he closed his factory on Christmas Day and sent every employee a turkey.

A Christmas Carol - Wikipedia

#til #todayilearned https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1pu2plx/til_that_in_1867_an_american_businessman_attended/

TIL the hit song "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy was inspired by a bit that Eddie Murphy performed in his stand-up comedy film Raw in 1987. In Murphy's bit, a boyfriend who has been caught cheating by his girlfriend, tells her "it wasn't me" over & over again despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. #til #todayilearned https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1pu1nqa/til_the_hit_song_it_wasnt_me_by_shaggy_was/

TIL in 2022 archaeologists in Egypt found 18,000 inscribed shards of pottery, known as ostraca, which date to around 2,000 years ago. Hundreds of these tablets had lines of the same character or two being repeated (usually on both front & back) that were written by "naughty pupils" as punishment.

BBC Newsround

Ancient Egypt: Writing lines was used as a punishment

Egyptologists have found more than 18,000 pottery shards document life in Ancient Egypt.

#til #todayilearned https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1pu025y/til_in_2022_archaeologists_in_egypt_found_18000/

TIL of the 52 American submarines lost in WWII, three were destroyed when their own torpedoes circled back and hit them.

List of lost United States submarines - Wikipedia

#til #todayilearned https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1ptzf49/til_of_the_52_american_submarines_lost_in_wwii/

TIL that history's most powerful pirate was a woman. Ching Shih led the largest pirate fleet ever, enforced brutal laws, defeated Chinese, British, and Portuguese forces, and became such a problem that the Qing government surrendered and offered her amnesty. #til #todayilearned https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1ptz1dw/til_that_historys_most_powerful_pirate_was_a/

TIL that Erik Satie's famous Gymnopédie piano pieces are named after an annual festival in ancient Sparta where naked young men displayed their athletic and martial skills through dancing (Gymnopédie literally means "naked youth")

Gymnopaedia - Wikipedia

#til #todayilearned https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1ptyd2w/til_that_erik_saties_famous_gymnopédie_piano/

Til Bruno Mars in not black. He is half Filipino-Spanish and half Puertorican-Jewish(Hungarian/Ukrain)

Bruno Mars - Wikipedia

#til #todayilearned https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1pty3tc/til_bruno_mars_in_not_black_he_is_half/

TIL that Viacom/Paramount had a first-look option on buying Marvel Entertainment when Ike Perlmutter wanted to sell the company off but Viacom CEO Phillipe Dauman turned down an acquisition due to the company's cost-cutting moves. The result was that Disney ended up acquiring Marvel for $4B in 2009. https://deadline.com/2016/11/brad-grey-paramount-pictures-future-sumner-… #til #todayilearned https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1ptxz9o/til_that_viacomparamount_had_a_firstlook_option/