# I can't believe I'd never heard of... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816 "2011-11-23T00:07:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/41 "2011-11-26T06:19:18Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I just want to chime in and say - being of a certain age, and considering myself fairly well informed - I would dearly love to again have the experience of “I can’t believe I’d never heard of…” > > I fear it will never happen in my lifetime…☹ Yet another never mind from me tonight! I need sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/42 "2011-11-26T13:02:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I was gobsmacked to learn, only yesterday, that there’s a tiny little French outpost off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada: [Saint Pierre and Miquelon - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon) I’ve actually been to St. Pierre. It’s kind of neat, as it is very French - the culture is not Canadian at all, and is clearly different from Quebec. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/43 "2011-11-26T14:01:34Z")
The Boy Jones, who was Queen Victoria’s stalker. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/44 "2011-11-26T18:50:28Z")
> [@JWT\_Kottekoe](#): > > Yes, and Lake Winnipeg drains into Hudson’s Bay. Actually into the Nelson River, which, in turn, drains into Hudson Bay. [**Here’s a map**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nelsonrivermap.png) in Wikipedia (minus Minneapolis). The Vikings would have had a long row to hoe to Minneapolis— 2,250 miles, according to [**this page**](http://www.hudsonbaybound.com/) that recounts three canoe trips from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay; one in 1930, the next in 2005 and the third in 2008. > [@](#): > > Our Mission is… > To be the first women to paddle the 2,250 miles from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay. > [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](#): > > You people need to stop ruining my childlike wonderment. I mean, come on – Vikings!!! 😃 😛 Viking longboats would have made portages impossible, if the boats hadn’t been battered to pieces by rapids, rocks or ice. They’d run into winter on the way back if it didn’t arrive on their trip south. Since by that time they’d be walking, they would have died of extreme cold and the very deep snow, if they hadn’t starved. Even if they wintered in Minneapolis, they couldn’t have eaten at McDonald’s, because they wouldn’t have U.S. currency, and at that time, credit cards had a limit of only 50 krona. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/45 "2011-11-28T23:09:11Z")
Another history-related one that I again heard about from in **A History of the World in 100 Objects**. I knew (as I’m sure most of us did) that when the Spanish showed up on the doorsteps of the Aztec and the Inca, they were crazy for gold. And they did, in fact, plunder some amount of gold. But in fact what they really signficantly found was silver, primarily in the mine of [Potosi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potos%C3%AD) in modern-day Bolivia. That one mine produced so much silver that it basically threw the entire world’s economy for a wrench. The coins produced from that silver were the famous “pieces of eight”, and they became the first global currency, but they also were minted in such huge quantities (compared to the world’s silver supply before this) that they caused global inflation, etc. Needless to say, the treatment of the native Americans, and later on African slaves, who mined the silver, was not kind. But, and here’s the really crazy part, that mine IS STILL ACTIVE TODAY! And the workers are still treated so shabbily that there is an ongoing UNESCO investigation into conditions there. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/46 "2011-11-29T18:59:50Z")
I’m a 40-year-old jazz musician, and until last week – when I attended a lecture on the topic – I’d never heard of the [“jazz diplomacy” program](http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Diplomacy-Promoting-America-American/dp/1604732687/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322592889&sr=1-1), which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State from 1954-1968. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/47 "2011-11-29T19:29:39Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > The Boy Jones, who was Queen Victoria’s stalker. Oh! There is a new book out about him–fascinating! He got a lot more press when they recently discovered the body of a stalker on a little island just \*yards \*from Buckingham Palace. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/48 "2011-11-30T01:40:06Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > During a recent business trip to China, I took a colleague to the Rape of Nanking memorial. I mentioned this later to some other people, who confessed they had never head of this. I’d never heard of the Memorial until I started researching the area prior to accepting my assignment here. Heck, I’d only vaguely heard of the Rape of Nanking, and I’d not connected that Nanking == Nanjing. :smack: (Let me know next time you’re in town!) ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/49 "2011-11-30T06:56:16Z")
Those from the cricket playing nations would understand this better - Until a few years ago, I never realised that ‘West Indies’ wasn’t a country. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/50 "2011-11-30T18:02:37Z")
Until a few years ago I fondly thought that the border between England and Scotland followed the line of Hadrians Wall. I didn’t realise that the English had taken over a lot of the territory north of that border. Its doubly embarassing because I’m an Anglo Scot. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/51 "2011-11-30T21:25:39Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Of course the USA was in turmoil then, too: Kent State took place in April of that year. [nitpick]The Kent State shootings took place on May 4, 1970. [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/52 "2011-11-30T22:03:52Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Until a few years ago I fondly thought that the border between England and Scotland followed the line of Hadrians Wall. > > I didn’t realise that the English had taken over a lot of the territory north of that border. > > Its doubly embarassing because I’m an Anglo Scot. Just so we’re clear, Hadrian’s Wall never has been the Anglo-Scottish border. There was certainly a good deal of to-ing and fro-ing over the centuries, but on the whole it was the Scots who expanded their territory, not the English (the Kingdom of Northumbria once extended northward beyond Edinburgh, for instance). The Wall _may_ have been the border between Roman and non-Roman Britain at one time, but even that’s not entirely certain. ---
**Author:** ![Elret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Elret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elret)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/53 "2011-12-01T01:21:21Z")
I would really like to un-learn about Unit 731 now. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/54 "2011-12-01T02:44:33Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I was gobsmacked to learn, only yesterday, that there’s a tiny little French outpost off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada: [Saint Pierre and Miquelon - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon) I’ve been semi-obsessed with that for years. As an EU citizen I wonder could I settle there. My I can’t believe was a couple of years ago I heard of how the Choctaw raised money for Irish famine relief in the 1840s. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/55 "2011-12-01T03:19:39Z")
A large portion of my family lives/lived in Newfoundland and I found out only just a few weeks ago that it only relatively recently (1949, iirc) became a part of Canada and that it was a British dominion instead. It explains the familial fascination with the British royal family a lot. I can’t believe I never read that anywhere before. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/56 "2011-12-01T03:30:22Z")
Just came across this on Wiki: Elizabeth of York is the only English queen to have been a daughter (of Edward IV), sister (of Edward V), niece (of Richard III), wife (of Henry VII), mother (of Henry VIII) and grandmother (on the paternal side of Mary I, Elizabeth I and Edward VI) of English monarchs. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/57 "2011-12-01T04:04:39Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Weird. I just found that out a couple of weeks ago too. It was also on TV, but I don’t recall the program, although I think it was just the news. A first season episode of _The X-Files_ featured the Jersey Devil. That might be the show you’re thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/58 "2011-12-01T16:08:59Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > A large portion of my family lives/lived in Newfoundland and I found out only just a few weeks ago that it only relatively recently (1949, iirc) became a part of Canada and that it was a British dominion instead. It explains the familial fascination with the British royal family a lot. I can’t believe I never read that anywhere before. Oh! I know one. Back before Newfoundland was part of Canada, the [Blue Puttees](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Puttees) (Royal Newfoundland Regiment), Newfoundland’s contribution to the Empire in WWI were famously nearly wiped out at the Battle of the Somme. However, they were previously also at another allied debacle - Gallipoli. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/59 "2011-12-02T21:22:46Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Just so we’re clear, Hadrian’s Wall never has been the Anglo-Scottish border. There was certainly a good deal of to-ing and fro-ing over the centuries, but on the whole it was the Scots who expanded their territory, not the English (the Kingdom of Northumbria once extended northward beyond Edinburgh, for instance). > > The Wall _may_ have been the border between Roman and non-Roman Britain at one time, but even that’s not entirely certain. I realise that ther was the Antonine wall etc., but didn’t have in my minds eye that parts of England were north of parts of Scotland. Just as we always think that all of Canada is north of all of the U.S.A. (excluding Alaska). I did know however about parts of the Republic of Ireland being north of “Northern Ireland”. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816/60 "2011-12-03T04:26:20Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Oh! There is a new book out about him–fascinating! He got a lot more press when they recently discovered the body of a stalker on a little island just \*yards \*from Buckingham Palace. Do tell! (Is there a link?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-cant-believe-id-never-heard-of/603816.md?page=4)