# I know my wife's ex-bf's birthday. So what unusual info do you know? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 14, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425 "2017-04-14T01:58:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/21 "2017-04-14T16:12:59Z")
There are 3 kids I went to school with 20 years ago that share my mom’s birthday. So, I know their birthdays. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/22 "2017-04-14T17:07:11Z")
My husband has told me that he didn’t want me looking into his family tree on Family Search, as he is estranged from and intensely dislikes the whole tribe. He doesn’t want to know anything about them or to be reminded about them. Didn’t keep me from snooping, though. He thinks his paternal family is all German, but I’ve looked at the censuses and I know that his paternal family is Russian. His paternal grandmother and grandfather were both born in Russia and emigrated here. I don’t know why they told the family they were German. Then again, maybe my husband’s dad is the one who made up the German thing. At the time it was under discussion, the Cold War was ongoing and being from Russia might not have gone over well. So I know this unusual thing about him but I have to keep mum. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/23 "2017-04-14T17:13:36Z")
Not quite the same as the OP’s, or what the thread is looking for, but equally weird. I have a female friend from back in high school. a not-quite-but-almost-a-girlfriend. I’ve kept in touch with her (except for a ten year hiatus) ever since. I have known her for an embarrassingly long period of time. She will frequently call my house and have hour-long conversations with my wife Pepper Mill and my daughter MilliCal. she only knows them through me, of course. I think there are many times she’d much rather speak with them than with me. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/24 "2017-04-14T18:00:02Z")
I know my husbands social and his deceased twin brother cause they were one digit apart. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/25 "2017-04-14T19:50:42Z")
I remember my driver’s license number from a state I haven’t lived in for the last 15 years. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/26 "2017-04-14T20:06:50Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Wow, that’s impressive. I don’t even know my license plate number of my current car. I was gonna say. How often does the VIN come up? Unless you’ve purposely made it a point to memorize it. I know my current license plate number (and that because coincidentally it basically is Z followed by the first six digits of my phone number, with one of the digits changed) but couldn’t tell you that of any other car I owned until we go back to the 90s. Apparently, my memory was much “stickier” back then. Same deal with phone numbers. Could tell you tons of numbers from the late 80s and early 90s. Today? It took me nearly five years to memorize my wife’s number and I still have to think about it. I honestly think I only have two phone numbers memorized right now (not counting my own.) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/27 "2017-04-14T20:24:44Z")
Way back in elementary school I made an extensive report on obscure and little-used (but still used) customary units of measurement, and for some reason I still remember all of that stuff. I am not a surveyor so I have absolutely no reason to know these things. Most people know _of_ an acre, and might have a general idea of its size, but how many really know what _exactly_ an acre is? Well, I know off the top of my head an acre is 1/640th of a square mile, or 43,560 square feet, or 10 square chains, or 160 square rods, or (1 chain) x (1 furlong). One furlong is 1/8 mile, or 660 feet, or 10 chains. One chain is 66 feet, or 100 links. One rod is 25 links. One link is 33/50 ft, or 7.92 inches. One inch is 6 picas. One pica is 12 points. One point is 1/72 inch. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/28 "2017-04-14T20:44:34Z")
I remember tons of phone numbers from my childhood (born in '62), I don’t even consider that weird. One thing I remember that I do think is odd was a science test final in sophomore or junior year in high school. I studied like crazy for it; and only missed one question. I can now tell you that that question from 1978 or 1979 was the definition of radioactivity. “Radioactivity is the spontaneous combustion of the nucleus of an atom with the emission of particles and rays.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/29 "2017-04-14T20:48:26Z")
I know my California Driver’s license number. I moved to Washington at the end of 2003. Oddly, I can never remember the penultimate character of my Washington driver’s license number. I know my childhood phone number. I’m a whiz at 1960s (and some 1970s) TV theme songs. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/30 "2017-04-14T23:10:08Z")
Phone number from the 1950s, check. Also our street address and mailbox number. Around 1960 or so, my Scout troop had a visit from a ham radio operator with call sign Victor-Easy-5-Easy-Queen. There are more from later on, but still quite a while ago. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/31 "2017-04-15T02:01:35Z")
My sister died 17 years ago and I know her social security number as well as I know my own. My husband and I have been married for 21 years and every time I need to fill out some form I have to look his up. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/32 "2017-04-15T02:09:52Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Wow, that’s impressive. I don’t even know my license plate number of my current car. I know the license plate numbers for every car I ever owned. If I forget, I can just look at the garage wall, but most are the same. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/33 "2017-04-15T02:24:27Z")
I know the social security number of my best friend from high school because she was in front of me in line when I got mine. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/34 "2017-04-15T03:11:37Z")
The Wright brothers first flew at KittyHawk on December 17, 1903. The reason this is stuck in my head is that exactly one year later my grandmother was born, 12/17/1904. If she;d lived three more weeks she would have reached her one hundred eighth birthday, in 2012. She did vote that year though, with the aid of a great granddaughter. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/35 "2017-04-15T07:13:39Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > In 1973, I went thru Basic Electricity and Electronics training as a n00b avionics technician in the Navy. We were given dirty and clean versions of mnemonics to for color codes on resistors and characteristics of transistors. I remember both the dirty and clean versions, but for the life of me, I can’t tell you what they actually mean. Black - 0 Brown - 1 Red - 2 Orange - 3 Yellow - 4 Green - 5 Blue - 6 Violet - 7 Grey - 8 White - 9 Gold - 5% Silver - 10% None - 20% Okay, you’ve got 44 years to forget them again. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/36 "2017-04-15T07:27:57Z")
I know the SSN’s of four of my brothers and my oldest sister. Dad came home from work one day about 48 years ago and passed out our new cards to the six oldest of his kids. Yes, they were sequential. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/37 "2017-04-15T19:51:43Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > My current wife’s birthday is only two days apart from my ex-wife’s. That gave me cold sweat for years until I finally figured a way I could be absolutely sure of which was which. My wedding anniversary with my current wife is only 4 days before my anniversary with my first wife. I’ve never confused the two but have come close a few times. One thinks VERY hard when speaking of anniversaries !!! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/38 "2017-04-15T23:07:24Z")
Probably not uncommon: My home telephone number, from my 1960s hometown, the one you memorized as a little kid in case you got lost: 518-78x-1447. I’ve been lost ever since, and can’t find my way back home. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/39 "2017-04-15T23:35:53Z")
I remember the number on my first driver’s license: 181232. Probably because I had to give it to the cops so often. I also know that Maynard G. Krebs’ middle name is Walter. What I had for breakfast today? Not so much. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425/40 "2017-04-16T03:06:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I remember the number on my first driver’s license: 181232. Probably because I had to give it to the cops so often. Had a friend who had lived under a bridge in San Diego. He said the cops knew his SS number better than he did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-my-wifes-ex-bfs-birthday-so-what-unusual-info-do-you-know/784425.md?page=3)