# Little known facts. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 21, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847 "2002-11-21T01:49:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/81 "2002-11-22T21:48:02Z")
Muadib’s post reminded me- Arrakis, Dune’s official name, is an actual star. The name is Arabic and means dancer. Herbert says that Muadib is the name of a kind of kangaroo mouse that lives on Dune. Actually, Frank Herbert took the word from a Sunni dialect. It is the word for a merchant who sells camel dung. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/82 "2002-11-22T21:55:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Pythagras \* > \*\*You do not exist. You are all super advanced Active-Buddys™ with the ability to post on message boards. This message board is one huge turing machine. I have been duped. \*\* Actually an exaggeration. The \ Chicago Reader \, in order to justify ad rates, has experimental AI chat bots automatically activated if there are less than 100 users at any time. These bots can be detected by huge post counts, most notably the Heuristically Augmented Neurally Distributed Yapper, or “HANDY” ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/83 "2002-11-22T21:57:49Z")
This board converts good vB into HTML at random intervals.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/84 "2002-11-22T22:16:56Z")
_Originally posted by Photopat_ > [@](#): > > dougie, > At least some of those facts are real. What’s going on here? _All_ those facts are real! 🙂 Refer to the book _Family Words,_ for a description of a family expression “The alligator blinks”–alluding to something that seems unbelievable but actually is true. 🙂 Dougie\_monty ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/85 "2002-11-22T22:23:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BlackKnight \* > \*\*In an ironic twist, it turns out that Al Gore was actually invented by the Internet. Hence the name Al Gore, short for Algorithm. \*\* And that’s the only time Al Gore and rhythm have been used successfully in the same sentence 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/86 "2002-11-22T22:38:38Z")
The next reply is untrue. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/87 "2002-11-22T22:39:44Z")
The last reply was true. ---
**Author:** ![Bomzaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/88 "2002-11-22T22:47:58Z")
In March 1983, Bernice McHutcheon, the woman who tells you what time it is when you call POP-CORN, lost her voice and all time stopped for 20 minutes while someone went to the store to get her some cherry flavored Sucrets. The film **Ghostbusters** is based on a true story. However, to avoid any legal action, they used the fictional Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, when in reality, it was Poppin-fresh. A whales penis is F shaped. In the late 60’s, the Soviet government bred 12 girls to be born with three breasts. One of them can be seen in the movie **Total Recall** , the rest of them co-own a strip club in Tab, Hungary. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/89 "2002-11-22T23:21:14Z")
Celebrity Last Requests- Tim Curry has kept many of the costumes from his films. He’s stated that he wants to be buried in the Lord Of Darkness suit and make up, with Frankenfurter’s lingerie over it. Ron Jeremy had a clear, hollow dildo cast from his penis. He plans to be cremated and have his ashes compacted. After these are put into the dildo it will be sealed shut. This will be featured in a final film called Hedgehog Heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/90 "2002-11-23T00:02:13Z")
The l33t word J00, popularized by _Megatokyo_, actually means Jew. It is a derogatory term, often applied to someone unscrupulous and untrustworthy. Piro is a well known anti-Semite who will often devote much of his rants (found below the comic) to talk of world Zionism, supporting the Palestinian cause, and examining the, as he calls it, “so called” Holocaust. This has caused the loss of many readers, but the overall quality of the strip, and the fact that it contains no overt anti-Semitic themes (however the subtext is clearly there), has managed to keep most critics still and most readers coming back. The only major problem caused by Piros views has been the recent departure of Largo from the strip. He has grown increasingly frustrated and angry with Piro’s constant rants about the Elders of Zion, The World Bank, the entertainment industry, and his insistence on featuring more hidden allegories about the world Jewish conspiracy. Plus, Largo felt that they should focus more on the blacks. ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/91 "2002-11-23T06:04:42Z")
On August 12, 1996, NOAA sent out a little-noticed press release announcing that it has been conclusively proven that it really _is_ the heat, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/92 "2002-11-23T06:12:04Z")
Although little known because the document was burned shortly after being written, Jefferson Davis also seceded from Great Britain. A misinterpreted sneeze by Bismarck had 500 German prostitutes sent to Norway. Adolf Hitler was born with three legs. The third leg was amputated, and according to legend, used as kindling. FDR’s real first name was Francis. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/93 "2002-11-23T10:41:15Z")
Time actually moves from the future into the past. God is just dyslexic. * * * Porky’s was the #1 movie in America for 8 straight weeks. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/94 "2002-11-23T21:44:03Z")
Now for Sports Highlights: Randy Johnson is actually the illegitimate grandson of Bobo Newsom. When George Steinbrenner had Yankee Stadium rebuilt in the early 1970s, he simply called one great big order of Ready-Mix concrete to Home Depot, and carried it to the Stadium himself in his pickup. Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch, of the L. A. Rams, was so called because he had five legs, including one his girlfriends liked. 😃 :eek: The late Chick Hearn would give away a popcorn machine after every Lakers game. 43-Man Squamish is being considered as an Olympic event. All heavyweight boxing records are owned by Bart and Marge Simpson. Forties hockey star Maurice “Rocket” Richard had three eyes. Three members of the U. S. women’s swimming team in the 2000 Olympics got permission from the IOC to compete naked. Lacrosse is played with snowshoes. Tennis is played with snowshoes. Curling is played with round, red, gasoline cans. Before every bullfight, the matador tells the bull “You must take a dive.” Polo is always played with croquet mallets. Croquet balls are made from unused chicken croquettes. For the last 50 years the World Wrestling Foundation has conducted a crusade against coed wrestling in high school. Bobby Knight is the kindest, sweetest man on earth. Dubya moonlights as a Mexican soccer star. A. J. Foyt once cornered the market on the specially-bred hamsters which run in cages to power the cars at the Indy 500. Tiger Woods got his name because he always slices his ball into wooded areas. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/95 "2002-11-23T22:13:30Z")
Cows went extint in the great bovine shortage of 1902. Steak is, in fact, people. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/96 "2002-12-01T23:10:06Z")
In case of a major emergency, both Mount Rushmore and the United Nations Headquarters can be retracted into the earth. The Turducken, popularlized by John Madden, is actually a real animal which was invented by scientists specializing in genetic mutations. L. Ron Hubbard once unsuccessfully attempted to name himself an independent nation. He attempted to join the United Nations, but they showed their disgust by retracting themselves into the earth. Coincidentially, the same thing happened when he tried to carve his face into Mount Rushmore. Speaking of Mount Rushmore, all of the other presidents’ stone heads actually live inside the mountain. All of them, including the four you often see, can come to life in signs of extremely bad emergencies, making them the 39th most powerful force of the United States Military, between the Army of Guam and the Drunken Hobo Reserve. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/97 "2003-03-13T02:36:23Z")
_City Slickers_ was originally conceived as a sequel to _When Harry met Sally_, but very little of the original story outline actually made it into production. The character of Rogue in Marvel’s X-Men comics is really named Marie D’Ancanto. An “classic” Ford Thunderbird can run using cooking oil for fuel…but only in reverse. The accident at Three Mile Island was caused, at least partially, by rats gnawing through copper tubing used in an auxilury cooling system. By military tradition, at least one aircraft in every Fighter squadron must be painted with a “sharkmouth,” or else bad luck will follow. ---
**Author:** ![RobbieFal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c5a1d2/32.png) [@RobbieFal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobbieFal)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/98 "2003-05-11T07:24:24Z")
Amos Otis, Pete Rose, Neifi Perez and Rick Camp all corked their bats. Camp, who hit .074 lifetime, was never able to properly swing his corked bat. Tommy Lasorda corked his jockstrap in the 80s Pete Rose Jr was just Pete Rose in disguise. Junior’s career only had 14 at-bats due to this. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/99 "2003-05-11T15:03:49Z")
It is common knowledge that Nelson Rockefeller died having sex with his mistress. What isn’t that well know is that, by federal law, ALL Rockefellers died in the same manner. We actually became independent on July 5th, because Thomas Jefferson spent too long at a local tavern, and had to wait until the next morning to make the announcement. Richard Sharpe was real, and served as Lord Privy Seal in the Wellington government. In 1916, the Romanovs switched places with the British royal family. Therefore, “George V” for most of his reign was really Czar Nicholas II, “Edward VIII” really the Grand Duchess Olga (her interest in a lesbian relationship was what got her removed as “King”), and “George VI” Crown Prince Alexis (which explains why he died so (relatively) young). The “celebrities” on 1970’s game shows who seemed to do nothing except game shows were actually the entire membership of the National Security Council (and, for that matter, still are). Bill Watterson has been working on the development of a portal between here and Middle Earth since “Calvin and Hobbes” was last published in 1995. It’s almost finished, too. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847/100 "2003-05-11T15:29:58Z")
Due to a superstition dated back to the early Romans, the number 35 did not always exist. Mathematics was an inexact science at best. But in 1244, an unnamed monk proved that this number should exist and it was created by Papal fiat four years later. Ever since then, all mathematical operations have worked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-known-facts/137847.md?page=6)