# SDMB Believe It Or...(Weird Facts You've Learned Recently) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 21, 2014, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849 "2014-02-21T06:29:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LarkingPot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@LarkingPot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LarkingPot)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/41 "2014-02-28T08:23:11Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > True, apparently to the point that he invested in the company that makes Lionel trains, IIRC. > > A couple of others who apparently got into the hobby in a big way: Roger Daltrey and Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. Actually, Young bought the company. Not learned recently, actually more nearly 30 years ago, Bob Dylan signed over the copyrights to several of his songs to Allen Ginsburg so the royalties could be used to keep the beat poet out of poverty. Can’t recall off hand specifically which songs were signed over. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/42 "2014-02-28T11:22:41Z")
> [@LarkingPot](#): > > Actually, Young bought the company. Sort of. Neil Young was a minority partner in the company that bought Lionel in the 90’s. Again, I submit: Neil Young and David Letterman talk about Lionel Trains: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7v6CMefA5i8/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AG-AoAC8AGKAgwIABABGBwgKCh_MA8=&rs=AOn4CLBUl3NDdIfTFmwdyPuJfgmF-S7psw "Neil Young and David Letterman Talk Lionel Trains") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v6CMefA5i8) ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/43 "2014-02-28T11:33:29Z")
One of the Marx brothers (Zeppo) was an engineer and inventor. He designed clamps that held bombs until released. These were used in WWII and one version held the bomb in the Enola Gay. They’re still in use; a version is on the Cassini spacecraft. He also invented the first wearable heart monitor (I think it was the first). [Link](http://www.marx-brothers.org/biography/zeppo/inventions.htm) Paul Winchell, an actor and vaudeville-ish ventriloquist, invented and patented the first artificial heart. Some say he also “invented” the gossip column. [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Winchell) ---
**Author:** ![ashtayk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@ashtayk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashtayk)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/44 "2014-02-28T16:27:59Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Properly written in English, many Hindi words end in -a. Properly pronounced, almost none of these words end in -a. For example, the jolly elephant headed god’s name is written Ganesha and pronounced “Ganesh”. Oh but it is! But with the short “a” sound. The problem is not so much with writing it in English but actually in Hindi itself. The words are actually from Sanskrit where every consonant ends with a short “a” that sounds like an abbreviated “uh”. There is a special sign in Sanskrit that when added to the consonant indicates that the word should not have the “uh” ending. In Hindi however, this sign is missing and hence all the confusion. A linguistics scholar may be able to explain it better. So, actually English does a better job with the spelling than Hindi does! ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/45 "2014-02-28T18:27:08Z")
This one surprised me: at the time of its founding, Harvard did not teach calculus or Newtonian laws of motion or gravitation, and did not do so for quite some time. The reason: Harvard was founded in 1636, before Newton or Leibniz was born. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/46 "2014-02-28T18:40:43Z")
Prav-I saw that same story too! The idea that someone born during the Washington administration having living grandchildren breaks my brain. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/47 "2014-02-28T18:49:28Z")
Yeah, the whole article was pretty neat. I’ll try to find the link. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/48 "2014-02-28T18:55:02Z")
Octopi (octopusses) are remarkably intelligent. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/49 "2014-02-28T19:46:17Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Octopi (octopusses) are remarkably intelligent. Octopuses. Or octopods, if you want to get all Greek about it (since \*octo \*and \*pous \*are both Greek). I learned that a few years ago, and was surprised. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/50 "2014-02-28T19:54:42Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Yeah, the whole article was pretty neat. I’ll try to find the link. [**This story**](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/26/historical-facts-time_n_4832325.html) in the Huff ‘n’ Puff has it. Among those mentioned is Betty White, who’s older than sliced bread. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/51 "2014-02-28T21:17:21Z")
President Lyndon Johnson had an amphibious car and used it to scare people by [driving them into a lake screaming about brake failure](http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/19711/did-lyndon-johnson-have-an-amphibious-car) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/52 "2014-02-28T21:45:33Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Paul Winchell, an actor and vaudeville-ish ventriloquist, invented and patented the first artificial heart. Some say he also “invented” the gossip column. Some say? Who says? I think you are confusing him with Walter Winchell (no relation). ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/53 "2014-03-01T00:53:06Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > President Lyndon Johnson had an amphibious car and used it to scare people by [driving them into a lake screaming about brake failure](http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/19711/did-lyndon-johnson-have-an-amphibious-car) Dude was all manner of crazy. He was a tall fella, at 6’4" and liked to loom and get into people’s personal space to intimidate them. Part of what he called “the Johnson Treatment.” He also apparently had somewhat large wang and liked to whip it out at people, men and women, not for sexual harassment but again, for intimidation. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/54 "2014-03-01T01:05:00Z")
He sounds like me ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/55 "2014-03-05T04:40:04Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > “Kobold” _is_ the root word. It is German for “goblin”, and I believe it got associated with cobalt because goblins were thought to live underground, in the mines where cobalt was found. Interesting! So cobalt is actually named after goblins? This might only apply to brick and concrete houses, but I just realised that if you don’t see cables running to switches and lights on walls and ceilings, the wall/ceiling’s probably hollow/fake. Which is a pity because I dislike both visible cables and hollow walls. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2014, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849/56 "2014-03-05T04:44:26Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Interesting! So cobalt is actually named after goblins? I’ve read the cobalt got its name as miners thought it was nickel bewitched by goblins. However, the book I read this in does not have a high accuracy rating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-believe-it-or-weird-facts-youve-learned-recently/681849.md?page=2)