# Tell me something I don't know **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 6, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084 "2009-07-06T15:10:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/61 "2009-07-08T15:45:04Z")
John O’Groats is not really the most northerly point in mainland Britain. Hong Kong means “fragrant harbor”. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/62 "2009-07-08T15:51:43Z")
Every packet of crips (potato chips) in the UK has an expiry date that falls on a Saturday. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/63 "2009-07-08T16:33:28Z")
Kaiser Wilhelm was a huge fan of the American West and when Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show performed for Queen Victoria he was there and insisted on being the one who held the cigarette in his mouth while [Annie Oakley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Oakley) shot it. During WWI Annie sent a letter to him asking for another try. [Gerald Ford](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford) passed up on signing with the Packers and the Lions to coach at Yale. One of Cambodia’s major rivers, The Tonle Sap, changes direction twice a year. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/64 "2009-07-08T19:31:17Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Shakespeare and Cervantes both died on April 23, 1616. But they actually died 10 days apart! Spain had adopted the Gregorian calendar and skipped 10 days, but England had not. So April 23 in Spain was 10 days before April 23 in England. On a similar note, the soon-to-be William III landed in England on November 5, 1688, having left the Netherlands on November 11, 1688. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/65 "2009-07-08T20:03:00Z")
(Learned this at the La Brea Tar Pits in LA): there is no such thing as a sabertooth tiger. There are sabertooth cats but they are completely unrelated to the tiger family (? genus? Something like that). J. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/66 "2009-07-08T20:06:20Z")
Did you know that there is a difference between flotsam and jetsam? When a ship is in distress, the crew may throw things overboard, trying to stabilize it. This is jetsam. Flotsam is what happens when those measures are unsuccessful and the boat sinks anyway. (Just learned that recently.) J. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/67 "2009-07-08T20:18:41Z")
John F. Kennedy, C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley all died on the same day, Nov. 22, 1963. El Salvador and Honduras fought a six-day “Football War” in 1969, partly because of tensions flaring over a series of soccer games between their teams. George Washington had a dog named Sweetlips. His false teeth were not made of wood. A giraffe’s tongue is long enough to lick its own ears. You might want to visit this quaint Austrian village, but please don’t steal the sign: [Fugging - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucking,_Austria) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/68 "2009-07-08T20:26:03Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > You might want to visit this quaint Austrian village, but please don’t steal the sign: [Fugging - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucking,_Austria) I went to school with a guy named Focko. I wonder if his ancestors are from around there? ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/69 "2009-07-08T21:03:12Z")
> [@Wallenstein](#): > > Every packet of crips (potato chips) in the UK has an expiry date that falls on a Saturday. I didn’t know they were packaging Crips now. When will the Pack O’ Bloods be available? ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/70 "2009-07-08T21:08:26Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > Did you know that there is a difference between flotsam and jetsam? > > When a ship is in distress, the crew may throw things overboard, trying to stabilize it. This is jetsam. > > Flotsam is what happens when those measures are unsuccessful and the boat sinks anyway. > > (Just learned that recently.) > J. Indeed - etymologically, jetsam is related to “jettison” and flotsam to “float”, so it’s easy to remember which is which. Everyone’s heard of plankton, but few know it’s just one of three categories into which all sea animals are divided. \*\*Plankton \*\*float in the sea but cannot control their movements - they just go wherever the currents take them. \*\*Nekton \*\*swim in the sea under their own power - fish and whales are nekton. And then there’s **benthos** , which refers to creatures which are fixed to the sea bed or to some other object. Sea anemones, barnacles etc. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/71 "2009-07-09T01:29:14Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > Did you know that there is a difference between flotsam and jetsam? > > When a ship is in distress, the crew may throw things overboard, trying to stabilize it. This is jetsam. > > Flotsam is what happens when those measures are unsuccessful and the boat sinks anyway. > > (Just learned that recently.) > J. The disctintion arises from marine law term and rights of salvage. Since jetsam is cast away by the crew, the owner forfeits ownership of it, so it’s up for pickins by anyone; floatsam remains the property of the owner. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/72 "2009-07-09T01:34:45Z")
Want to remember the difference between port and starboard? “Left” and “port” both have four letters. Port is left as you face the bow (front) of the ship. The underwater scenes in _The Abyss_ were filmed in an abandoned nuclear power plant. Samuel F.B. Morse, who invented Morse Code, was also an accomplished painter. President James Garfield was ambidextrous, and could write Latin and Greek simultaneously with different hands. The state flag of Alaska was designed by a schoolboy who won a statewide contest. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/73 "2009-07-09T01:40:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > A giraffe’s tongue is long enough to lick its own ears. So close, but yet so far. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/74 "2009-07-09T01:40:48Z")
One thing that sure came as a surprse to me was that Steve Martin is accomplished banjo player. Had no idea unitl I heard him on Prairie Home Companion ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/75 "2009-07-09T02:09:06Z")
The most common last name in Canada is “Li.” ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/76 "2009-07-09T02:38:42Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > Reno, NV is further west than Los Angeles, CA. > [@Hampshire](#): > > And Pittsburgh is further east than Miami. I don’t mean to be a party pooper, but these kinds of “trivia” are only surprising if you don’t know the basic geography of the places involved. My contribution: The Berm of Western Sahara (also known as the Moroccan Wall) is an approximately 2,700 km-long defensive structure, mostly a sand wall (or “berm”), running through Western Sahara and the southeastern portion of Morocco. It acts as a separation barrier between the Moroccan-controlled areas and the Polisario-controlled section of the territory that lies along its eastern and southern border. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Wall_(Western_Sahara)) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/77 "2009-07-09T16:47:12Z")
One of my favorites: At any given moment, any given hummingbird is a matter of hours away from starving to death. [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird)- yeah, it’s Wiki, but the fact is itself cited in the article (#10 in the sources). (Before you ask: they make it through the night by slowing their metabolism, almost like a mini-hibernation. In fact, that’s how bats make it through the day - they’re also always hovering on the brink of starvation.) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/78 "2009-07-09T16:49:20Z")
I am hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/79 "2009-07-09T17:02:33Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I am hungry. I did not know that. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084/80 "2009-07-09T17:16:04Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I did not know that. And I did not know that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/502084.md?page=5)