# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674 "2020-04-13T03:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 150
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2988 "2021-10-28T14:10:21Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Pray tell what river Phoenix, AZ (the largest capital by population and only US capital with more than 1,000,000 people) sits on? Phonix: 1.62 million Boston: 4.3 million ---
**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:** [October 28, 2021, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2989 "2021-10-28T14:12:32Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I seem to recall that there was also a comic adaptation of the 1960s television version of Tarzan which starred Ron Ely, where the boy sidekick was Jai. Gold Key comics ran a few issues of “Tarzan TV Adventures” between the Burroughs novels adaptations they were doing in the 1960s, because they had the rights to the TV character, too. No point in turning down free publicity\*. So ever couple of issues they broke continuity and we had the Ron Ely Tarzan with Jai, then it was right back to canonical Burroughs with the next issue. - this was exemplified with the Gold Key comic **Space Family Robinson** , which predates and has nothing to do with the Irwin Allen TV series **Lost in Space** (even though both feature a family of father, mother, and multiple kids in their own large space ship going from planet to planet and encountering aliens. No robot or saboteur Dr. Smith in the comic, though). They considered suing, but Irwin Allen productions and CBS had deeper pockets, so they settled for putting “Lost in Space” over the comic book title and contented themselves with the added readers pulled in thinking they were reading a comic book based on the TV series. And ignoring all the confused readers looking for Robot and Dr. Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2990 "2021-10-28T16:41:38Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Or Los Angeles, for that matter. Of course the L.A. River is navigable. There are cars driving in it all the time.\* \* Well, in the movies, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2991 "2021-10-28T16:42:34Z")
Greased Lightning! ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2992 "2021-10-28T17:28:13Z")
Navigable by what? Paper boats? (Be careful, Georgie.) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2993 "2021-10-28T18:55:40Z")
San Antonio? (Unless you count tourist trips along a short stretch of artificial river.) j ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2994 "2021-10-28T18:57:31Z")
In _The Horologicon_ I read of the difference between supper and dinner. Dinner is the main meal of the day, whenever it’s taken. Supper is the last meal of the day. So dinner could be supper, but it doesn’t have to be. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2995 "2021-10-28T20:56:23Z")
Today I found out that the first British cyclist to win a Tour de France was not Bradley Wiggins in 2012. > Millie Robinson won the first women’s Tour de France, in 1955. A few years later she set a new hour record. For a brief period, Robinson was the rider to beat, both at home and abroad. > > The Tour Féminin Cycliste was created by Jean Leulliot, who ran Paris-Nice amongst other races. It was actually more of a Tour of Normandy and was five stages long. A few months previously, another French race organiser, Marcel Léotot, created what, as far as I can tell, was the first women’s stage race – the Circuit Lyonnais-Auvergne, which ran to three stages. Robinson took all three stages and the overall of that race, too. [Source](https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/international-womens-day-7-remarkable-women-who-made-their-mark-on-cyclings-history/) I actually stumbled across this reading [an article in Sudouest](https://www.sudouest.fr/sport/cyclisme/tour-de-france-2022-la-difficile-histoire-de-l-epreuve-feminine-de-retour-apres-12-ans-d-absence-6563552.php), a regional French newspaper. I mention this because Millie, from the Isle of Man, has been so completely forgotten that googling her produced just a handful of hits, and only really one that I could use as a cite in English for her achievement. The whole story has an exasperating familiarity to it (with all due respect to Brad). _Celebrate what our man just did!_ Yay Bradley Yay! And nobody remembers that a pioneering woman did it more than half a century earlier. j ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2996 "2021-10-28T22:14:08Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Phonix: 1.62 million > Boston: 4.3 million Maybe the metropolitan area. But Boston’s population is [695,506](https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/boston-ma-population). ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2997 "2021-10-28T22:50:30Z")
Guys, I’ve been to Indianapolis and you know… we should just let them have this one, ok? ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2998 "2021-10-28T23:01:02Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Maybe the metropolitan area. But Boston’s population is [695,506](https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/boston-ma-population). The origin of the Indianapolis city size was true when originally stated. Partially because it didn’t have a navigable _waterway_, not river. Seafronts and harbors count as navigable waterway, thus removing such cities as Boston and LA from eligibility. Also, when this statement was originally made, Phoenix was not considered a wonderful place to live. In my mind, it still isn’t but it sure became popular in recent decades. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2999 "2021-10-28T23:11:36Z")
I found out today that King George V’s death in 1936 was hastened by his physician. King George was the grandfather of the current Queen. > By 20 January, he was close to death. His physicians, led by Lord Dawson of Penn, issued a bulletin with the words “The King’s life is moving peacefully towards its close.” Dawson’s private diary, unearthed after his death and made public in 1986, reveals that the King’s last words, a mumbled “God damn you!”, were addressed to his nurse, Catherine Black, when she gave him a sedative that night. Dawson, who supported the “gentle growth of euthanasia”, admitted in the diary that he hastened the King’s death by injecting him, after 11.00 p.m., with two consecutive lethal injections: 3/4 of a grain of morphine followed shortly afterwards by a grain of cocaine. > Dawson wrote that he acted to preserve the King’s dignity, to prevent further strain on the family, and so that the King’s death at 11:55 p.m. could be announced in the morning edition of The Times newspaper rather than “less appropriate evening journals”. Neither Queen Mary, who was intensely religious and might not have sanctioned euthanasia, nor the Prince of Wales was consulted. The royal family did not want the King to endure pain and suffering and did not want his life prolonged artificially but neither did they approve Dawson’s actions. British Pathé announced the King’s death the following day, in which he was described as “more than a King, a father of a great family”. Dawson’s diary entry: > “At about 11 o’clock it was evident that the last stage might endure for many hours, unknown to the patient but little comporting with the dignity and serenity which he so richly merited and which demanded a brief final scene. Hours of waiting just for the mechanical end when all that is really life has departed only exhausts the onlookers and keeps them so strained that they cannot avail themselves of the solace of thought, communion or prayer. I therefore decided to determine the end and injected (myself) morphia gr. 3/4 and shortly afterwards cocaine gr. 1 into the distended jugular vein” ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3000 "2021-10-29T01:09:56Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Phonix: 1.62 million > Boston: 4.3 million As per wikipedia officially the **City of Boston** , is the [capital](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_city) and [most populous](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_Massachusetts) city of the [Commonwealth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_(U.S._state)) of [Massachusetts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts) in the [United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) and 24th-[most populous city in the country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population).[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston#cite_note-PopEstCities-7) The city proper covers 48.4 square miles (125 km2)[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston#cite_note-8) with a population of 675,647 in 2020, ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3001 "2021-10-29T01:19:35Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > Dawson’s private diary, unearthed after his death and made public in 1986, reveals that the King’s last words, a mumbled “God damn you!”, were addressed to his nurse, Catherine Black, when she gave him a sedative that night. Although debunked by the Dr.’s diary, but too good to be lost to history was the story that George V was told he would soon be well enough to recuperate at the seaside at Bognor. “Bugger Bognor!” was his dying oath. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3002 "2021-10-29T13:15:41Z")
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were a popular acting couple once upon a time. At the time of Roy’s death, they had been married 50 years. Less well known is that Dale was Roy’s third wife, and that Roy was Dale’s fourth husband. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3003 "2021-10-29T14:51:56Z")
And stories that he had her stuffed have been debunked. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3004 "2021-10-29T15:19:41Z")
The oldest age at which a woman gave birth to a child (before the modern era of fertility treatments or surrogacy) was recognized for decades as that of Ruth Alice Kistler, who gave birth at the remarkable age of 57 years, 129 days. Only. . . It was a lie to cover up a 20-year-old’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Long Beach Press-Telegram (CA) - Wednesday, December 29, 1999 I haven’t been able to find a free copy of the article, but [here’s a link to the details.](https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/obituaries/obit/0FE544538129534E-0FE544538129534E?h=1&fname=&lname=&fullname=&kwinc=%27suzan%20kistler%27&kwexc=&s_trackval=&s_siteloc=&s_referrer=&s_subterm=Subscription%2Buntil%3A%2B08/14/2012%2B1%3A23%2BPM&s_docsbal=%2B&s_subexpires=08/14/2012%2B1%3A23%2BPM&s_docstart=&s_docsleft=&s_docsread=&s_upgradeable=no&rgfromDate=%20&rgtoDate=%20&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&processingtime=&addedFrom=&addedTo=&sid=ljlddppgjjezmuggiulsuiuxeonlyzqq_wma-gateway009_1635519757046) Don’t think I can paste the whole article without running afoul of fair use. Nutshell: The ‘daughter’ had a troubled life, but later won a Pulitzer prize covering the Rodney King riots, and died of liver cancer at the age of 43. Side note: In 1972, Anna Martin of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, gave birth to a daughter at the age of 57 years, 127 days. At least that was what was reported. It was her third child. . . after the age of 52. Makes you wonder if that was legit (no pun intended, seriously), but don’t have inclination to research. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3005 "2021-10-29T15:57:12Z")
That link took me to a signup page for [genealogybank.com](http://genealogybank.com). Anyways, almost inevitably, there’s a wiki page on it. Well, kinda: > **[Pregnancy over age 50 | Cases of pregnancy over age 50](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnancy_over_age_50#Cases_of_pregnancy_over_age_50)** > > Pregnancies among older women have been a subject of controversy and debate. Some argue against motherhood late in life on the basis of the health risks involved, or out of concern that an older mother might not be able to give proper care for a child as she ages, while others contend that having a child is a fundamental right and that it is commitment to a child's wellbeing, not the parents' ages, that matters. > A survey of attitudes towards pregnancy over age 50 among Australians found that 54.... I know it’s not proof, but they list both Ruth Alice Kistler and Anna Martin as for real. Note also Mrs George Saunders, age 58, in 1818. Who knows, eh? j ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3006 "2021-10-29T16:04:22Z")
Yeah, that’s why I listed the source, in case anyone was able to find a free copy. I would have taken a screen shot of the article and uploaded it to imgur, but I can’t. The wiki falls under their guidelines (which is to say, ‘not original research, and previously published somewhere’), so that’s a battle someone else will have to make. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3007 "2021-10-29T17:21:14Z")
I’m about two blocks from it right now, waiting to see my dentist. I was in the neighborhood a few days ago and had a few minutes to spare, so I dropped in and had a too quick look around. I’ll probably go back for a tour sometime soon. Thanks for mentioning it, Cal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=149) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=151)