# 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:** 159
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3168 "2021-11-24T19:43:40Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Boswell had the opportunity to edit out this malicious piece of anti-prescience in 1785. Boswell would never have done that. He had far too much integrity to edit out something simply because it made it made him look silly in hindsight. Facts always meant more to him than his own dignity. He sometimes even went to extremes laughing at himself (as you will see in the _Tour to the Hebrides_). He was an interesting man. His diaries are excruciatingly honest, and often don’t show him in a very positive light. He was painfully aware of that, but the truth always mattered more to him. His theories about slavery and about inequality being good for society were just that – abstract intellectual theories, that bore almost no relation to how he actually lived his life. For example, he was on excellent terms with Johnson’s black ex-slave servant Francis Barber (‘more a friend than a servant’ to Johnson, as Boswell says), and had only praise for him, unlike some of Johnson’s less progressive associates. Boswell’s friends were mostly extreme left-wingers (if I can use a modern term that doesn’t really apply), and he was a strong supporter of the American Revolution, and the Corsican fight for independence. It’s also remarkable how much time and energy he sometimes spent helping poor people in trouble, even neglecting his own best interests to do so. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3169 "2021-11-24T20:33:52Z")
It’s not all that interesting, but with the news of late I’ve learned that the town is not pronounced Wah-KEE-shuh, but more like WOK-a-shaw. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3170 "2021-11-24T20:41:34Z")
BTW, was there an insurance company commercial that ended with an explanation of how to pronounce Waukesha? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3171 "2021-11-24T20:50:53Z")
It was Wausau. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3172 "2021-11-24T20:57:31Z")
Thank you. That was bothering me. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3173 "2021-11-25T10:38:34Z")
Harriett Tubman was born during Thomas Jefferson’s lifetime, and died during Ronald Reagan’s. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3174 "2021-11-25T14:30:20Z")
Actor Giancarlo Esposito and wrestler Big John Studd were friends on the set of Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3175 "2021-11-25T15:42:41Z")
Thinking of Superdude’s last post: My wife and I met Mother Divine shortly before she died in 2017. According to the best biography of her husband, Mother Divine’s mother in law and father in law were already adults when freed from slavery at the end of the Civil War. (However, this is contrary to beliefs of the International Peace Mission Movement religion.) ---
**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:** [November 25, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3176 "2021-11-25T15:44:26Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Harriett Tubman was born during Thomas Jefferson’s lifetime, and died during Ronald Reagan’s. She died less than a week after Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3177 "2021-11-25T17:40:44Z")
Too bad she had to see that. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3178 "2021-11-25T20:19:59Z")
I watched the first part of Peter Jackson’s Beatles doc. I didn’t know the original lyrics to “Get Back” were a parody of racists telling immigrants to get back to Pakistan, Puerto Rico, etc. ---
**Author:** ![merrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@merrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrick)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3179 "2021-11-28T11:24:39Z")
On the subject of the Beatles and long lives, in the 1960s, the Beatles met the philosopher and activist Bertrand Russell. Bertrand Russell’s mother died when he was two, and he was raised by his grandparents, one of whom was the former Prime Minister Earl Russell, who had entered Parliament in 1813 and who had met Napoleon on Elba. So Paul McCartney has known someone, who knew someone, who met Napoleon. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3180 "2021-11-28T12:36:08Z")
That brings up the [Morphy number](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphy_number), which probably requires a topic of its own. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3181 "2021-11-28T16:08:17Z")
I had never heard of the Morphy number, so that was interesting. Judging from the wiki article, simultaneous exhibitions count, in which case I have a Morphy number of 5. A long time ago, when I actually played chess, I took part in a simultaneous exhibition that John Nunn did. John Nunn has a Morphy number of 4. j ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3182 "2021-11-28T22:19:33Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > That brings up the [Morphy number](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphy_number), which probably requires a topic of its own. Which also brings up the [Erdős number](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erd%C5%91s_number), which does have several topics of its own already. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3183 "2021-11-29T15:51:51Z")
And as well-known as Tubman is, there is no trace of whatever happened to her daughter Gertie. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3184 "2021-11-30T00:39:49Z")
[The ideal woman’s shape in 18 different countries](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-the-ideal-womans-body-looks-like-in-18-countries_n_55ccd2a6e4b064d5910ac3b0) [The ideal man’s shape in 19 different countries](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-the-ideal-mans-body-looks-like-in-19-countries_n_56c5d65de4b08ffac127c485) From the first article: > The company asked 18 designers from 18 countries spanning five continents to photoshop an image of a woman to fit their perception of the culture’s beauty standards. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2021, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3185 "2021-11-30T07:09:57Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > I know, from first-hand experience, that Japanese often put Tabasco sauce onto pizza. Not before baking it, rather, while it’s still in the box waiting to be eaten after delivery. I was amazed. > > I told this to my brother, who attended biz school at Tulane (in NOLA) and he said he too had heard the tale, that Tabasco had been marketed in Japan as…Pizza sauce. > > This is so outside our (USA) experience of using Tabasco sauce to be nearly incredible. Imagine putting marshmallow fluff onto a steak. Or chocolate sauce onto a caesar salad. > > The trouble is, I can’t find a web citation to corroborate. Has anyone else heard of this? There was a commercial for Tabasco sauce a few years ago. Not Japan, but pizza was involved. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB8dS9oEWls) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3186 "2021-11-30T08:56:32Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > The first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise wasn’t located in Kentucky. I believe this article tells the story nicely. It’s more convoluted than I thought: > **[Colonels of Truth](https://www.damninteresting.com/colonels-of-truth/?utm_source=DamnInteresting)** > > The tumultuous true story of the life of a fast food icon. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3187 "2021-11-30T12:49:23Z")
For the record, hot sauce is awesome on cold pizza. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=158) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=160)