# 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:** 171
**Author:** ![Sooner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sooner/32/7875_2.png) [@Sooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sooner)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3408 "2022-01-14T19:47:31Z")
Gravity on the International Space Station is 89% of that on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3409 "2022-01-14T20:56:58Z")
It was used over a montage in the TV version of Fargo. IIRC season 3 when some very bad men were doing some very bad things. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3410 "2022-01-14T21:12:52Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I just stumbled across this on the Huffington Post: > > > [@](#): > > > > # Please Stop Putting Apple Cider Vinegar On Your Penis > > > > Porn site ads say it will help grow your willy. Here’s what the experts have to say. I’ve started seeing a non-porn ad recently that reminded me of this. It’s an image of someone pouring a bottle of Heinz ketchup into their gas tank, accompanied by text along the lines of “New fuel saving trick takes US”. Now, I haven’t done any research whatsoever, but I am 99.9% sure you shouldn’t put ketchup in your gas tank, and that doing so won’t help you save gas. I did not click the ad, but I suspect the idea with both the penis/vinegar ad and the ketchup/gas tank ad is to get the viewer’s attention with a completely bizarre image, and hopefully get them to click it just out of sheer curiosity if nothing else, and once at their site pitch them something completely unrelated to what’s shown in the image. And now I wonder if we’ll soon be seeing articles telling people to please stop putting ketchup in their gas tanks. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3411 "2022-01-14T21:29:04Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > I only found out recently that Bobbie Gentry and Pat Benatar are women ! > (I guess the Bobbie spelling should have been a clue - maybe i never saw > it written down before.) For a long time I thought Billie Holiday was a man. I was confused by the old Simpsons episode where Bleeding Gums Murphy died, and speaks to Lisa from heaven. At the end he tells her he has to go because he has a date with Billie Holiday. I wasn’t sure if Bleeding Gums was supposed to be gay, or if he just meant like a “man date”. That Billie Holiday was a woman never occurred to me, because I’d never heard of a woman named “Billy” – I’d probably never seen it written down before either, and I probably wasn’t really familiar with her music back then either. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3412 "2022-01-14T21:31:42Z")
Which reminds me that, in at least _some_ kidney transplants, the new kidney is grafted into the pelvis. The kidneys are so difficult to get to that doctors tend to leave the old one in place unless removal is absolutely necessary. You can see a diagram of it in [the wiki article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_transplantation?wprov=sfti1). ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3413 "2022-01-14T22:01:59Z")
Shut yarmouth!! ---
**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:** [January 14, 2022, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3414 "2022-01-14T22:09:47Z")
On the subject of meaningless lyrics, David Bowie did something slightly similar with The Bewlay Brothers (Hunky Dory). > Bowie himself is said to have told producer Ken Scott that it was a track for the American market, because “the Americans always like to read things into things”, even though the lyrics “make absolutely no sense”. [Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bewlay_Brothers#Background) Actually, I’ve always liked that song. j ---
**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:** [January 14, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3415 "2022-01-14T22:22:51Z")
Sounds like _I Am the Walrus_. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2022, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3416 "2022-01-15T00:35:04Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Adding to the list of bizarre surgical procedures, there’s rotationplasty. It looks like a cartoon joke but it’s for real. If a cancerous knee joint has to be removed, the surgeons preserve the lower leg and graft it to the stump of the upper leg backward, so the foot and ankle joint can serve as a substitute knee. Interesting! Here’s another. [https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/24/health/severed-hand/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/24/health/severed-hand/index.html) And here’s one keeping a dog’s head alive by machine for a few hours in the USSR…freaky if it’s legit: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KhzEMJHQt2I/maxresdefault.jpg "In 1940s, Russian scientists kept a dog’s head alive for a few hours. (Graphic)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhzEMJHQt2I) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3417 "2022-01-15T00:42:04Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > For a long time I thought Billie Holiday was a man. I was confused by the old Simpsons episode where Bleeding Gums Murphy died, and speaks to Lisa from heaven. At the end he tells her he has to go because he has a date with Billie Holiday. I wasn’t sure if Bleeding Gums was supposed to be gay, or if he just meant like a “man date”. That Billie Holiday was a woman never occurred to me, because I’d never heard of a woman named “Billy” – I’d probably never seen it written down before either, and I probably wasn’t really familiar with her music back then either. Actually, Billy Holiday’s real name was Eleanora Fagan. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3418 "2022-01-15T03:04:29Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I’d never heard of a woman named “Billy” More recently, there’s Billie Myers. > **[Billie Myers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Myers)** > > Billie Myers (born 14 June 1971) is a British rock singer and songwriter from Coventry, England. She is known principally for her 1997 transatlantic hit "Kiss the Rain". > Myers was given a Brit Award nomination in 1999 for Best British Female Solo Artist alongside another Billie, Billie Piper (then known only by her first name), but neither won. > She has spoken about her bisexuality and the difficulties "not being gay enough" has caused her in the past. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2022, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3419 "2022-01-15T04:12:47Z")
Exactly one US servicewoman became a p.o.w. to the Germans in WW2: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XcmLdBgGmDs/maxresdefault.jpg "The Forgotten American POW - The Only US Servicewoman Captured by the Germans") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcmLdBgGmDs) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3420 "2022-01-15T04:20:19Z")
Billie Jean King ---
**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:** [January 15, 2022, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3421 "2022-01-15T10:27:28Z")
For all the Dr Who enthusiasts, Billie Piper. Who, [Wiki says](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Piper), was born Leian Paul Piper, which is a strange sidetrack - I’d never heard of a woman named Paul. j ---
**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:** [January 15, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3422 "2022-01-15T15:37:40Z")
How about Billie Hayes, the woman who played [Witchiepoo](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Hayes) on H R Pufnstuf? ---
**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:** [January 15, 2022, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3423 "2022-01-15T16:16:16Z")
Or Billie Jo Bradley, a character on _Petticoat Junction_? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3424 "2022-01-15T16:23:21Z")
Or Billie Burke, aka Glinda The Good Witch? ---
**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:** [January 15, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3425 "2022-01-15T16:37:15Z")
Most male names have female counterparts. Robert, Roberta…Bobby, Bobbie. For William, I guess Wilma or Wilhelmina would be most common. Or you could do like Will Smith and name your daughter Willow. Or Willa if you liked author Willa Cather. Looking it up in [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie), it seems at least a couple of these were born “Lillian,” and a lot of Lillians go by Lily, which isn’t too far from “Billie.” Rob/Bob, Will/Bill, Rick/Dick, Lily/Billie? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3426 "2022-01-15T16:40:03Z")
I’ve always thought it would be cool to name a daughter Lizard. She’d go by Liz, of course. But when anyone asked if that was short for Elizabeth, she could say, “no, Lizard”. ---
**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:** [January 15, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3427 "2022-01-15T16:42:51Z")
Now that I think about it I work with a Belinda. That’s what I always call her but I notice on social media she goes by Billie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=170) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=172)