# 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:** 188
**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:** [February 16, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3749 "2022-02-16T13:39:59Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > But what I’d really like to see is a moonbow. Moonbows do exist, and not only at Cumberland Falls. (Jearl D. Walker mentions them in his _Flying Circus of Physics_). But that photo that appears as a thumbnail in your post is labeled in the linked article as a photo of the Moonbow — _right!_ It seems that they have an awful bright moon out at Cumberland falls, 'cause it even turns the sky blue. In all fairness, it’s not a trivial thing to capture something as dim as a moonbow with a camera, but a rainbow is easier. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3750 "2022-02-16T14:55:26Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > People were put in jail (out of over 700 prosecuted) when the Fujitsu software the UK PO used was read to mean the postmasters stole money: > > [The innocent have paid a high price for the Post Office scandal. The guilty have not | Marina Hyde | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/15/post-office-scandal-workers-computer-system) That’s a pretty horrifying story. Not just the default belief in the infallibility of the software, but the lying of the post office to each of the accused subpostmasters (“no, we’ve had no reports of problems with this software by anyone other than you”). Seems like the wrong people went to jail. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3751 "2022-02-16T15:02:16Z")
I see the US military is testing drone supply gliders. Each one can deliver over 500KG, so making an amusement park ride out of them is not out of the question. [-=Linky=-](https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44284/unmanned-resupply-gliders-will-take-part-in-largest-special-operations-exercise) ---
**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:** [February 16, 2022, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3752 "2022-02-16T15:17:23Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > I see the US military is testing drone supply gliders. Each one can deliver over 500KG, so making an amusement park ride out of them is not out of the question. Military gliders have been in use for decades: > **[Military glider](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_glider)** > > Military gliders (an offshoot of common gliders) have been used by the militaries of various countries for carrying troops (glider infantry) and heavy equipment to a combat zone, mainly during the Second World War. These engineless aircraft were towed into the air and most of the way to their target by military transport planes, e.g., C-47 Skytrain or Dakota, or bombers relegated to secondary activities, e.g., Short Stirling. Most military gliders do not soar, although there were attempts to buil... I guess the natural evolution for cargo gliders was to take the pilot out, reducing human risk in hostile environments. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3753 "2022-02-16T15:20:44Z")
Military gliders have been way cool for decades. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3754 "2022-02-16T15:36:00Z")
Funny thing about gliders is that I can’t think of a single war film that features them NOT crashing and injuring/killing their occupants. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3755 "2022-02-16T18:44:03Z")
Sahara desert is only about 25% traditional desert with lots of sand. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3756 "2022-02-16T19:36:49Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Funny thing about gliders is that I can’t think of a single war film that features them NOT crashing and injuring/killing their occupants. My memory might be playing me false, but I thought there were gliders in **The Longest Day** (1962) that didn’t crash. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2022, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3757 "2022-02-17T04:19:28Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Funny thing about gliders is that I can’t think of a single war film that features them NOT crashing and injuring/killing their occupants Or landing way, way off target leaving their troops lost and ineffective. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3758 "2022-02-17T13:23:16Z")
I just learned that **King Kong** premiered on New York TV in March of 1955 on station WOR, They ran it every day for a solid week, several times a day, for a total of 16 showings. It outdrew the prime-time shows on the network stations, including Ed Sullivan, Groucho Marx on _You Bet Your Life_, and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen’s talks. This brought up several thoughts: 1.) I wonder if this is what persuaded Universal and Screen Gems to put together their **Shock!** package of (mostly) Universal horror films from the 1930s and 1940s for syndicated television in October 1957, and the subsequent **Son of Shock!** package in 1958. It was this flood of monster movies that caused the wave of “monster culture” in the 1960s that gave us all those Aurora Monster Model kits, the monster paint-by-number kits, posters, and other such memorabilia. The magazine _Famous Monsters of Filmland_ and its many imitators and so forth. All because King Kong blew away the competition over two decades after it had been made. 2.) I’m not surprised to learn about this 1955 broadcast (done before most of us here at the SDMB were born), although it is a little earlier than I thought. Nevertheless, I know that **Son of Kong** was broadcast before 1960 – it was the first thing I recall seeing on TV. I’ll bet they either bought the three “ape movies” **King Kong** , **Son of Kong** , and **Mighty Joe Young** as a package deal, or else bought the latter two shortly after Kong, because WOR TV (which actually broadcasts out of Secaucus, New Jersey) used to run all three a LOT. In fact, they often ran them more than once in succession, much as many cable stations now do with big releases that they recently acquired. So I can believe them running Kong back to back that week in 1955. I recall seeing all three movies on WOR – they ran them on “Million Dollar Movie” (which opened to the theme from _Gone with the Wind_, although I wouldn’t know that for years). Later on, starting sometime in the 1970s, WOR would run all three Big Ape Films back to back on Thanksgiving Day every year, because it was the best they had to compete with the parades and football games. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3759 "2022-02-17T17:10:26Z")
I didn’t know that story about the frequent airing of _King Kong_. That’s a cool theory about the spark that started the 50s/60s Horror craze. The story I always heard is that local stations could extend their operating hours at little cost by airing public domain Horror films. Universal had a huge library of Horror films that were just sitting on the shelf and were able to sell them cheap to those stations just when the public domain stuff was starting to run out. ETA - Vampira was already on the air in LA before the WOR broadcasts, so there was already some of the Horror craze in the ether. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3760 "2022-02-17T17:51:17Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I didn’t know that story about the frequent airing of _King Kong_ . That’s a cool theory about the spark that started the 50s/60s Horror craze. The story I always heard is that local stations could extend their operating hours at little cost by airing public domain Horror films. Universal had a huge library of Horror films that were just sitting on the shelf and were able to sell them cheap to those stations just when the public domain stuff was starting to run out. > > ETA - Vampira was already on the air in LA before the WOR broadcasts, so there was already some of the Horror craze in the ether. But the Universal Horror films _weren’t_ public domain, and they weren’t free. You can read about the Shock! package in many places. It even has its own Wikipedia page. > **[Shock Theater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_Theater)** > > Shock Theater (marketed as Shock!) is a package of 52 pre-1948 classic horror films from Universal Studios released for television syndication in October 1957 by Screen Gems, the television subsidiary of Columbia Pictures. The Shock Theater package included Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man and The Wolf Man as well as a few non-horror spy and mystery films. A second package, Son of Shock, was released for television by Screen Gems in 1958, with 20 horror films from both Universa... it’s true that the networks sought to bring in more revenue qith the horror movies, but they still had to pay for them. They were a good bargain, though – sough-after and popular films for lower than new movies would cost. as for Vampira, I wondered for a long time exactly which movies she showed – she was on in 1954-55. That’s when (or even before) most of the bad monster movies I’m familiar with were even made. So what was she showing? You can find lists of her broadcasts – they were mainly old poverty-row crime dramas and a few horror films, like _Revenge of the Zombies_ and _The Flying Serpent_ So, to a large degree, the Horror Host preceded the showing of Horror Films. Here’s a listing of the movies she showed: > **[The Vampira Show](https://letterboxd.com/will_sloan/list/the-vampira-show/)** > > A near-complete list of films shown on The Vampira Show. The short-lived but influential late-night movie show was hosted by Maila Nurmi (later made immortal by Plan 9 from Outer Space) and ran from 1954 to 1955 on local KABC-TV. No complete... ---
**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:** [February 17, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3761 "2022-02-17T17:57:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > But the Universal Horror films _weren’t_ public domain, and they weren’t free. I noted that in my post. They were cheap, though, and were a good substitute for the public domain films that filled those time slots before the Universal packages were available. They could only show _Revenge of the Zombies_ so many times. Cheap Universal fare became available just as the public domain films were getting to the point of being aired too frequently. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2022, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3762 "2022-02-17T21:35:32Z")
A penguin’s tongue has backward-pointing bristles on it to help it hold onto food. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3763 "2022-02-17T22:16:00Z")
[New numbers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across/851674/3762) seem to indicate that about 10% of young Americans are Gay (however you define that). I am eager to see if this report stands up. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2022, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3764 "2022-02-18T11:04:51Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > A penguin’s tongue has backward-pointing bristles on it to help it hold onto food. **[A hummingbird’s tongue is downright bizarre](https://marinefm.org/EFM-Notebook/10709025)**. It’s a pair of keratinous ribbons, forked at the tip, that spontaneously curl to form tubes that capture nectar just before the tongue is retracted. On top of that, it’s so long that when it’s retracted, it spirals around the birds skull, all the way around its eye sockets. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3765 "2022-02-18T14:15:36Z")
TIL that canola oil comes from rapeseed: > **[Rapeseed oil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola_oil#Origin)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, it was eaten in limited quantities due to high levels of erucic acid, which is damaging to the cardiac muscle of animals and imparts a bitter taste, and glucosinolates, which made it less nutritious in animal feed. Rapeseed oil can contain up to 54... It’s a particular variety that is low in erucic acid, and was originally bred in Canada. The name takes “can” from “Canada” and “OLA” meaning “oil, low acid.” I also learned that rapeseed shares etymological roots _not_ with rape, but with _rapum_, a latin reference to turnips, with which it also shares phylogenetic roots. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3766 "2022-02-18T14:47:50Z")
YouTube has an eight-hour clip of CBS Radio reporting on the D-Day landing. The accents alone are worth your time. [Here it is.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tKbZJ-NENo) ---
**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:** [February 18, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3767 "2022-02-18T18:03:57Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > TIL that canola oil comes from rapeseed: And that is growing wild in my Colorado back yard. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3768 "2022-02-20T00:03:40Z")
I recently stumbled across the fact that Henry Ford was pretty famously dumb. Ford had sued the Chicago Tribune for libel after they branded him an ignorant anarchist. While testifying, he demonstrated a quite shocking lack of what was considered common knowledge. For example, he thought that the American Revolution occurred in 1812, that Benedict Arnold was a writer, and claimed that he had voted only once in his life: for James A. Garfield, even though Ford wasn’t old enough to vote in 1880. He also struggled reading papers presented to him, but blamed his need for his glasses. The transcripts became popular reading. But, it didn’t necessarily hurt him, as it reinforced the idea that the Ford was a car for the common man. And Ford won the lawsuit. He was awarded 6 cents. [https://test-2017-elb-web-us-west-2.aws.ozymandias.com/flashback/the-astonishing-ignorance-of-henry-ford/31368](https://test-2017-elb-web-us-west-2.aws.ozymandias.com/flashback/the-astonishing-ignorance-of-henry-ford/31368) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=187) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=189)