# 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:** 195
**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:** [March 6, 2022, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3889 "2022-03-06T21:27:47Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > What are 1 through 3?! This news story - > **[BBC News - Britain's scariest roads revealed](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8382506.stm)** > > Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham tops a survey of Britain's scariest road systems with Glasgow and London second and third. - is what is being referenced. I’ve driven Spaghetti Junction, and it’s daunting but not frightening. The top 10 were: 1. Gravelly Hill (Spaghetti Junction), Birmingham 2. M8 junctions through central Glasgow 3. Marble Arch, London 4. Magic Roundabout, Swindon, Wiltshire 5. Hanger Lane Gyratory, west London 6. M5/M6 intersection, Birmingham 7. Piccadilly Circus, London 8. Five Ways junction, Birmingham 9. Magic Roundabout, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire 10.Kingston Bridge, Glasgow I think what makes the Magic Roundabout (Swindon) so scary is that locals know what’s going on, so they do it at speed. We got though it with team work. I was too terrified by the traffic to look at the signs; Mrs T looked at the signs to avoid looking at the traffic. j ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3890 "2022-03-06T21:49:00Z")
Ben Franklin liked tofu. ---
**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:** [March 6, 2022, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3891 "2022-03-06T21:52:04Z")
After playing a racecar driver on the BATMAN tv show, Roy Gleason lost his World Series ring while serving as a draftee in Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![billy-jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3892 "2022-03-07T01:52:25Z")
If I am ever in Scotland, I will be sure to look around to see if there are any local Ba’ (possibly under another name) games to see. Even if I go, I bet I would not have the foggiest idea what I was watching. > [@Treppenwitz](#): > > I dispute the description of the “teams”: received wisdom was that Downies were originally fishermen and Uppies were miners (each with associated families, friends etc). Current teams are based on traditional allegiances. Thanks. What I had read was that it was based on whether they were born closer to the sea or to the town wall. It makes sense that fishermen would live closer to the sea and miners closer to the mines. And, of course, at one time births were more likely at home than at the hospital, especially when there was no hospital. (I was the first in my family to be born in a hospital.) One thing I’m not clear about is whether the goal for each side is in their own territory or the opposing territory. For example, is it those on the side near the sea who dunk the ball in the sea or is it those nearest the town wall who dunk the ball in the sea? ---
**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:** [March 7, 2022, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3893 "2022-03-07T13:18:49Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I know, right? They should have just gone with “The New Genesis”. 😛 Or “American Genesis”, which actually is a cool name. A similar example was when there were two groups named “Gypsy” (back before it was realized the word was pejorative). The UK version became “English Gypsy” ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3894 "2022-03-07T13:29:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > A similar example was when there were two groups named “Gypsy” (back before it was realized the word was pejorative). The UK version became “English Gypsy” Wait, what? ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3895 "2022-03-07T13:59:07Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > I was watching the John Travolta / Debra Winger movie Urban Cowboy the other day, which was set in Gilley’s nightclub in Houston. Mickey Gilley appears in the film, playing music, and I was struck by how his piano style sure seemed familiar. I looked up some videos and thought, “Huh, he plays just like Jerry Lee Lewis.” > > Turns out, they’re cousins\*. They grew up together, and Lewis taught Gilley his piano technique. Whaddya know. Here’s a [video of them playing together.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APdAn1t8Rxo) > > \*Jerry Lee sure had some interesting relationships with his cousins actually, their other cousin is jimmy Swaggart the televangelist … I found this out when mickey mentioned it at a concert … ---
**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:** [March 7, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3896 "2022-03-07T15:22:46Z")
Strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are technically not “berries”. But bananas, eggplants and oranges [are](https://www.livescience.com/57477-why-are-bananas-considered-berries.html). ---
**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:** [March 7, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3897 "2022-03-07T15:28:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > A similar example was when there were two groups named “Gypsy” (back before it was realized the word was pejorative). The UK version became “English Gypsy” More famous is the English Beat who were briefly known as the Beat U.K. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3898 "2022-03-07T15:28:26Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are technically not “berries”. But bananas, eggplants and oranges [are](https://www.livescience.com/57477-why-are-bananas-considered-berries.html). Botanical descriptors are quite different – far more exact – than regular English, and one notices this particularly when it comes to food plants. Strawberries in particular are quite odd. It’s a psuedocarp! A false fish, as it were. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3899 "2022-03-07T15:40:14Z")
There was a musher named [John Suter](https://www.adn.com/outdoors-adventure/iditarod/2022/03/06/heres-what-happened-to-john-suter-the-musher-who-ran-poodles-in-the-iditarod/) in the 1980s who raced a team of poodles in several Iditarod races. He never won, but he did finish, but he took a lot of heat for using a non-northern breed, and a lot of ridicule as well. He eventually went essentially bankrupt for all his troubles, and was ultimately prevented by the Iditarod Committee from using the breed for that race. You have to give him props for his persistence. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3900 "2022-03-07T15:40:19Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are technically not “berries”. But bananas, eggplants and oranges [are](https://www.livescience.com/57477-why-are-bananas-considered-berries.html). I have definitely moved from “A tomato is a fruit? Interesting! Lay on some knowledge!” to “A tomato is a fruit? What a useless definition of ‘fruit’ (unless you’re a botanist)” ---
**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:** [March 7, 2022, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3901 "2022-03-07T15:43:34Z")
Knowledge is knowing that the tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to use it in fruit salad. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3902 "2022-03-07T15:44:11Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > raced a team of poodles in several Iditarod races. Standard Poodles are an underappreciated breed IMO. I’ve never owned one, but I’ve known several. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3903 "2022-03-07T17:16:02Z")
> [@billy-jack](#): > > One thing I’m not clear about is whether the goal for each side is in their own territory or the opposing territory. I was never aware of territories. It just seemed to be based on historical allegiances. It’s only a fairly small fraction of the populace that’s involved - most people have more sense. > [@billy-jack](#): > > Even if I go, I bet I would not have the foggiest idea what I was watching. From a (safe) distance it’s a couple of hundred people in street clothes in a huge scrum, with no way of telling what is actually happening. And a few hundred more participants hanging around waiting to get involved. And if it’s dry, clouds of dust, at least while they’re still on the Cloffocks. (Mind you, I haven’t lived there for 40 years - but I doubt things have changed much.) It isn’t just Scotland (BTW in my directions to Workington, I should have made it clear that you don’t cross the border into Scotland. Far NW England.) > **[Medieval football | Surviving medieval ball games](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_football#Surviving_medieval_ball_games)** > > 1.Alnwick in Northumberland: the Scoring the Hales game survives, and begins with the Duke of Northumberland dropping a ball from the battlements of Alnwick Castle. | > 2.Ashbourne in Derbyshire (known as Royal Shrovetide Football) | > 3.Atherstone Ball Game in Warwickshire. The Shrove Tuesday Ball Game is played annually along the line of an old Roman road that runs through the town known as Long Street. The game has been played for over 800 years, dating back to the reign of King John from 1199 t... j ---
**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:** [March 7, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3904 "2022-03-07T18:25:54Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > I have definitely moved from “A tomato is a fruit? Interesting! Lay on some knowledge!” to “A tomato is a fruit? What a useless definition of ‘fruit’ (unless you’re a botanist)” Yes for a botanist but not legally. It may have been already mentioned here but there is a famous Supreme Court case in the US about it which may have been mentioned already in this thread and is famous for being frivolous. But it really isn’t. Fruits and veggies were taxed differently for whatever reason. Should a food be taxed based on the literal taxonomy or its use? ---
**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:** [March 7, 2022, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3905 "2022-03-07T19:12:57Z")
They used to be used as war dogs, oddly enough. They’re an intelligent breed and take training well. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2022, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3906 "2022-03-07T23:27:35Z")
The _Star Trek_ episode “The Lights of Zetar” was cowritten by puppeteer and children’s TV host Shari Lewis. No lamb chops were in the episode. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3907 "2022-03-08T14:31:48Z")
Want to eat like a firefighter? > **[acfd-nutrition-and-recipe-book-for-community.pdf](https://www.arlingtonva.us/files/sharedassets/public/fire/documents/acfd-nutrition-and-recipe-book-for-community.pdf)** ---
**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:** [March 8, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3908 "2022-03-08T19:29:24Z")
The estate “Pickfair” where Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks lived was demolished by Pia Zadora and her husband because it was infested with termites and ghosts. > **[Pickfair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickfair#Sale,_Demolition,_and_Rebuild)** > > Pickfair is a mansion and estate in the city of Beverly Hills, California with legendary history. The original Pickfair was an 18 acre (7.3 ha) estate designed by architect Horatio Cogswell for attorney Lee Allen Phillips of Berkeley Square as a country home. Phillips sold the property to actor Douglas Fairbanks in 1918. Coined "Pickfair" by the press, it became one of the most celebrated houses in the world. Life Magazine described Pickfair as "a gathering place only slightly less impor Locate... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=194) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=196)