# 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:** 196
**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:** [March 8, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3909 "2022-03-08T19:35:53Z")
You can’t tent for ghosts… ---
**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:** [March 9, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3910 "2022-03-09T17:33:17Z")
That the name “Homer Simpson” for a dim-witted character is from the novel _Day of the Locust_. ---
**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 9, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3911 "2022-03-09T17:37:47Z")
The name Homer almost certainly comes from Matt Groening’s father Homer (just like Abraham, Lisa, Maggie and Patty are members of his family). Wikipedia suggests that he picked the last name Simpson because it sounded like “simpleton”, but who knows for sure. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3912 "2022-03-09T17:46:35Z")
> [@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). Nuts are almost as complicated and error inducing. In German more than in English, as more things are called XXX-nuss in German than in English. From the [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_(fruit)): > Some common “culinary nuts”: [hazelnuts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazelnut), which are also botanical nuts; [Brazil nuts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_nut), which are not botanical nuts, but rather the seeds of a [capsule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_(botany)); and [walnuts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut), [pecans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecan), and [almonds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond) (which are not botanical nuts, but rather the seeds of [drupes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drupe)) > [@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)” Actually, tomatoes are berries too. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3913 "2022-03-09T18:05:29Z")
Matt Groening named the main Simpsons family after his own family (Marge, Homer, and Lisa). He grew up in Portland and many of the characters from the show are named after local landmarks: Kearny, Quimby, Van Houten, Lovejoy, Terwilliger, and Flanders are Portland city streets for instance. So is Evergreen Terrace. ---
**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:** [March 9, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3914 "2022-03-09T18:08:13Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Wikipedia suggests that he picked the last name Simpson because it sounded like “simpleton”, but who knows for sure. Maybe Groening once upon a time in high school or college did a book report on Day of the Locust and it was subliminally in his head? ---
**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:** [March 9, 2022, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3915 "2022-03-09T19:10:38Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > As you’ve noted too, Japanese folks are fond of **[portmanteaus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau)**. I hadn’t heard of “famicon”, but I’m aware of “pasokon” (personal computer). Probably the most famous two outside of Japan are: > > - Pokemon, short for “Pocket Monster”. > - Tamagotchi, short for “Tamago uochi” (“egg watch”). > [@Limmin](#): > > Yes! Those portmanteaus. There are so many, and often amusing. I recently learned of another popular Japanese portmanteau. There’s a new movie coming out this summer: > **[Bullet Train (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_Train_(film))** > > Bullet Train is a 2022 American action comedy film directed by David Leitch and starring Brad Pitt as an assassin who must battle fellow killers while riding a bullet train. It is based on the 2010 novel Maria Beetle (titled Bullet Train in the UK and US editions), written by Kōtarō Isaka and translated by Sam Malissa, the second novel in Isaka's Hitman trilogy, of which the first novel was previously adapted as the 2015 Japanese film Grasshopper. The film also features an ensemble supporting ... Brad Pitt has a starring role. I learned that in Japan, he is referred to as “Burapi” (ブラピ). ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3916 "2022-03-09T19:13:23Z")
Sharks evolved before trees. ---
**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 9, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3917 "2022-03-09T20:57:23Z")
The first ever recording by **Cher**? > **[The Ronettes | "Be My Baby"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ronettes#%22Be_My_Baby%22)** > > After having been denied a release of their song as well as having credit for their next four recordings go to another group, the Ronettes went to work on the Phil Spector/Jeff Barry/Ellie Greenwich song "Be My Baby". The Ronettes recorded "Be My Baby" in July 1963, and it was released by August. "Be My Baby" was a smash record for the Ronettes. Radio stations played the song throughout fall 1963, and the Ronettes were invited to tour the country with Dick Clark on his "Caravan of Stars" tour.\[27... > “Be My Baby” was the first recording by Cher, who performed back-up vocals with Estelle, Nedra, and Sonny Bono. As the girlfriend of Bono, who was working for Phil Spector at the time, Cher was asked to join the back-up singers when one was a no-show. “‘Be My Baby’ was the first record I ever sang on,” Cher later wrote. “I went out and stood in front of this big speaker and sang ‘be my, be my baby’ with the Ronettes and all these other singers.” After “Be My Baby”, Cher became a permanent back-up singer on recordings by the Ronettes, as well as other songs Phil Spector produced until “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”. j ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3918 "2022-03-10T14:02:08Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I’ve read that pennies cost more than a penny to mint but of course they last years and years, unlike paper money. Today I learned that it’s illegal to take more than $5.00 worth of nickels or pennies out of the country at a time, to prevent people from offshoring large quantities and melting them down for the metal value. Punishable by a $10,000 fine and up to 5 years in prison. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3919 "2022-03-10T15:00:07Z")
Hopefully you didn’t learn that the hard way. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3920 "2022-03-10T15:10:33Z")
Fortunately not, but I could see how one could easily run afoul of that by accident. Five bucks is 10 rolls of pennies, but just three rolls of nickels would be $1.05 too much. ---
**Author:** ![cytop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cytop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cytop)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3921 "2022-03-10T17:15:56Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > … but just three rolls of nickels would be $1.05 too much. Trying to do the maths, failing. Hopefully a typo rather than my feeble mind. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3922 "2022-03-10T17:27:53Z")
Rolls of nickels are $2.00 if memory serves, from my Safeway cashier days. Three rolls would be $6.00. ---
**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 10, 2022, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3923 "2022-03-10T22:40:59Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Today I learned that it’s illegal to take more than $5.00 worth of nickels or pennies out of the country at a time, to prevent people from offshoring large quantities and melting them down for the metal value. [The price of nickel is so high](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/08/nickel-price-surge-could-threaten-automakers-ev-plans.html) that [Tesla has contracted with a nickel mine in Minnesota – which isn’t even operational yet.](https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-business/tesla-commits-to-buying-nickel-from-proposed-minnesota-mine) ---
**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:** [March 11, 2022, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3924 "2022-03-11T01:26:05Z")
Thinking of Ukraine tonight, I googled. > **1.** According to Ukrainian folk tales, Kiev boasts up to three official witch gathering places. They share the name Lysa Hora (Bold Mountain). > > **2.** Weaving with **handmade looms** is still used in some parts of the country, including Krupove, located in Rivne Oblast. > > **3.** Unlike many cultures around the world, Ukrainians wear **wedding rings** on the right hand not the left. > > **4.** “O Sole Mio” the **world-famous song** was composed in the country. > > **5.** Ukrainian **romanticism** started developing in the 1830s. Romanticist poet-painter Taras Shevchenko played a central role in this regard. He is widely regarded as the father of national revival. > **[50+ Interesting Facts About Ukraine - The Fact File](https://thefactfile.org/facts-about-ukraine/)** > > Facts about Ukraine: Ukraine has the deepest metro station in the world. Ukrainians also invented the first gas lamp. There’s a pic of pretty girls in national costume between #6 and #7. #15 is your bonus: > Several **Hollywood stars were born in Ukraine** including Milla Jovovich who had leading roles in The Fifth Element and Resident Evil. Another is Mila Kunis who is known for films like Gia and Black Swan, as well as the sitcom That ’70s Show. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2022, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3925 "2022-03-11T02:56:19Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > **1.** According to Ukrainian folk tales, Kiev boasts up to three official witch gathering places. They share the name Lysa Hora (Bold Mountain). I guess this is the same Bald Mountain that Mussorgsky made famous. > **[Night on Bald Mountain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_on_Bald_Mountain)** > > Night on Bald Mountain (Russian: Ночь на лысой горе, romanized: Noch′ na lysoy gore), also known as Night on the Bare Mountain, is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian literary works and legend, Mussorgsky composed a "musical picture", St. John's Eve on Bald Mountain (Russian: Иванова ночь на лысой горе, romanized: Ivanova noch′ na lysoy gore) on the theme of a Witches' Sabbath occurring at Bald Mountain on St. John's Eve, which he completed on that very ... ---
**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:** [March 11, 2022, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3926 "2022-03-11T15:26:54Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I guess this is the same Bald Mountain that Mussorgsky made famous. > > [Night on Bald Mountain - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_on_Bald_Mountain) Wow, I never connected those two, interesting! Have you heard [Bob James’s version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aW9URHShCY)? [Bob’s take on Pachelbel.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_knA4CnsAA) [While we’re at it, Deodato’s take on Strauss](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJK3eUP5Hvg) Back to Ukraine… **9.** The popular **Easter egg tradition** originated in Ukraine. Originally, the eggs were patterned using wax and dye. The wax was eventually removed leaving an impressive pattern with dashing colors. WOW!!! Here’s a google [image search](https://www.google.com/search?q=easter+egg+ukraine&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS798US798&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiC4av_rr72AhU8lGoFHczTBj0Q_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1366&bih=657&dpr=1). I’ve never seen Easter eggs like those… ---
**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 11, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3927 "2022-03-11T15:45:24Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > **9.** The popular **Easter egg tradition** originated in Ukraine. Originally, the eggs were patterned using wax and dye. The wax was eventually removed leaving an impressive pattern with dashing colors. > > WOW!!! Here’s a google [image search](https://www.google.com/search?q=easter+egg+ukraine&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS798US798&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiC4av_rr72AhU8lGoFHczTBj0Q_AUoAXoECAIQAw&biw=1366&bih=657&dpr=1). I’ve never seen Easter eggs like those… I made these for many years. You need special dyes, beeswax, and a ‘kitska’ which is a tiny metal funnel on a stick, to heat the beeswax, and a candle. That’s all. I’d make them all through Lent (although traditionally they are made by groups of women who gather during Holy Week, which is the week which precedes Easter). The eggs are not hard to make, once you get the hang, they just take a long time, as each dye bath is for 15 to 30 minutes, and there may be as many as 10 colors. I’d go to Midnight Mass with a basket of them and give them out to people afterward with the traditional greeting “Christ Is Risen!” The correct response is “He is Risen Indeed!” and then you share little glass vodka, if you are really Ukrainian. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3928 "2022-03-11T15:52:43Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > The eggs are not hard to make I would botch them, I’m sure. But wow, they’re stunning! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=195) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=197)