# 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:** 203
**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 24, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4049 "2022-03-24T16:41:56Z")
Something prompted me to look up singer Cass Elliot\*\*, who died at age 32 in a London hotel room. What I didn’t know is that Keith Moon died in the same room and at the same age four years later. \*\*Also, despite popular rumors at the time, she did not choke on a ham sandwich. The first responding doctor mentioned to the press that a partially-eaten sandwich at the scene may have been a factor. The coroner report, however, stated unequivocally that it was a heart attack and that no food was found in the airway. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4050 "2022-03-24T16:58:59Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Do we have another Hildreth in our midst? Could have been worse. Dad was thinking of naming me after his father, Hoyt. Even though, at 55, Hoyt doesn’t seem all that bad a name, but as a teenager in the 80s it likely would have been the social death of me. Not that my social life needed any more killing, tbh. ---
**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 24, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4051 "2022-03-24T18:36:21Z")
In 1942, all paper currency in the Hawaiian Islands was recalled and replaced with notes that had the word HAWAII overprinted on them. In the event the islands were captured the Treasury Dept. could declare all of those notes worthless. [![](https://www.joshuakennon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Hawaii-Overprint-Bank-Note-640.jpg) ](https://www.joshuakennon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Hawaii-Overprint-Bank-Note-640.jpg) ---
**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 24, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4052 "2022-03-24T18:46:47Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Something prompted me to look up singer Cass Elliot\*\*, who died at age 32 in a London hotel room. What I didn’t know is that Keith Moon died in the same room and at the same age four years later. Not a hotel room, but an apartment ( Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place) belonging to Harry Nillson. Due in no small part to the bad mojo of his London digs, Nillson moved to LA permanently and the property was bought by Pete Townsend to keep it out of the hands of ghouls enchanted by its notoriety. ---
**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 24, 2022, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4053 "2022-03-24T18:51:06Z")
Ah, right. Well, that makes it a bit less odd. ---
**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 24, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4054 "2022-03-24T18:56:36Z")
Still creepy though. Not just the same apartment, _but the same bed!_ ---
**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 24, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4055 "2022-03-24T19:17:40Z")
Just so they laundered the linens. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4056 "2022-03-24T21:24:07Z")
Not verified. But as I understand, both Carole King and Courtney Cox lived in the same house at different times. They got to know each other and had a séance there because of the ghosts. ---
**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 24, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4057 "2022-03-24T22:30:50Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Carole King and Courtney Cox lived in the same house at different times. Woulda been cooler if Carole was Carole Cing, or Courtney was Courtney Kox. But cool nonetheless, especially once you note that **neither has been in my kitchen.** ---
**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 24, 2022, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4058 "2022-03-24T23:20:39Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Yep, certainly not an iron-clad rule, but if one is forced to guess, that’d be where the smart money is. Ross Bagdasarian is from an Armenian family and married Armenouhi “Armen” Kulhanjian. People probably better known him as David Sevile, of “Witch Doctor” and the Chipmunks fame. Interesting random fact from Wikipedia: > Shana Alexander, writing for Life magazine in 1959, noted that Bagdasarian was the first case in the “annals of popular music that one man has served as writer, composer, publisher, conductor and multiple vocalist of a hit record, thereby directing all possible revenues from the song back into his pocket.” Alexander also found it remarkable that Bagdasarian "can neither read nor write music nor play any musical instrument in the accepted sense of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2022, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4059 "2022-03-24T23:30:15Z")
Shana Alexander quoted above is remembered as the liberal viewpoint against James J. Kilpatrick on _60 Minutes_ first seasons, parodied by SNL’s original casts’ “Jane you ignorant slut.” Alexander’s father was a Tin Pan Alley tunesmith who wrote “Ain’t She Sweet” inspired by her when a baby. ---
**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 25, 2022, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4060 "2022-03-25T02:05:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Whenever I run across something more than once in unrelated contexts, it strikes me. It’s purely coincidence, but it feels as if the Universe is trying to tell me something. > > The latest example of this is “People whose weird first name is his mother’s maiden name”. _“Martha Clark Kent, are you listening to what I’m saying?”_ ---
**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 25, 2022, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4061 "2022-03-25T16:09:49Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Ross Bagdasarian is from an Armenian family and married Armenouhi “Armen” Kulhanjian. People probably better known him as David Sevile, of “Witch Doctor” and the Chipmunks fame. This reminds me, I forgot to include actor Eric Bogosian on my list of well-known Armenian-Americans. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4062 "2022-03-25T16:31:36Z")
I suspect that _Lando Calrissian_ got his _faux_-Armenian name as a sort-of tribute to producer Howard Kazanjian. He produced _The Empire Strikes Back_, but didn’t get screen credit for it. He replaced producer Gary Kurtz partway through production. He’d already been executive producer for _Raiders of the Lost Ark_. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2022, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4063 "2022-03-25T16:52:10Z")
The Spanish Inquisition did not officially end July 15, 1834 and in fact, the Inquisition had someone executed only 8 years before that. And Jews could not **legally** practice their religion in Spain (although it was allowed it was still technically illegal) until December 16, 1968 when the Alhambra Decree was officially revoked. ---
**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 25, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4064 "2022-03-25T17:21:20Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > > > Yep, certainly not an iron-clad rule, but if one is forced to guess, that’d be where the smart money is. > > Ross Bagdasarian is from an Armenian family and married Armenouhi “Armen” Kulhanjian. People probably better known him as David Sevile, of “Witch Doctor” and the Chipmunks fame. > > Interesting random fact from Wikipedia: > > > Shana Alexander, writing for Life magazine in 1959, noted that Bagdasarian was the first case in the “annals of popular music that one man has served as writer, composer, publisher, conductor and multiple vocalist of a hit record, thereby directing all possible revenues from the song back into his pocket.” Alexander also found it remarkable that Bagdasarian "can neither read nor write music nor play any musical instrument in the accepted sense of the word. He is also cousins with Pulitzer Prize winning playwright William Saroyan. Together, they wrote his first hit, “Come On-a My House,” making Saroyan one of the few Pulitzer Prize winners with a number one single. ---
**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 25, 2022, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4065 "2022-03-25T17:44:07Z")
Raising the question of whether the “yan” of Saroyan is just a variant transliteration of “ian.” ---
**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:** [March 25, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4066 "2022-03-25T18:07:02Z")
It was in the case of one of my roommates, whose name ended in “-yan” (because it was a vowel in front of the “y”) ---
**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 25, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4067 "2022-03-25T18:07:51Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Raising the question of whether the “yan” of Saroyan is just a variant transliteration of “ian.” It seems nearly certain. All of **[the Armenian surnames listed on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_name)** end with “yan”, but IRL I’ve only ever seen “ian” names. Similarly, the Scandinavian surnames **[Olsen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olsen_(surname))** and Olson are of common origin, despite their different spellings. ---
**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 25, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4068 "2022-03-25T18:21:45Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > It seems nearly certain. All of **[the Armenian surnames listed on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_name)** end with “yan”, but IRL I’ve only ever seen “ian” names. I happened to be in an Armenian shop (in the US) and asked the guy. Apparently yes, romanization of Armenian names varies quite a bit, but the -yan and -ian endings are the same in Armenian. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=202) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=204)