# 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:** 230
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4589 "2022-06-04T18:54:54Z")
Rats can save people: > **[Forget dogs: These rats could be the future of search and rescue](https://www.science.org/content/article/forget-dogs-these-rats-could-be-future-search-and-rescue)** > > Researchers are training rodents with tiny backpacks to sniff out survivors ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4590 "2022-06-04T19:29:58Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Queen Elizabeth II has ruled for 70 years. During that time, she has attended 67 annual Epson Derby races. I heard that the Queen is boycotting it, because, although the tickets are free… but they have to be stamped, and the ink is too expensive for most people. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4591 "2022-06-04T19:49:13Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Some small Canadian natural history museum I visited had a taxidermy polar bear in the entrance standing on its hind legs. It was freakin enormous, like an elephant. [bear size comparison - Bing images](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=O%2fz2dDrk&id=21D8D329A210B97F5BBA55D918A49E7210AA024D&thid=OIP.O_z2dDrkPB7WobSmmtfrZwHaJ4&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fi1.wp.com%2fzooologist.com%2fwp-content%2fuploads%2f2017%2f11%2fHow-Tall-is-a-Polar-Bear-Polar-Bear-Height.jpg%3ffit%3d1224%252C1632&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.3bfcf6743ae43c1ed6a1b4a69ad7eb67%3frik%3dTQKqEHKepBjZVQ%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=1632&expw=1224&q=bear+size+comparison&simid=608010534443229275&FORM=IRPRST&ck=CE65B1A610266A2DB6E8F75E86789B4C&selectedIndex=30&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0) ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4592 "2022-06-05T00:23:14Z")
Suddenly I am very grateful that I live in the land of the smallest bears on that chart. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4593 "2022-06-05T11:07:26Z")
You know, most bartender items we take for granted today, were actually patent medicines at one time. Gin and Absinthe were supposedly stomach tonics, whatever that it. (Gin, since it contains a natural source of pine oil, is reportedly a good deodorant. That is part of the reason why the British drank it in hot and humid climes like India.) Tonic, as I think I already said, contains quinine, which is still the only antidote to malaria. Some other stuff, like Grenadine, I still wonder about. In fact, I was just recently thinking about Grenadine. It is just pomegranate syrup, you know. But what was it originally? I mean, for example, was it a medium, perhaps, for delivering a medicine? Sweet syrups do make bitter medicine go down more smoothly, I know. Hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4594 "2022-06-05T19:07:05Z")
Several liqueurs were originally medicinal as well. Benedictine for one ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4595 "2022-06-05T19:46:45Z")
Were any early liqueurs developed to be beverages? Perfumes, flavorings, medicine maybe, but in small amounts impractical to drink for the effort in producing them. Distillation at the scale needed to produce beverages was unseen before the 13th century. Before then the process was not well understood. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4596 "2022-06-05T20:15:58Z")
You don’t really have to go back that far to find liquers that were considered medicinal… or it could be marketing In 1863 Alexandre Le Grand developed a recipe for an herbal liqueur, helped by a local chemist, from old medicinal recipes that he had acquired from a religious foundation where a maternal grandparent had held office as a fiscal prosecutor. To market it, he embellished a story of it having been developed by monks at the [Benedictine](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedictine) [Abbey of Fécamp](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_of_F%C3%A9camp) in [Normandy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy), and produced by them until the abbey’s devastation during the [French Revolution](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution).[[2]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9n%C3%A9dictine#cite_note-2)[_[better source needed](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NOTRS)_ ] He began production under the [trade name](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_name) “Bénédictine”, using a bottle with a distinguishing shape and label. To reinforce his myth, he placed the abbreviation “D.O.M.” on the label, for " _[Deo Optimo Maximo](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deo_optimo_maximo)_ " (“To God, most good, most great”), used at the beginning of documents by the [Benedictine Order](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedictine_Order) to dedicate their work.[_[citation needed](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)_ ] ---
**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:** [June 5, 2022, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4597 "2022-06-05T20:37:40Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Ever heard of King Davids? They’re my favorite apple, and there’s only one orchard in central Indiana I know of where I can get them. King David apples taste like the apple Granny Smiths weakly aspire to be. > [@Ulfreida](#): > > Not until now, but I want. > By the late 1990s, U.S. commercial orchards grew fewer than 100 apple varieties—and just 11 of them accounted for 90 percent of grocery-store sales. Experts estimated 11,000 heirloom varieties had gone extinct. > **[Meet the Appalachian Apple Hunter Who Rescued 1,000 'Lost' Varieties](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/heritage-appalachian-apples?utm_medium=atlas-page&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2zox2pbnqvQ2Rlwq8z4C0_LDZIrt_wFRS68I17jrwbFQA9TInJ4Z7Ga-g)** > > Tom Brown's retirement hobby is a godsend for chefs, conservationists, and cider. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2022, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4598 "2022-06-05T20:59:14Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > Suddenly I am very grateful that I live in the land of the smallest bears on that chart. yeah, our little bears are plenty big enough for me. One ate my bird feeder last winter, six feet from my back door. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4599 "2022-06-05T21:31:05Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > You don’t really have to go back that far to find liquers that were considered medicinal… or it could be marketing I do have to concede that some concoctions were being consumed, as they say, “for medicinal purposes”, which means to cure their desire for some alcohol. The stuff could be pretty potent compared to beer and wine type beverages. Sometimes the alcohol content might have been high enough to give other drinks a kick as is done with port wine. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4600 "2022-06-05T21:36:08Z")
This came up in conversation today - I guess this must have been a significant news item at the time, but it passed me by. The Church Of England’s senior bishop, The Archbishop Of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is the illegitimate son of Winston Churchill’s last private secretary. > **[Archbishop of Canterbury learns identity of biological father](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36002621)** > > Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby says it "comes as a complete surprise" that a DNA test has revealed his biological father was Winston Churchill's private secretary. > The Most Reverend Justin Welby, 60, has discovered he is the son of Sir Winston Churchill’s last private secretary, the late Sir Anthony Montague Browne… > > …His mother, Lady Williams of Elvel, has confirmed she had a “liaison” with Sir Anthony just before she wed in 1955. > > She said the news had come as an “almost unbelievable shock”, and although her memory of the time was patchy, she recalled sleeping with former colleague Sir Anthony after “a large amount of alcohol on both sides”. j ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4601 "2022-06-05T21:39:04Z")
He surely isn’t the first bastard bishop, and I mean that literally. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4602 "2022-06-07T13:00:08Z")
If you were a man of power, giving your illegitimate kid a career in the church was often a handy way to look after him since he could not legally inherit anything. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4603 "2022-06-07T16:58:48Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > So, cinnamon is the ground bark of the tree. > So cinnamon is sawdust…right? Sure! [And here’s a YT video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIjzLTQdflg) in which cinnamon bark–a form of wood–is encased in plastic resin and turned on a lathe to make a round container + lid. I’m not sure if the chips from the lathe, being a mixture of plastic dust and cinnamon, would smell nice or terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4604 "2022-06-07T17:26:08Z")
I’m sure this is known by our resident physics gurus, but I just learned that there is a Planck mass; i.e. smallest mass any object can have. Most of us who are interested in this stuff have heard of Planck time and Planck distance, but I hadn’t heard of Planck mass. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2022, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4605 "2022-06-07T17:44:11Z")
Not exactly; plenty of elementary particles, or atoms, or molecules, or viruses have masses smaller than the Planck mass. You might not have heard of the Planck mass before precisely because it is derivative of the Planck time and distance. Another way of defining it might be “the mass at which a black hole would have an event horizon equal in size to its quantum wavelength”. This does represent the densest possible concentration of mass-energy that our physics can make sense of. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4606 "2022-06-07T19:48:01Z")
Don’t take zinc lozenges if have a cold. Get plenty of fluids instead. It’s time-tested, and frankly cheaper than the lozenges. I think bed rest is recommended too 😉 . Yeah, I was seeing a doctor once. And he kept leaving the room every hour to get a cup of water. He eventually confided in me he had a bad cold, and he was trying to knock it out of his system. Yeah, 8 oz. every hour. I guess that’d do it. Just don’t drink too much water even (you do realize that even too much water can wash all the vitamins out of your system 🙂 .) I’ve got ask: anyone ever try this? Does it work? ---
**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:** [June 7, 2022, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4607 "2022-06-07T20:20:42Z")
The lozenges are overpriced. For a lot less money you can simply buy zinc supplement tablets from the vitamin/mineral aisle. In my experience they do reduce the severity and length of colds. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4608 "2022-06-07T22:37:16Z")
Thank you! This is why I should only listen to folks here, and not elsewhere. Apologies to everyone for the misinformation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=229) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=231)