# 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:** 257
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5129 "2022-08-25T23:25:15Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > closer to meatballs “Frikadellen” is mentioned as a food served by the mother (of Austrian heritage) in the novel “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”. I had a roommate while in college who liked to make these and serve them with noodles and gravy. Simple, warm, filling food. It’s a dish that has traveled through time pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2022, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5130 "2022-08-26T13:34:51Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I had a roommate while in college who liked to make these and serve them with noodles and gravy. Simple, warm, filling food. It’s a dish that has traveled through time pretty well. Aren’t we basically making Swedish meatballs here? I wonder it they are kind of an offshoot of Frikadellen. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2022, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5131 "2022-08-26T14:06:40Z")
Ahh. You mean _breen_? > **[Breen](https://babylon5.fandom.com/wiki/Breen)** > > Breen is an animal native to Narn and is the main ingredient in a ground meat delicacy of the same name. Breen is identical in smell, taste and appearance to Earth Swedish meatballs and Centauri Prime's Roopo balls. Ko'Dan considered the "perfect"... ---
**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:** [August 26, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5132 "2022-08-26T14:11:02Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Aren’t we basically making Swedish meatballs here? I wonder it they are kind of an offshoot of Frikadellen. Frikadellen like made by my mum are made of a mixed mass consisting of half beef ground meat, half pork ground meat, minced onions, raw eggs and pieces of wheat bread rolls. I think that’s the basic German recipe for them. I don’t think Swedish meatballs contain onions, eggs or bread. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5133 "2022-08-26T16:02:40Z")
On the other hand, add oregano, garlic, and parsley, and you’ve got Italian meatballs. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2022, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5134 "2022-08-26T16:25:46Z")
Or if you make into one big rectangular shape, you have meatloaf. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2022, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5135 "2022-08-26T21:50:23Z")
You are correct that they are quite different to Swedish Meatballs IMO. We should be aware that meatball-type meals exist in many cultures. What make them different from each other is the other flavoring in the meatballs besides ground beef. My old roomie’s Frikadellen tasted more like the meatloaf my mother made, served with a beef gravy, not the creamy gravy of Swedish Meatballs. West coast England offers Faggots, which are huge beef meatballs (that need more flavoring, IMO) and, as @Dr.Drake points out, Italian meatballs are similar but not the same. Lebanese Kofta is another example. They are all good but not all the same. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2022, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5136 "2022-08-26T22:43:27Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > The Independence Avenue bridge in Kansas City, MO is undefeated. > **[Another semi tries driving under Independence Avenue Bridge. It didn’t make it.](https://www.kctv5.com/2022/08/26/another-semi-tries-driving-under-independence-avenue-bridge-it-didnt-make-it/)** > > KC Terminal Railway has spent $100,000 on repairs and signage over the past decade on the Independence Avenue Bridge. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2022, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5137 "2022-08-26T23:12:56Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > The Independence Avenue bridge in Kansas City, MO is undefeated It’d be a pretty damn sturdy truck that would wreck the bridge instead of the other way around. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2022, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5138 "2022-08-27T04:42:28Z")
Major League baseball - in 1961, when Roger Maris hit 61 home runs, he received zero intentional walks. In 2004, Bobby Bonds received 120. There have been several occurrences of intentional walks being issued with the bases already loaded. [A Walk in the Park ... Ranking MLB's Bases-Loaded Intentional Passes - Baseball Roundtable](https://baseballroundtable.com/a-walk-in-the-park-ranking-mlbs-bases-loaded-intentional-passes/) ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2022, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5139 "2022-08-27T09:02:30Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Major League baseball - in 1961, when Roger Maris hit 61 home runs, he received zero intentional walks. In 2004, Bobby Bonds received 120. > > There have been several occurrences of intentional walks being issued with the bases already loaded. [A Walk in the Park ... Ranking MLB's Bases-Loaded Intentional Passes - Baseball Roundtable](https://baseballroundtable.com/a-walk-in-the-park-ranking-mlbs-bases-loaded-intentional-passes/) Too late to edit - of course i meant BARRY Bonds. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2022, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5140 "2022-08-27T09:28:34Z")
You are of course aware of the perennial fight between Freakadellen and Bulletten, right? > **[Freakadellen und Bulletten | Gerhard Seyfried](http://gerhardseyfried.de/freakadellen-und-bulletten/)** > > Comics, Cartoons und Hintergrundinfos zum Zeichner und Schriftsteller Gerhard Seyfried. Offizielle Website von Seyfried! One more incarnation of the good vs evil trope, but a tasty one. Now I fear most of our anglophone co-readers and writers will not fully understand. Too bad! But if anyone is learning German they could do worse than ordering a Seyfried or two. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2022, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5141 "2022-08-28T01:14:05Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Major League baseball - in 1961, when Roger Maris hit 61 home runs, he received zero intentional walks. In 2004, Bobby Bonds received 120. Maris didn’t get any intentional walks because Mickey Mantle batted behind him. Mantle hit 56 home runs that year and probably had a better year overall. An intentional walk to Maris would just give Mantle a runner to drive in. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2022, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5142 "2022-08-28T03:48:57Z")
And Mantle was a switch-hitter (perhaps the greatest of all-time), so there would never have been a match-up advantage for the pitcher by IBBing Maris. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2022, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5143 "2022-08-28T11:27:02Z")
Right. Plus Mantle only grounded into two double plays that year and never hit into more than 11 in a season. Trying to set up one wasn’t likely to work out. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2022, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5144 "2022-08-28T12:08:49Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > on the theory that it is like tickling - you can’t tickle yourself. I can tickle the roof of my mouth with my tongue or finger. Can you? ---
**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:** [August 28, 2022, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5145 "2022-08-28T13:31:26Z")
I could, but I don’t feel like sticking my finger or my tongue in your mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2022, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5146 "2022-08-28T15:08:43Z")
A group of ladybugs is called a loveliness. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5147 "2022-08-28T18:13:01Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > It’d be a pretty damn sturdy truck that would wreck the bridge instead of the other way around. If it were beams and girders instead of a big chunk of concrete, I imagine they’d have to close it for inspection, depending on the mass and velocity of the impacting vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/5148 "2022-08-28T19:22:27Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Ahh. You mean _breen_? > > [Breen | The Babylon Project | Fandom](https://babylon5.fandom.com/wiki/Breen) OMG, this is making me laugh. Breen is the name of one of the families in the Donner Party. Actually, the entire family (mom, dad, seven kids) all survived…though I don’t know if they ate anyone. But, at least, they didn’t get eaten. I remember the name because I met a descendant at a work offsite. > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > A group of ladybugs is called a loveliness. Was it this thread where I found out that ladybugs were called so because they were originally “Our Lady bugs?” That might explain the group name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=256) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=258)