# 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:** 324
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6471 "2023-05-08T17:53:23Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Dorothy Gale were both from Winfield, KS I’ve not heard this before, and I grew up and still live less than100 miles from Winfield. Can you provide a cite? Mary Ann, yes. But not Dorothy. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6472 "2023-05-08T18:03:00Z")
Right, just KS for Dorothy. My bad. 😮 ---
**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:** [May 10, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6473 "2023-05-10T14:58:31Z")
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans (minor league baseball team) has a “bat dog”. The dog will take a dropped bat from near home plate to a designated area. Although this video is from 2021, the dog it still in action. [Bat dog Slider retrieves bats | 08/14/2021 | Pelicans](https://www.milb.com/myrtle-beach/video/bat-dog-slider-retrieves-bats) ---
**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:** [May 10, 2023, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6474 "2023-05-10T15:07:36Z")
They should have named him [Ace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_the_Bat-Hound)! ---
**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:** [May 10, 2023, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6475 "2023-05-10T15:08:44Z")
Didn’t Idaho State have a dog that would run onto the field to retrieve the kicking tee at football games? I know some college team did. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6476 "2023-05-10T15:39:33Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Didn’t Idaho State have a dog that would run onto the field to retrieve the kicking tee at football games? I know some college team did . Idaho State had Bristol, the tee-fetching pooch. US Davis also had a tee retriever named Pint: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/zaRqF8FQmeM/maxresdefault.jpg "This dog retrieves kicking tees at UC Davis football games | ESPN") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaRqF8FQmeM) I could have sworn the New Orleans Saints had a dog fetching tees at one point _circa_ 2000. Can’t find video of “Fetch Monster”, though. Maybe it was only during preseason. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6477 "2023-05-10T17:33:32Z")
I just posted about seeing a Lotus Esprit in the “interesting car” thread. In looking up stuff about it found out: A shell of one was used as the submersible car in _The Spy Who Loved Me_. The car was in a storage locker for long time and when the lease expired someone bought the locker for $100. It was later sold for over a half million pounds … to Elon Musk who has stated he wants to make it a real submersible car based on Tesla electronics. But that was many years ago now. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6478 "2023-05-10T17:43:56Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Even if you’ve never used one, you have probably seen a Simpson 260 multimeter. Used one for years, but lost it somewhere in one of many moves. Do still have a handy, trusty Fluke 77 that gets used a lot. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6479 "2023-05-10T18:24:54Z")
There needs to be a sport where each team, in addition to the players, has two dogs and a tennis ball thrower on the sideline who tries to put the dogs on the field in such a way that they cause difficulties for the opposing team that is trying to avoid tripping over them. ---
**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:** [May 10, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6480 "2023-05-10T18:45:31Z")
There was an article in a British newspaper about 30 years ago when new varieties of “instant” cricket were being innovated (shorter games, more scoring) where a columnist predicted that in two more generations of shortening attention spans would lead to cricket where leashed wolverines would be put onto the field in specific areas so that the fielding side would need to judge whether they could wander into that wolverine’s area and retrieve the ball or allow the batters to keep scoring. It was satire, and fortunately the long form of the game has retained quite a following at least at the international level. It’s driving me bonkers that I can’t find the article. I read it on Usenet c1994. I thought it was the Guardian or Telegraph, but my Google-fu is failing me. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6481 "2023-05-10T19:58:12Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > There was an article in a British newspaper about 30 years ago when new varieties of “instant” cricket were being innovated (shorter games, more scoring)… More scoring? Don’t cricket matches often have scores in the hundreds of runs? I can’t think of a sport with higher scores than cricket. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6482 "2023-05-10T20:42:34Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I can’t think of a sport with higher scores than cricket. You haven’t seen me playing golf! ---
**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:** [May 10, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6483 "2023-05-10T20:59:42Z")
Billiards? Eg: > **[Tom Reece | Early billiards career and record break](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Reece#Early_billiards_career_and_record_break)** > > In January 1907, Walter Lovejoy introduced the cradle cannon (also known as an anchor cannon) to the British game, in a match against Cecil Harverson, making a break of 603 points, which included 284 consecutive cradle cannons. > In a cradle cannon sequence, the two object balls are played into a position near a corner pocket where the cue ball can be successively played for a cannon off them so that they remain in the same position at the conclusion for the next shot. This technique was quickly t... > In 1912, with Stevenson not participating, Inman and Reece played for the professional billiards title. Inman recorded a decisive 18,000–9,675 win over Reece in a match that The Sporting Life described as “the most spiritless affair ever witnessed on a billiard table” because it was so one-sided. Inman defeated Reece for the title again in 1913, 18,000–16,627; and in 1914, 18,000–12,826. j ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6484 "2023-05-11T02:58:32Z")
As it happens, I already knew that from a QI clip about 2 weeks ago, and I got my random fact from one of the comments. [How Do You Pronounce The Letter P In Greek? | QI - YouTube](https://youtu.be/5-9o4IwHdRI?t=63) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2023, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6485 "2023-05-11T16:10:02Z")
Looking for information on what could be the next Nintendo console, I found out that there is a Nintendo European Research & Development, it is a subsidiary of Nintendo located in Paris, specialized in the field of highly optimized software technologies. And yes, their acronym is [**NERD.**](https://www.nerd.nintendo.com/page3/) ---
**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:** [May 12, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6486 "2023-05-12T18:05:09Z")
Today I learned about [Public Universal Friend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Universal_Friend). A very interesting individual. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6487 "2023-05-12T19:29:21Z")
Wow! I live in Cumberland RI, my wife and kids are Quakers, and I can tolerate Quakers for a short time without getting stabby. We have a giant buried here, and a monastery with a howitzer on display, and our own mineral also. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6488 "2023-05-12T19:37:52Z")
Now you make me wonder whether it is a hard or a soft mineral, and whether it is called quakerite. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2023, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6489 "2023-05-12T19:52:45Z")
Relatively hard iron ore called Cumberlandite. The only source of it is a huge rock that emerged in the north end of town. Pieces of it traveled down to Narragansett Bay, and have been carried around the world because it was good ballast for ships. It was not a high quality iron ore though, not useful for making iron, which is probably why there is any left. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6490 "2023-05-12T21:15:56Z")
There was a mineral discovered in Cummington, Massachusetts. You can probably guess what it’s called. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=323) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=325)