# 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:** 327
**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:** [May 18, 2023, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6531 "2023-05-18T14:26:00Z")
In 2019, as a Halloween promotion, McDonalds in Portugal introduced a dessert with strawberry syrup called “Sundae Bloody Sundae”. British and Irish expats living in Portugal were not amused and the menu item was quickly withdrawn. [![](https://cdn.record.pt/images/2019-10/img_1200x1200%242019_10_31_12_21_49_1621256.jpg) ](https://cdn.record.pt/images/2019-10/img_1200x1200%242019_10_31_12_21_49_1621256.jpg) ---
**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 18, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6532 "2023-05-18T16:36:03Z")
It feels like amnesja vú – I think I have forgotten this before. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2023, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6533 "2023-05-19T11:35:59Z")
I recently watched a video which claimed that the reason your mouth gets itchy/sore after eating fresh pineapple is because of raphides, tiny needles of calcium oxalate: > **[Raphide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphide)** > > Raphides (/ˈræfɪdiz/ RAF-id-eez; singular raphide /ˈreɪfaɪd/ RAY-fyde or raphis) are needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate monohydrate (prismatic monoclinic crystals) or calcium carbonate as aragonite (dipyramidal orthorhombic crystals), found in more than 200 families of plants. > Both ends are needle-like, but raphides tend to be blunt at one end and sharp at the other. > Many plants accumulate calcium oxalate crystals in response to surplus calcium, which is found throughout the natural env... After more digging, I’m pretty sure this is wrong, and that the real reason is bromelain. This is the protein-digesting enzyme that makes pineapple juice an effective meat tenderizer, and it turns out that it’s also good at punching through the mucus layer in your mouth and attacking your cheeks, tongue, and lips, while also clearing a path for the pineapple’s acid content to cause additional irritation. > **[Bromelain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromelain)** > > Bromelain is an enzyme extract derived from the stems of pineapples, although it exists in all parts of the fresh pineapple. The extract has a history of folk medicine use. As an ingredient, it is used in cosmetics, as a topical medication, and as a meat tenderizer. > The term "bromelain" may refer to either of two protease enzymes extracted from the plants of the family Bromeliaceae, or it may refer to a combination of those enzymes along with other compounds produced in an extract. Bromelain enz... > **[A Trick That Keeps Pineapple From Burning Your Mouth When You Eat a Ton](https://www.bonappetit.com/story/pineapple-tongue-burn-trick)** > > Save yourself with this little tip we picked up from the Netflix series Ugly Delicious. > **[Pineapple Eats You!](https://www.foodfanatic.com/2021/04/pineapple-eats-you/)** > > If you have heard that 'pineapple eats you' you must have wondered what on earth that means! Here's the explanation behind this bizarre phrase! ---
**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 19, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6534 "2023-05-19T14:53:11Z")
Today I learned about [Mystery Flesh Pit National Park](https://www.mysteryfleshpitnationalpark.com/)! Have you been there? Take the kiddies! (I disclaim any responsibility for nightmares, accidents, or cosmic abominations encountered at said park.) ---
**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:** [May 19, 2023, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6535 "2023-05-19T15:48:00Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Today I learned about [Mystery Flesh Pit National Park](https://www.mysteryfleshpitnationalpark.com/)! Did that have anything to do with [the Kentucky meat shower?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_meat_shower) ---
**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:** [May 19, 2023, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6536 "2023-05-19T15:48:05Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Today I learned about [Mystery Flesh Pit National Park](https://www.mysteryfleshpitnationalpark.com/) Alas, it’s not real. The only real flesh pits in the 1970s were the numerous discos. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6537 "2023-05-19T16:00:48Z")
Future historians are going to have even more trouble distinguishing fact from entertaining fiction in our era than we do. ---
**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 19, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6538 "2023-05-19T22:51:12Z")
When I showed my teacher friends the [Huffington Post](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/betsy-devos-orders-immediate-flattening-of-all-school-globes_b_14639376) article about Betsy DeVos wanting to flatten school globes to represent the flat Earth many of them believed it. Apparently enough people in the US believed it that [Snopes](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/betsy-devos-demand-classroom-globes-flattened/) did an article on it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2023, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6539 "2023-05-20T07:52:21Z")
TIL that, when Alaska changed hands from Russia to the USA, not only did it change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, but the International Date Line was moved from its eastern border with Yukon to its western border in the Bering Strait. > The transfer ceremony took place at 3:30 p.m. local mean time (00:31 GMT) in the capital of New Archangel ([Sitka](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitka,_Alaska)), on Saturday, 7 October 1867(Julian), which was Saturday, 19 October 1867(Gregorian) in Europe. Since Alaska moved to the eastern side of the International Date Line, the date and time also moved back to 3:30 p.m. local time Friday, 18 October 1867 (00:31 GMT Saturday), now known as [Alaska Day](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Day). > **[International Date Line | Historic alterations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Date_Line#Historic_alterations)** > > Ferdinand Magellan claimed the Philippines for Spain on Saturday, 16 March 1521, having sailed westwards from Seville across the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. As part of New Spain, the Philippines had its most important communication with Acapulco in Mexico, so it was on the eastern side of the IDL despite being on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. As a result, the Philippines was one day behind its Asian neighbours for 323 years, 9 months and 4 days from Saturday, 16 March 1521 (Jul... ---
**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 20, 2023, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6540 "2023-05-20T14:09:41Z")
What is the word for when you drive past all the signs and go sailing off the cliff into the canyon as though no one ever invented brakes? That article had red flags all over the place. I assume there must be a Poe’s Law corrolary, that people will chow down on the absurdity because it makes them sneer-laugh, because oogah-boogah, or because vitamin-outrage. I smell an ignobel to follow this research. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6541 "2023-05-20T14:20:36Z")
Seth Curry’s career NBA 3-point shot percentage is higher than his brother’s. Their father was an excellent 3-point shooter as well, and all 3 are in the Top-50 in NBA history. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6542 "2023-05-22T14:43:25Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > [Bromelain - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromelain) One of my dogs, the German Shepherd, is unfortunately a poop eater. 😒 I sprinkle plain (not seasoned) meat tenderizer in all of the dogs’ food. Whatever the reason, they eat the food but the shepherd won’t eat the poop. It’s not a 100% fix but I’d say it’s 85%. Which is better than a dog with poop breath! 🤬 ---
**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 22, 2023, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6543 "2023-05-22T16:37:24Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > One of my dogs, the German Shepherd, is unfortunately a poop eater. One of our dog does that then wants to get in your face and lick your mouth. 🤮 ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6544 "2023-05-22T17:16:59Z")
Screw the metric system. Now I want to hear all these esoteric measurement terms. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6545 "2023-05-22T17:21:03Z")
The Republic of Somoa also did a date line change, to be more closely connected to Australia and New Zealand, skipping December 30, 2011. They had also switched from right-hand to left-hand driving a few years prior. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6546 "2023-05-22T17:37:17Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > [@TRC4941](#): > > > > One of my dogs, the German Shepherd, is unfortunately a poop eater. > > One of our dog does that then wants to get in your face and lick your mouth. 🤮 Try the meat tenderizer! It works. ---
**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 22, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6547 "2023-05-22T18:27:36Z")
There’s a [group in Namibia that rescues seals from fishing lines and other entanglements](https://www.youtube.com/@OceanConservationNamibia). Seeing these critters saved from our horrible pollution is both soothing and cheering. ---
**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 22, 2023, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6548 "2023-05-22T18:36:38Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Screw the metric system. Now I want to hear all these esoteric measurement terms. There’s always the [smoot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot). Wikipedia also has a page of unusual units of measure, but the poronkusema is sadly missing. > **[List of humorous units of measurement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_humorous_units_of_measurement)** > > Many people have made use of, or invented, units of measurement intended primarily for their humor value. This is a list of such units invented by sources that are notable for reasons other than having made the unit itself, and that are widely known in the Anglophone world for their humor value. > Most countries use the International System of Units (SI). In contrast, the furlong/firkin/fortnight system of units of measurement draws attention by being extremely old fashioned and off-beat at th... > [@zimaane](#): > > They had also switched from right-hand to left-hand driving a few years prior. When they made the change, did they have a song? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6ODZtwkBYPs/maxresdefault.jpg "The Telstars - Håll dig till höger, Svensson.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ODZtwkBYPs) ---
**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:** [May 23, 2023, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6549 "2023-05-23T00:42:13Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > They had also switched from right-hand to left-hand driving a few years prior. I hope that it went better than it did for Sweden. [![](https://i.ibb.co/mb8w1zk/991-C276-C-7-B78-4163-BFB2-EAA40-D9-B7-BC6.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/mb8w1zk/991-C276-C-7-B78-4163-BFB2-EAA40-D9-B7-BC6.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2023, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6550 "2023-05-23T04:05:09Z")
I was in Okinawa when they switched sides of the road. It was actually pretty well planned out and most accidents were very minor. Bus drivers had problems because they were taller than cars and would scrap balconies and trees, but it went much smoother than I expected. It was much more entertaining on the AF base. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=326) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=328)