# 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:** 33
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/641 "2020-08-12T13:36:29Z")
The Tijuana Brass was The Wrecking Crew until Alpert needed to start touring and making appearances, at which point he assembled the group. Disbanded several years later; HA had some ‘80s solo albums, then formed a new … Brass but called them the …TJB. Don’t know ‘bout you but I get confused. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/642 "2020-08-12T15:05:52Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > But oxtail soup (which is having a bit of a hipster resurgence) Yes, oxtail has for at least the last decade or so become pricey. I _love_ me some oxtail – ain’t nothing gross about it. It gives soups and stews a wonderfully full texture, and the meat itself, what little there is of it, is soft and rich in flavor. Somewhat like a short rib. But damn if I can’t find oxtail that isn’t nearly as expensive as steak (and actually more expensive than some steak cuts.) Around here, it usually runs 2-3x the price of chuck, and the stuff is like 80% bone. But, oh, is it good … ---
**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:** [August 12, 2020, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/643 "2020-08-12T23:53:46Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You can do that with a gazillion songs, and a lot of Emily Dickson poems, too! (Try “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.”) That 8 6 8 6 meter is a type of “hymn meter,” specifically “C.M.” or “common meter.” 8 8 8 8 is “L.M.” or “long meter” and “6 6 8 6” is “S.M.” or “short meter.” You will see this type of beat count listed in a lot of hymnals. It’s funnier with Hernando’s Hideaway. I’ve sung Frost’s Stopping By Woods to it, to general acclaim. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/644 "2020-08-13T19:23:53Z")
President Herbert Hoover’s (1928 - 1932) vice president was Charles Curtis, who was (part-) Native American: > **[Charles Curtis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Curtis)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Charles Curtis (January 25, 1860 – February 8, 1936) was an American attorney and Republican politician from Kansas who served as the 31st vice president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 under Herbert Hoover. He had served as the Senate Majority Leader from 1924 to 1929. A member of the Kaw Nation born in the Kansas Territory, Curtis was the first Native American and first person with acknowledged non-European ancestry to reach either of the... ---
**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:** [August 13, 2020, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/645 "2020-08-13T22:29:11Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass had only one #1 single; it was a vocal tune–“This Guy’s In Love With You,” sung by Alpert and the only brass on the track was his trumpet. Some would say Herb Alpert had several number one hits… He’s the A in A&M records, hence the trumpet in the logo. The label had 8 number one hits in the 1970s, 9 in the 1980s, 9 in the 1990s… [List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of the 1970s - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_number-one_singles_of_the_1970s) I keep meaning to read the book Tommy James wrote about the mob and Roulette records. Morris Levy was a bad dude—Hesh (in the Sopranos). For example: > [@](#): > > In 1996, a court found Levy’s estate posthumously liable for $4 million in a case initiated by [Herman Santiago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Santiago) and Jimmy Merchant of the [Teenagers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Teenagers), authors of the song “[Why Do Fools Fall in Love](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Do_Fools_Fall_in_Love_(song))”, who sued Levy for unpaid songwriting royalties.[[23]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Levy#cite_note-credit_1-23)[[24]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Levy#cite_note-success-24) During the trial, the two testified they had received just $1,000 for the 1956 hit, which sold more than 3 million copies.[[25]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Levy#cite_note-threat-25) Santiago testified that Levy told him, “Don’t come down here anymore or I’ll have to kill you or hurt you.”[[25]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Levy#cite_note-threat-25) > **[Morris Levy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Levy)** > > Morris Levy (born Moishe Levy; August 27, 1927 – May 21, 1990) was an American entrepreneur in the fields of jazz clubs, music publishing, and the independent record industry. Levy was cofounder and owner of Roulette Records, founding partner of the Birdland jazz club and the Roulette Room. He was a prominent subject of investigations into organized crime and the music industry, and was convicted of extortion shortly before his death. > At the peak of his business career, Levy owned more than 90 ... ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/646 "2020-08-13T23:21:40Z")
I know a step-brother/step-sister marriage. I’m not precisely sure how long they have been quite happily married, but they have a daughter who is 62. It never bothered me. They did not, however, ever live in the same household before they were married. He grew up with his mother and she was raised by her father and they met as late teenagers. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/647 "2020-08-15T00:39:05Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > a new idea in Math was invented around WW 2, linear programming. From wikipedia: > > Dantzig’s original example was to find the best assignment of 70 people to 70 jobs. The computing power required to test all the permutations to select the best assignment is vast; I don’t say that Wikipedia is wrong, but that doesn’t make sense as stated. Linear programming doesn’t solve problems in permutations. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/648 "2020-08-15T00:43:20Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I know a step-brother/step-sister marriage. I’m not precisely sure how long they have been quite happily married, but they have a daughter who is 62. It never bothered me A guy I worked with was a shared half-brother to both sides of a relationship like that. It didn’t bother him, but he couldn’t grok it. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/649 "2020-08-15T00:50:30Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > One of the events of the 1900 Olympics was shooting: live pigeon shooting. Yes, the pigeons were actually killed by the bullets. Not only that: the birds were passenger pigeons. And you thought they changed to clay targets out of moral compunction… ---
**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:** [August 15, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/650 "2020-08-15T02:10:09Z")
Thanks to Simon Whistler (Today I found out, Biographics, etc) on a bio about Attila the Hun, it was mentioned in passing 2 things about ancient Rome: one bit I knew already: that in 285 AD the Roman empire was split in 2. What I did not know was that Rome did not remain the capital of the Western Roman empire, in 286 AD Emperor Diocletian’s made Milan (Mediolanum) the capital of the Western Roman Empire. I then did take a look and that was not the end of it. Before the Western Empire ended, the capital had moved yet again, this time to Ravena. Why? Emperors decided that places like Ravena were easier to defend than Rome. It had been conquered before, but never mind because… > **[Ravenna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenna)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Ravenna (/rəˈvɛnə/ rə-VEN-ə, Italian: \[raˈvenna\], also locally \[raˈvɛnna\] (listen); Romagnol: Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom until it was re-conquered in 540 by the Byzantine Empire. Afterwards, the city formed the centre of the Byzant... When The Visigoths came knocking, they bypassed Ravena and sacked Rome… Even in their decadence, Rome was considered more important than Ravena. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/651 "2020-08-15T20:19:38Z")
I was reminded today of an odd twofer concerning **Danny Boy**. Everybody knows that old tradition Irish ballad, yes? Well, the tune is old, traditional and Irish, but [the lyric was written in 1913 by an Englishman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Boy), Frederick E. Weatherly. So - for the lyric at least - an old _English_ ballad. Weatherly gave the song to a female performer, so as originally composed “Danny Boy” was intended to be sung by a woman. > [@](#): > > The 1918 version of the sheet music with Weatherly’s printed signature included alternative lyrics (“Eily Dear”), with the instructions that “when sung by a man, the words in italic should be used; the song then becomes “Eily Dear”, so that “Danny Boy” is only to be sung by a lady”. -which is a surprise but, you would have thought, conclusive. However the Wikipedia article continues: > [@](#): > > In spite of this, it is unclear whether this was Weatherly’s intent.[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Boy#cite_note-6) The link is to a book, so the argument purporting to refute the author’s express instructions is not readily inspectable. But I’ll go with the author, 'cos I like the idea that every male performer of Danny Boy is singing the wrong damn lyric. j ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/652 "2020-08-15T21:36:08Z")
I’d be curious to see the whole set of new lyrics. A dude crying while his girl goes of to fight in a war, seems a bit anachronistic. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/653 "2020-08-15T23:01:07Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > I was reminded today of an odd twofer concerning **Danny Boy**. Everybody knows that old tradition Irish ballad, yes? Well, the tune is old, traditional and Irish, What isn’t mentioned in Wikipedia is that the melody was a MASSIVE hit when it was released. MASSIVE. EVERYBODY knew the melody. In America, mostly as “Londonderry Air”, with lyrics “Irish Love Song” by Katherine Hinkson. Even after Danny Boy started to become popular 10 or 20 years later, most of America knew “Londonderry Air” until that generation died out. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/654 "2020-08-16T03:28:43Z")
I didn’t look at the Wikipedia page referenced, but you can use a permutation matrix to solve a set of linear equations. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/655 "2020-08-16T07:52:45Z")
Solving a set of linear equations by matrix methods is not ‘linear programming’, is not the ‘simplex method’, and is not a solution to ‘testing all permutations of 70 jobs and 70 people’ I don’t know that Wikipedia got it wrong, just that whatever they were trying to describe, they did so in terms that don’t make obvious sense. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/656 "2020-08-16T10:20:36Z")
[Vice President Henry A Wallace](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_A._Wallace) can fairly be claimed to be the inventor of corn. A friend of George Washington Carver, in 1923 Wallace developed the Copper Cross hybrid, the basis of the corn we grow commercially now. His company Pioneer Hi-Bred is now a huge multinational. He was Veep to FDR in the 1940s, after having been secretary of agriculture from 1933 to 1940. By the way, his dad was secretary of agriculture in the 1920s. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/657 "2020-08-16T11:17:26Z")
If you know a sports trivia person, this question will likely have him exhaust all of his guesses before eventually giving up: Of the four major sports (baseball, football, basketball, & hockey), which professional North American sports franchise that is still in operation has been in existence the longest? The Toronto Argonauts were founded in 1873 and continue to operate every year since. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/658 "2020-08-16T19:39:27Z")
I’m listening to the podcast No Such Thing As a Fish, an odd facts podcast, and they just said that the 1967 film Doctor Doolittle had problems completing one scene. The parrot had learned to yell “Cut!” in a completely believable way. At first the director thought that Rex Harrison was stopping the scene. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/659 "2020-08-17T00:49:37Z")
I started reading another book about the origins of the song “The House of the Rising Sun” and found a similar mention of JPS taking a dim view of musical recordings. I had to return the book because I ran out of time to read it. JPS believed that people should make their own music, not rely on others. IIRC the author mentioned that a low percentage of parents sing to their children nowadays. Turn on the stereo for them instead? C’mon, that’s sad. So I think JPS was way ahead of his time on that issue. > [@](#): > > **Sousa** was concerned that **recording** would cause “social decline,” he writes, as people stopped making music together. “As a composer of military music, **Sousa** was concerned that soldiers would be led into battle by machines rather than marching bands,” Roads writes. > **[John Philip Sousa Feared ‘The Menace of Mechanical Music’](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/john-philip-sousa-feared-menace-mechanical-music-180967063/)** > > Wonder what he’d say about Spotify 94 piccolos, baby! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TvWWXv59apY/maxresdefault.jpg "The Stars and Stripes Forever with 94 piccolos! [4K]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvWWXv59apY) ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/660 "2020-08-17T00:55:58Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > JPS believed that people should make their own music, not rely on others. Great idea. I’m just gonna sit down and play a Beethoven string quartet now, all by myself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=32) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=34)