# 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:** 347
**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:** [July 11, 2023, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6931 "2023-07-11T04:08:16Z")
Nathan Poe, the originator of Poe’s Law\* is the nephew of Heather Poe, the wife of Mary Cheney. -source. Nathan’s uncle/Heather’s cousin is a friend of mine. - Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utterly impossible to parody a Creationist in such a way that _someone_ won’t mistake for the genuine article. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2023, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6932 "2023-07-11T11:59:26Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I recently leared that it’s best to use the expensive oil recommended by your lawn mower’s manual. > > Apparently the additives in “lawn motor oil” are superior to oil that’s used in car engines. That’s because the (better) additive that’s used in lawn motor oil are not compatible with car engines because they will destroy the catalytic converter. > > In other words, lawn mowers don’t have catalytic converters, so they can use “better” additives in oil. ZDDP is the big one here: > **[Zinc dithiophosphate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_dithiophosphate)** > > Zinc dialkyldithiophosphates (often referred to as ZDDP) are a family of coordination compounds developed in the 1940s that feature zinc bound to the anion of a dialkyldithiophosphoric salt (e.g., ammonium diethyl dithiophosphate). These uncharged compounds are not salts. They are soluble in nonpolar solvents, and the longer-chain derivatives easily dissolve in mineral and synthetic oils used as lubricants. They come under CAS number 68649-42-3. In aftermarket oil additives, the percentage of Th... Zinc “poisons” catalytic converters and O2 sensors, so it’s kept to a minimum in oils intended for cars. Motorcycles have faced similar issues, as in the past few decades emissions rules for them have tightened and forced manufacturers to add cats and O2 sensors, thus also requiring oils with reduced ZDDP content. It’s not just that small engines “can” use high-ZDDP oils - they’re designed for it, so if you don’t use those oils, you can wreck the engine. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6933 "2023-07-11T15:06:42Z")
Is blink the plural of wink? ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2023, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6934 "2023-07-11T16:42:28Z")
👏 👏 👏 😉 ---
**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:** [July 11, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6935 "2023-07-11T17:22:32Z")
Plurals now? I found out that JRR Tolkien claimed that the plural of dwarf was properly dwarrows. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6936 "2023-07-11T17:52:04Z")
That would make the plural of barf “barrows”. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6937 "2023-07-11T18:22:38Z")
I think I’ll put on a couple scarrows and walk along the wharrows. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6938 "2023-07-12T00:34:54Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Plurals now? I found out that JRR Tolkien claimed that the plural of dwarf was properly dwarrows. Just “dwarrow”. The word is already plural. “Dwarrows” would make it doubly plural. It would be like saying “mices” as the plural of “mouse”. ---
**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:** [July 12, 2023, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6939 "2023-07-12T12:01:37Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > That would make the plural of barf “barrows”. So a barrow downs is the site of a lot of sick? I can see where that might generate a wight or two. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6940 "2023-07-12T16:33:04Z")
Albert Brooks’s real name is Albert Einstein. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6941 "2023-07-12T16:39:28Z")
I thought it was illegal to mention that without also saying his brother was Super Dave Osborne. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6942 "2023-07-12T16:42:04Z")
And their father was Parkyakarkus. ---
**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:** [July 12, 2023, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6943 "2023-07-12T17:20:11Z")
And he died at a Friar’s Club Roast to honor Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. After delivering a speech that had the crowd clutching their sides Harry Einstein (AKA Parkyakarkus) suffered a heart attack and slumped over onto Milton Berle who cried out “Is there a doctor in the house?” which generated laughter before the seriousness of the situation was understood. Einstein was said to have “killed, then died” at the Friar’s Club that night. ---
**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:** [July 12, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6944 "2023-07-12T17:29:23Z")
Dick Shawn (“Lionel Saint Dubois”) also made a dramatic exit that kind of fell flat. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6945 "2023-07-12T17:30:30Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Einstein was said to have “killed, then died” at the Friar’s Club that night. Wow, some story. You know, when the subject of death comes up, I often tell friends about something I’ve read about a Greek philosopher or something like that who, in his old age, drew a caricature of an ugly old woman and laughed at it so hard that he died. So, I tell my friends that that’s how I’d like to die. But that story sounds like an even better way to go. ---
**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:** [July 12, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6946 "2023-07-12T17:36:56Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > “Lionel Saint Dubois” “Lorenzo” ---
**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:** [July 12, 2023, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6947 "2023-07-12T17:40:01Z")
Known to his friends as LSD ---
**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:** [July 12, 2023, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6948 "2023-07-12T20:41:11Z")
From upthread, regarding Tunnel Road Reigate (an early road tunnel; my added bold in the quote): > [@Treppenwitz](#): > > The tunnel was designed by [William Constable](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG204791), who also designed the second suspension bridge built in England – over the same road, just north of Reigate. He sounds like an interesting character ( **he was also a pioneering photographer** ) but he’s a tough google, partly because William Constable is a pretty common name. Well looky here: > [@Earliest photo of famous person?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-photo-of-famous-person/986920/8): > > Prince Albert had been photographed in 1842. [William Constable (1783-1861) - Prince Albert (1819-1861) (rct.uk)](https://www.rct.uk/collection/2932488/prince-albert-1819-1861) Props to @APB for the find (even if they were looking for something else.) j ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6949 "2023-07-13T00:07:28Z")
_Deep Throat_ was shown in movie theaters in the early Seventies without copyright (because who copyrighted porn flicks in those days?) but was considered unpublished because it was shown through [four walling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_wall_distribution) and therefore did not end up public domain (which was fortunate when the home video market exploded about 10 years later). Now, that’s pretty random… ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6950 "2023-07-13T01:09:45Z")
#### Did Stanley Kubrick curse movie musicals and the Oscars? The 1968 movie musical _Oliver!_ won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Stanley Kubrick’s film _2001: A Space Odyssey_ was released the same year but wasn’t even nominated. Stanley Kubrick was nominated for Best Director, but lost to Carol Reed who directed _Oliver!_. A movie musical would not win Best Picture again until _Chicago_, released in 2002. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=346) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=348)