# 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:** 462
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2024, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9233 "2024-03-23T00:59:55Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Queen Victoria didn’t make a public appearance for the next 13 years Although there were rumors about her relationships to John Brown and to Abdul Karim during her later life. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9234 "2024-03-27T02:11:06Z")
In 2005, in Hamburg Germany, there was a rash of exploding toads. Research found that some local crows were removing the toads’ livers, and the toads were swelling up to make themselves look bigger _POP_ > **[Exploring Nature Science Education Resource](https://www.exploringnature.org/db/view/Whats-Up-With-the-Exploding-Toads)** > > Exploring Nature Science Education Resource - Life Science, Earth Science, and Physical Science Resources for Students and Teachers K-12 ---
**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:** [March 27, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9235 "2024-03-27T15:39:30Z")
TIL that there was a Ptolemaic deity named Harpocrates, the god of silence, secrets and confidentiality. Which immediately makes me wonder if that was the true origin of the stage name Harpo Marx. ---
**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:** [March 27, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9236 "2024-03-27T17:07:42Z")
He was a musician who played the harp. ---
**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:** [March 28, 2024, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9237 "2024-03-28T10:22:14Z")
I could tell you about the Harpocratic oath, but then I’d have to kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9238 "2024-03-28T10:23:53Z")
me, too … but I’d rather keep it to myself ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9239 "2024-03-28T18:10:06Z")
The UK has more than 6 times the number of giant sequoias than California: > **[Why there are more 'iconic' giant sequoias in Britain than California, where...](https://www.businessinsider.com/californian-giant-sequoias-thriving-in-the-uk-report-says-2024-3)** > > Giant sequoias were initially symbols of power and wealth in Victorian Britain, but they are now found widely across parks and woodlands. ---
**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:** [March 28, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9240 "2024-03-28T18:12:20Z")
Psst… look up post 9184. Which looks almost like an Orwell book title ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9241 "2024-03-28T18:16:23Z")
Bah! 🤦‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9242 "2024-03-28T20:08:35Z")
This is more an interesting random fact that I made up myself this morning. True fact Ulysses S. Grant was a “Never Nude” as in he never let anyone see him naked. So I was wondering, how would he dress in the morning if he never got nude? A dressing gown, of course. And how would he bathe? A bathing suit, naturally. Is this actually the origin of the names of these garments? I doubt it, but if if were true, that would be an interesting random fact. ---
**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:** [March 28, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9243 "2024-03-28T20:34:08Z")
Didn’t we have a made-up facts thread at one point? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9244 "2024-03-28T20:57:14Z")
Once there was Crates of Thebes, a great philosopher who studied under Diogenes the Cynic, who belonged to a strange society that mused upon truths, called the Straight Dope. Plutarch wrote upon Crates, “But Crates with only his wallet and tattered cloak laughed out his life jocosely, as if he had been always at a festival.” And he bequeathed his laughter to a bevy of sons, named Chicocrates, Harpocrates, Grouchocrates, Gummocrates, Zeppocrates, and Hippocrates. The second son inherited his tattered cloak and the third his wallet. Harpocrates was known as the nicest man in the woods of hollies, perhaps because he never spoke. Until he was elderly and death faced him, and he dictated to a scribe a lengthy scroll about his adventures. One of these took him to the land of the rushes, where he served as a spy for the king, and concealed documents upon his person, and swore a mighty oath never to reveal their contents to any living soul. And that is all we know about the Harpocratic oath. But his brother Hippocrates never shut his damn mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9245 "2024-03-29T05:09:20Z")
Remember 900 numbers? Most of them were sex talk, but there were exceptions, and weird ones at that [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ApbXnkMdBXs/hqdefault.jpg "Crying Number 1994") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApbXnkMdBXs) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9246 "2024-03-29T13:22:52Z")
But what about Socrates? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9247 "2024-03-29T13:28:11Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Remember 900 numbers? Most of them were sex talk, but there were exceptions, and weird ones at that Around Christmas time, there were always numbers advertised to children where you could talk to Santa. One of them allegedly got into trouble for one of their ads, where they told children to hold the phone up to the TV, and then it played the tones of the number to “magically” dial Santa. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2024, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9248 "2024-03-29T13:49:24Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Didn’t we have a made-up facts thread at one point? Yes, probably more than one. Searching for “Leon Shingledown” leads you to a good one: > [@99 little know facts about the founding of the USA](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-little-know-facts-about-the-founding-of-the-usa/587604): > > As we (the greatest people on earth, you know who you are) celebrate our nation’s birth this weekend with traditions dating back to the 1300s, I offer up some little-known tid-bits about the men (and pretty ladies) who helped found our awesome country. Take some time to ponder them and stuff. And if you have some more to add, add them and we will ponder them too. -The original Declaration included the words “phlegm,” “corpulant,” and “dangle.” -Founding father Dirk Fink written out of history … ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9249 "2024-03-29T20:23:44Z")
He, sadly, was Manfred. {Google it.} ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9250 "2024-03-29T20:40:17Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Didn’t we have a made-up facts thread at one point? here you go … [Made Up Facts Thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-political-religious-jabs-in-breaking-news-threads-in-mpsims/740558) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9251 "2024-03-29T21:18:49Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Harpocrates was known as the nicest man Oh sure, given your username, you would say that. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9252 "2024-03-30T00:50:53Z")
Harvard has [a book bound in human skin](https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4561766-harvard-to-remove-human-skin-binding-book/). Well, it used to be bound in human skin, but it’s still interesting! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=461) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=463)