# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 1)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674>\
**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:** 468

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9353 "2024-04-19T18:01:23Z")

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> [@fachverwirrt](#):
>
> Do Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey not count because of the “Sr., Jr.”?

I wouldn’t count them because it they were billed as Sr. and Jr.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9354 "2024-04-21T11:57:17Z")

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There have been at least 45 sequels to “The Amityville Horror” movie, including four new ones coming out this year. _Forty-five!_

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**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9355 "2024-04-21T19:51:53Z")

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> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> Just don’t ask Arlo Guthrie and David Letterman for the correct pronunciation.

I think I remember Art Linkletter (50’s-60’s TV host) saying it as _Loss ANG uh leez_.

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**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9356 "2024-04-21T20:48:54Z")

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I think part of what’s ironic about BR’s swordfighting tally is that he was in fact probably the best fencer in movies. He was a two-time British Army Fencing Champion.

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**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:** [April 21, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9357 "2024-04-21T20:56:42Z")

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Does skilled fencing translate into a realistic portrayal of actual combat? I think I read once that Oliver Reed came closest to what a real sword fight would look like.

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**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:** [April 21, 2024, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9358 "2024-04-21T21:03:53Z")

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And the related question, does realistic portrayal of actual combat make for a good movie?

I’ve heard that the actual most realistic sword duel in movies is the one at the start of The Count of Monte Cristo, where the two dudes draw, the more experienced one immediately skewers the other, and the less experienced one dies. Which is fine for a one-off scene to show that he’s a Bad Dude, but isn’t too engaging beyond that.

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**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:** [April 21, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9359 "2024-04-21T21:40:19Z")

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> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> I think I read once that Oliver Reed came closest to what a real sword fight would look like.

In **The Three/Four Musketeers** , most definitely. Every weapon at hand.

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**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\
**Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9360 "2024-04-21T22:37:01Z")

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The others weren’t slouches in that regard either. As I said elsewhere/when, a real swordfight didn’t mean witty repartee and elegant moves; it meant using every tactic (fair and otherwise) that would get it over with quickly and allow one to leave with all vital body parts intact, unlike the other guy.

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**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:** [April 21, 2024, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9361 "2024-04-21T22:43:52Z")

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> [@Chronos](#):
>
> I’ve heard that the actual most realistic sword duel in movies is the one at the start of The Count of Monte Cristo

And I believe [this analysis of the last sword fight in Macbeth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X6RNdSgUaA), by Polanski: this is a really well made scene. For me those were eleven well spent minutes in YouTube.

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**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:** [April 21, 2024, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9362 "2024-04-21T23:07:41Z")

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I believe MAD Magazine once had a “Scenes We’d Like To See” where the swashbuckling hero with a sword challenges the villain who is “the greatest swordsman in France”. Who promptly shows it’s true by skewering the hero.

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**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:** [April 22, 2024, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9363 "2024-04-22T05:34:08Z")

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Here’s Shelley Berman (doing an impression of an airline pilot) also saying it [that way](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npuA7dVvOWI&t=449s).

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**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:** [April 22, 2024, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9364 "2024-04-22T05:38:53Z")

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Youtube. I visit TikTok very rarely, only when absolutely necessary.

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**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:** [April 22, 2024, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9365 "2024-04-22T11:10:55Z")

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I recently learned about [balloon syndrome](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-68833432), a malady that can affect hedgehogs. Poor little critters!

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**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:** [April 22, 2024, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9366 "2024-04-22T12:38:46Z")

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Less than a year before John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincolm, his elder brother Edwin Booth rescued Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, from being hit by a train.

> [@](#):
>
> Edwin Booth saved Abraham Lincoln’s son,[[17]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Booth#cite_note-17) [Robert Todd Lincoln](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Todd_Lincoln), from serious injury or even death. The incident occurred on a train platform in [Jersey City](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_City), [New Jersey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey). The exact date of the incident is uncertain, but it is believed to have taken place in late 1864 or early 1865. Robert Lincoln recalled the incident in a 1909 letter to Richard Watson Gilder, editor of _The Century Magazine_.
> 
> > The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car. The platform was about the height of the car floor, and there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. There was some crowding, and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn. In this situation the train began to move, and by the motion I was twisted off my feet, and had dropped somewhat, with feet downward, into the open space, and was personally helpless, when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name.[[18]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Booth#cite_note-18)
> 
> Booth did not know the identity of the man whose life he had saved until some months later, when he received a letter from a friend, Colonel [Adam Badeau](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Badeau), who was an officer on the staff of General [Ulysses S. Grant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_S._Grant).

> **[Edwin Booth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Booth)**
>
> Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American actor who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Theatre in New York. Some theatrical historians consider him the greatest American actor, and the greatest Prince Hamlet, of the 19th century. His achievements are often overshadowed by his relationship with his younger brother, actor John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated the 16th pres Boo...

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**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:** [April 24, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9367 "2024-04-24T03:41:41Z")

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TIL that pack rats aren’t just people who have a lot of stuff

> **[Pack rat](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack_rat)**
>
> html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox.biota tr{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox.biota img{background:white}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox.biota tr{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox.biota img{background:white}}
> Neotoma albigula
> Neotoma angustapalata
> Neotoma chrysomelas
> Neotoma cinerea
> Neotoma devia
> †Ne...

Since the link server insists on screwing this up, its the wiki for the animal called a pack rat

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**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9368 "2024-04-24T11:06:18Z")

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> [@Zyada](#):
>
> TIL that pack rats aren’t just people who have a lot of stuff

Haha. Yeah. We have them around here. They make little piles of stuff. My wife and I each wondered about each other why the spouse made a little pile of twigs and flower petals on our deck.

Never said anything until curiosity got the better of us. That’s when we figured out there was a pack rat on our property.

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**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9369 "2024-04-24T13:28:57Z")

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"Angels on a pinhead’ time:

> **[Judges reject HMRC appeal and rule firm’s marshmallows are not sweets](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/23/hmrc-loses-marshmallow-case-after-judges-ruling-tax)**
>
> Innovative Bites Ltd wins case brought by UK tax authority after its ‘mega’ product deemed to be an ‘ingredient’

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**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9370 "2024-04-24T14:03:13Z")

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They are absolutely foul beasts. I’ve had to clean out a couple nests–unlike the old saying, they do indeed shit where they live, and piss all over everything, as well as accumulating all the requisite gew gaws and food. Do not recommend.

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**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:** [April 25, 2024, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9371 "2024-04-25T03:14:36Z")

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And another one: we glow

> **[You Can't See It, But Humans Actually Glow With Our Own Form of Bioluminescence](https://www.sciencealert.com/you-can-t-see-it-but-humans-actually-glow-in-visible-light)**
>
> When you hear about bioluminescence, your mind probably jumps to deep-sea creatures like the angler fish, which uses millions of bacteria to make a light appear in front of its head to catch prey and illuminate your nightmares.

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**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:** [April 25, 2024, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9372 "2024-04-25T04:44:41Z")

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Oh, goodie. Cue a revival of supposedly seeing so-called auras.

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