# 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:** 480
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2024, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9593 "2024-05-31T01:41:02Z")
I guess I never saw the right postcards. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2024, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9594 "2024-05-31T02:29:27Z")
Per etymonline Snot: late 14c., snotte, from Old English gesnot “nasal mucus,” from Proto-Germanic \*snuttan (source also of Old Frisian snotta, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch snotte, Middle Low German snute), from the same base as snout (q.v.). Old English had also a verb snite “wipe or pick one’s nose.” Snack(verb): c. 1300, snak, “to bite or snap” (of a dog), perhaps from a Northern variant of [snatch](https://www.etymonline.com/word/snatch#etymonline_v_23763) (v.) influenced by Scandinavian words (such as Old Norse snakka); or perhaps also from or influenced by continental Germanic words such as Middle Dutch snakken, Flemish snacken “to snatch, snap; chatter,” which Watkins traces to a hypothetical Germanic imitative root forming words having to do with the nose (see [snout](https://www.etymonline.com/word/snout)). Snack(noun): c. 1400, snak, “a snatch or snap” (especially that of a dog), from snack (v.). Later “a snappish remark” (1550s); “a share, portion, part” (1680s; hence old expressions such as go snacks “share, divide; have a share in”). The meaning “a bite or morsel to eat hastily” is attested from 1757. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2024, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9595 "2024-05-31T11:28:47Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > > [@RealityChuck](#): > > > > “Snot” and “snack” are cognates. > > Well, the OED doesn’t seem to support that one. Where did you hear it? > > Snot: > > > Middle English snotte or snot (compare Old English gesnot), = Frisian snotte, snot, Middle Dutchsnotte (Dutch snot), Middle Low German (and Low German) snotte, snot (hence Danish snot, †snaat, snøt), in sense [2](https://www.oed.com/dictionary/snot_n?tab=meaning_and_use#21855377); compare also Low German snut, Middle High German snuz (German dialect schnutz). The stem is related by ablaut to that of [snite _v._](https://www.oed.com/dictionary/snite_v?tab=meaning_and_use#22175078) > > Snack: > > > Of doubtful origin: compare Middle Dutch or Flemish snacken to snap (of a dog), Norwegian dialect snaka to snatch (of animals). The Low German and Dutch snakken (German dialect schnakken) to gasp, desire, etc., to talk or chatter, which agree in form, do not correspond in sense. Not going back far enough. The American Heritage dictionary shows Proto-Indo-European roots and indicates they came from the same PIE source. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2024, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9596 "2024-05-31T17:03:22Z")
McLean Stevenson, who played Lt. Col. Henry Blake in the TV show _M\*A\*S\*H_, died February 15, 1996 of a heart attack. Roger Bowen, who played Lt. Col. Henry Blake in the movie _M\*A\*S\*H_, died February 16, 1996 of a heart attack. Per CT logic, this cannot possibly a coincidence, they must have been killed via a drug that imitated a heart attack. Clearly to prevent them, as actors who played doctors, from doing pro-vaccine PSAs. [A personal interesting random fact I discovered the other day is that I’m two degrees of separation from Richard Feynman and therefore 3 degrees from Einstein, Bohr, Oppenheimer, etc.] ---
**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:** [May 31, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9597 "2024-05-31T17:07:24Z")
Jamie Farr, Alan Alda and Mike Farrell all served in the military and all were stationed in Korea though after the war. Farr wore his real dog tags on the show. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9598 "2024-05-31T17:10:58Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Per CT logic, this cannot possibly a coincidence, they must have been killed via a drug that imitated a heart attack. Clearly to prevent them, as actors who played doctors, from doing pro-vaccine PSAs. That’s silly. It’s not a conspiracy theory, those are just nonsense. It’s the Henry Blake curse. Everyone who played Henry Blake on TV or film has died. The dates are irrelevant. Curses are real though. Have no doubt, anyone else who plays Henry Blake will die one day. If you don’t believe me check out the Saturday Night Live curse. 17 members of the SNL cast have already died. I guarantee you the rest of them will die one day too. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2024, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9599 "2024-05-31T17:27:52Z")
A great deal of the hay in North America is grown in dry climates in the West where tedding is rarely necessary. I learned about tedding the summer I was 17 and lived on a farm in Nova Scotia. In New England the springs and summers have recently been ungodly wet, very hard to get hay to the proper dryness to bale. My hay guy sometimes has had to ted the same field over and over. He also uses a hay moisture meter to help him know the exact hour to bale. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2024, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9600 "2024-06-01T00:14:54Z")
Speaking of Jamie Farr, he was in the TV show “You Are There” about the Lost Battalion under his birth name Jameel Fahar. Thing is, it seems impossible to find that credit for him online. I know I saw the show and the only references to it online seems to be [this](https://www.ebay.com/itm/204786214199) and [that at 17:45](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jamie-farr?clip=38232#interview-clips). . ---
**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:** [June 1, 2024, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9601 "2024-06-01T13:22:34Z")
No US President has been an only child and all but three have had more than one sibling. The average is a little over five. (This includes half siblings and ones who died very young). > **[Birth Order | Presidents of the United States (POTUS)](https://potus.com/presidential-facts/birth-order/)** > > Birth order of the Presidents of the United States and the number of siblings. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9602 "2024-06-01T14:09:35Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > No US President has been an only child At first glance, I thought this was a rather unusual stat, but then I realized that a one-child family used to be a somewhat rare occurrence. Except for Obama, all of our Presidents were born before 1960, when the average number of children in a family was almost four kids. Today, it’s less than two kids per family, and 20% of households with children have one child. [The Only-Child Family | Psychology Today](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/family-dynamics/only-child-family#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Pew%20Research,the%20fastest%20growing%20family%20unit). ---
**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:** [June 1, 2024, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9603 "2024-06-01T14:18:43Z")
Interestingly, six US Presidents didn’t have children. (Three of those has step-children). All six were likely infertile. [https://www.auajournals.org/doi/10.1016/j.juro.2011.02.1078](https://www.auajournals.org/doi/10.1016/j.juro.2011.02.1078) ---
**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:** [June 1, 2024, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9604 "2024-06-01T17:31:58Z")
The first international match ever, **in any sport** , was a cricket contest between the USA and Canada in 1844. Or so the Economist [claims this week](https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/05/30/will-americans-be-bowled-over-by-cricket-again). I am posting this here because believing this does not come naturally to me and I hope some nitpicking Doper sets the record straight. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2024, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9605 "2024-06-01T17:55:43Z")
My quick Googling tells me that this is established fact. I think what they mean is two official national teams meeting for a face off so like the Modern Olympics or World Cup. This as opposed to a random team of Americans against a different team of Canadians. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9606 "2024-06-01T18:54:25Z")
Yes, but was there a Board or some other authority to select the teams and certify that they represent the country? ---
**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:** [June 1, 2024, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9607 "2024-06-01T19:04:09Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > cricket contest between the USA and Canada in 1844. It seems that way. The teams consisted of members from different clubs so sort of an All Star team. Read below and you can decide for yourself if it counts. > **[Canadian cricket team in the United States in 1844](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_cricket_team_in_the_United_States_in_1844)** > > The Canadian cricket team in the United States in 1844 was a tour consisting of the first international cricket match. The match took place between 24 and 26 September 1844 at the St George's Cricket Club's ground at what is now 30th Street and Broadway (then Bloomingdale Road) in Manhattan, New York. The game was billed as 'United States of America versus the British Empire's Canadian Province’. > Canada won by 23 runs in a low-scoring game. On the first day, there were from 5,000 to 20,000 spe... ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9608 "2024-06-01T19:17:55Z")
I guess by the standard that this wouldn’t count (“no official or even widely recognized body exists governing the sport” in either nation), nor would the first couple of decades of Test cricket between England and Australia. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9609 "2024-06-01T21:05:43Z")
I’m wondering why the ancient Olympic Games don’t count. Considering all the various Greek city-states as being one “nation” seems dubious, but that’s the only reason I can think of for excluding the Olympic Games. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9610 "2024-06-01T21:06:38Z")
It does count. They mean since the ancient Olympics. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2024, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9611 "2024-06-01T21:31:40Z")
OK, yes, that counts. Even without national federations or official bodies and all that stuff, that was a precursor and started it all. I am just surprised that there were no football matches (soccer) between England and Scottland or something like that (tennis?) on the margins of some famous battle before that could be counted as an ever earlier precursor. If the USA and “the British Empire’s Canadian Province” claim it, and the province counts as a country, and no other country contests it, then it stands. So it is an interesting fact(oid). Curious. _So was_, as we say in Germany. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9612 "2024-06-01T21:59:28Z")
Would medieval tourneys count? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=479) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=481)