# 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:** 72
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1423 "2021-02-17T15:55:24Z")
Sperm can remain viable in the female reproductive system for 5 days! ---
**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:** [February 17, 2021, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1424 "2021-02-17T16:07:01Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Those worms are damn arrogant! Sold at their concerts? [https://www.zazzle.com/salad\_how\_many\_vegetables\_had\_to\_die\_to\_make\_u\_t\_shirt-235879626118804751](https://www.zazzle.com/salad_how_many_vegetables_had_to_die_to_make_u_t_shirt-235879626118804751) ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1425 "2021-02-17T16:13:16Z")
Charles Darwin wrote an entire book about worms: > **[The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Formation_of_Vegetable_Mould_Through_the_Action_of_Worms)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms, with Observations on their Habits (sometimes shortened to Worms) is an 1881 book by Charles Darwin on earthworms. It was his last scientific book, and was published shortly before his death (see Darwin from Insectivorous Plants to Worms). Exploring earthworm behaviour and ecology, it continued the theme common throughout his work that gradual changes over long periods of time can lea... ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1426 "2021-02-17T16:38:26Z")
Queen Liz’s husband Philip was in Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered in 1945. He was in the royal navy at the time . They married in 47 and she became queen in 52. He will be 100 in June. He was born in Greece but left as a child and does not speak Greek. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1427 "2021-02-17T16:51:41Z")
The drum part for the theme song for _Hogan’s Heroes_ was played by Bob Crane. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1428 "2021-02-17T17:21:31Z")
Huh. Well that will probably replace my current earworm which is Paradise by the Dashboard Lights. Haha, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2021, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1429 "2021-02-17T17:31:01Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > He will be 100 in June Let’s hope, as I just read that he was hospitalized. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1430 "2021-02-17T19:22:45Z")
I knew about this because Stephen Jay Gould wrote a column about it. It even made the cover of the colection containing it: > **[Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History by STEPHEN...](https://www.amazon.com/Hens-Teeth-Horses-Toes-Reflections/dp/0140225331)** > > Buy Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History by STEPHEN JAY GOULD (1984-05-03) on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1431 "2021-02-18T06:49:19Z")
Before he died, the great Carl Sandburg recorded the classic worm camp song [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/WZ9vcz34o8Q/hqdefault.jpg "Carl Sandburg sings "The Hearse Song"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ9vcz34o8Q) ---
**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:** [February 18, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1432 "2021-02-18T14:46:28Z")
Look at the shape of that Carl’s guitar. I’ve never seen one like that. In 2014, activists held an open (guitar) carry event. Nice flag: “Don’t Shred on Me.” > **[Open carry guitar rally](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_carry_guitar_rally)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Open Carry Guitar Rally is a concept created by Barry Kooda in response to the Open Carry gun movement. During an Open Carry Guitar Rally, citizens congregate in a public place while displaying their instruments, a parody of similar gatherings held by gun rights activists. > The event originated in Dallas, Texas, where it received the support of the local Dallas art and music communities. Kooda is a member of the Dallas-based punk rock band The Ner... ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2021, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1433 "2021-02-18T19:53:54Z")
Here’s some Prince Philip quotes. > **[Prince Philip's birthday: 98 gaffes in 98 years](https://inews.co.uk/light-relief/jokes/prince-phillip-duke-of-edinburgh-birthday-98-gaffes-98-years-10305)** > > To mark the Duke of Edinburgh's 98th birthday, we take a look back at some of his more choice remarks over the last 98 years. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1434 "2021-02-19T18:11:22Z")
I’m re-reading Jules Verne’s 1879 novel _The Begum’s Millions_ (actually, _The Begum’s 500 Million_ , _Les Cinq cents millions de la Bégum_ in the original French), and it depicts the equivalent of a late 19th century Zoom meeting. Having just had a Zoom meeting last night, and with three coming up next week, I can relate > [@](#): > > He preceded his guests into his office. > It was a modestly furnished room, three sides of which were covered by shelves of books, while the fourth, under some pictures and art objects, contained a row of numbered telephone mounth-pieces, like so many ear-trumpets. > “Thanks to the telephone,” he said, “We can hold council in France-Ville and remain each in his own home.” > The doctor touched an alarm bell which immediately communicated his call to the home of all the Council members. In less than three minutes, the word “present!” was carried in succession along each communicating wire, announcing that the Council members were ready." Three minutes it took them. For our meeting last night they allowed fifteen, and people were still straggling in afterwards. It must have seemed the height of luxury and technology to be able to attend a meeting from home. People always see the upside, and ignore the down (like being forced to attend such meetings for hours). Verne was describing something that was technically possible then, although most telephone systems would not be set up for it, and it would have been expensive. Less than forty years later Bell Telephone actually was hosting such telephone conference calls, and not just across town, but across the country. There was an MIT coast-to-coadt “Telephone Banquet” celebrated in 1916: > [@](#): > > On June 14, 1916, about 1,500 alumni, friends, and dignitaries convened in Symphony Hall, Boston, to celebrate the new campus opening up in Cambridge. Alumni also assembled in 34 other locations around the country and harnessed the most powerful technology of the time to communicate with each other—telephone. > > The American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) set up the connections for the [telephone banquets](http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/telephone/) and boasted that this was “the most elaborate trans-continental telephone stunt ever staged.” From San Francisco to Minneapolis to New Orleans, alumni simultaneously listened to speeches by MIT President Richard Maclaurin, famous inventors Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, aviator Orville Wright, and many others. [https://alum.mit.edu/slice/1916-telephone-banquet-mits-early-teleconference](https://alum.mit.edu/slice/1916-telephone-banquet-mits-early-teleconference) [http://museum.mit.edu/150/58](http://museum.mit.edu/150/58) Of course, there was no image. They were toying with the idea of simultaneous broadcasting of live images – there are several 19th century cartoons depicting such – and they knew how to do it by breaking down an image into what we would call pixels and sending them one at a time. They already had the equivalent of a FAX service even before they had voice over telephone, but it was a time-consuming process. They essentially lacked the technology to have the needed bandwidth. But I suppose you could always have posted an image of the speaker atop their telephone, if you really wanted to. > **[Science fiction - Origins, Genre, Authors](https://www.britannica.com/art/science-fiction/The-19th-and-early-20th-centuries)** > > Science fiction - Origins, Genre, Authors: In 1818 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley took the next major step in the evolution of science fiction when she published Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus. Champions of Shelley as the “mother of science... > **[Retro futurism, 19th century, Century](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/540713498989375947/)** > > Jun 27, 2015 - Deep in the back of your mind, you’ve always had the feeling that there’s something strange about reality. There is. Join Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick as they examine neurological quandaries, cosmic mysteries, evolutionary marvels and... ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1435 "2021-02-19T20:11:10Z")
Today I learned that Roald Dahl, beloved children’s author, wrote the 1967 James Bond film _You Only Live Twice._ ---
**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:** [February 19, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1436 "2021-02-19T20:18:52Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Three minutes it took them. For our meeting last night they allowed fifteen, and people were still straggling in afterwards. I forgot to mention – the meeting lasted all of 18 minutes. Allowing for the 5 minute get-together time, the whole duration was less than half an hour. If Zoom meetings lasted no longer than half an hour – as in Verne’s utopia – people might not mind as much. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2021, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1437 "2021-02-19T20:21:33Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Today I learned that Roald Dahl, beloved children’s author, wrote the 1967 James Bond film _You Only Live Twice._ He wrote an article about the experience forPlayboy. It appeared in the June 1967 issue > **[‘007’s Oriental Eyefuls’ by Roald Dahl](https://literary007.com/2013/12/19/007s-oriental-eyefuls-by-roald-dahl/)** > > In 1967, this rare Playboy article was written by famous children’s author Roald Dahl. Dahl in fact, worked with Ian Fleming in the BSC during WW2 with the secret intelligence group informall… ---
**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:** [February 19, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1438 "2021-02-19T20:58:28Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Today I learned that Roald Dahl, beloved children’s author, wrote the 1967 James Bond film _You Only Live Twice._ If you like Dahl, check out his short stories for adults. His best known is “Lamb to the Slaughter,” which Alfred Hitchcock dramatized for his TV who (Hitchcock also did "The Man from the South). All his work is dark as night and very funny. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1439 "2021-02-19T21:34:16Z")
Roald Dahl probably, according to his neurologist friend, had acquired brain damage, with disinhibitation. He survived a serious airplane crash as a young man, and after that slept around a lot, and wrote children’s stories where crime pays, or evil people are ugly, or the leading character turns into a mouse – and stays that way. And prior to the crash, he never showed any of the imaginative freedom that marks his work. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2021, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1440 "2021-02-19T21:42:50Z")
At the outbreak of World War II, there were a small number of U.S. B-17 bombers based in the Philippines. Some were destroyed in attacks on December 8th, but not all. As fighting intensified and newer bombers became available, those older planes were withdrawn from front line service. One of them was kept airworthy by replacing the tail with one from another aircraft. The plane was then named “The Swoose” after a character in a popular song who was half swan, and half goose. After that, it was selected by Captain Frank Kurtz to be the personal transport for the Deputy Commander of Allied Forces in Australia. After the war, the plane was scheduled to be smelted down, but (now) Colonel Kurtz persuaded the city of Los Angeles to save the plane as a war memorial. When no suitable location was found for it, the plane was donated to the National Air Museum (now the National Air and Space Museum) which stored it for many years. In 2007 it was traded to the National Museum of the United States Air Force to undergo restoration. It is the oldest B-17, and the only B-17D still in existence. Colonel Kurtz named his daughter after the aircraft. She grew up to be an actress, Swoosie Kurtz. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1441 "2021-02-19T22:44:09Z")
A rather trivial one for me. I happened to read the Wikipedia article on the late character actor Victor Buono and I was shocked to see he was only forty-three when he died. I remember seeing him in various roles back in the sixties (like _[Batman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcTyDpgimlw)_ and _[The Wild Wild West](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92wMfGPz2qU)_) and I never realized he was only in his twenties. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2021, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1442 "2021-02-20T00:50:29Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > If you like Dahl, check out his short stories for adults. His best known is “Lamb to the Slaughter,” which Alfred Hitchcock dramatized for his TV who (Hitchcock also did "The Man from the South). All his work is dark as night and very funny. One of my mother’s favorites. There was an entire TV anthology series of Dahl’s dark adult stories – **Tales of the Unexpected**. It was a British TV series, but it ran in syndication on American TV. And it was hosted by Dahl himself! > **[Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_Unexpected_(TV_series))** > > Tales of the Unexpected (Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected) is a British television series that aired between 1979 and 1988. Each episode told a story, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, with an unexpected twist ending. Every episode of series one, twelve episodes of series two, two episodes of series three, two episodes of series four, and one episode of series nine were based on short stories by Roald Dahl collected in the books Tales of the Unexpected, Kiss Kiss, and So Th... That article says that Dahl also hosted the American series _Way Out_. I recall seeing the seies as a kid, but I don’t recall a host. [https://www.amazon.com/Tales-of-the-Unexpected-DVD/dp/B07DR352FW/ref=sr\_1\_10?dchild=1&keywords=Tales+of+the+Unexpected&qid=1613782204&s=movies-tv&sr=1-10](https://www.amazon.com/Tales-of-the-Unexpected-DVD/dp/B07DR352FW/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=Tales+of+the+Unexpected&qid=1613782204&s=movies-tv&sr=1-10) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=71) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=73)