# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785 "2024-07-25T15:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 105
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2081 "2025-04-06T15:56:31Z")
It wouldn’t make much sense without the scene with Major Strasser signing the letters of transit at gunpoint at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2082 "2025-04-06T19:44:47Z")
I’d be interested in seeing it too, if only out of morbid curiosity. 🙂 I suppose it’s possible copies of it may still exist somewhere, but I can’t imagine there’s much chance of a blueray or streaming release. Victor Laszlo was changed from a Resistance fighter who escaped from a Nazi concentration camp to an atomic physicist who was being pursued by Interpol after he ‘broke out of jail.’ ---
**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:** [April 6, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2083 "2025-04-06T20:21:49Z")
I can’t find a copy of the version of _Casablanca_ that was released in Germany in 1952, but here’s an article about it: [https://www.npr.org/2017/12/17/565777766/whats-casablanca-without-nazis-after-wwii-german-audiences-found-out](https://www.npr.org/2017/12/17/565777766/whats-casablanca-without-nazis-after-wwii-german-audiences-found-out) ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2084 "2025-04-06T21:48:26Z")
Of the top WWII flying aces, the _vast_ majority are German. You have to go to 141st in the list before you find an Allied pilot. > **[List of World War II flying aces](https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_flying_aces)** > > This is a list of World War II flying aces. Fighter aces in World War II had tremendously varying kill scores, affected as they were by many factors: the pilot's skill level, the performance of the airplane he flew and those he flew against, how long... ---
**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 6, 2025, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2085 "2025-04-06T21:56:26Z")
Because of course the American (and British too?) policy of deliberately rotating their most successful aces to teaching new recruits, a luxury the Axis didn’t have. ---
**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 6, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2086 "2025-04-06T22:40:40Z")
Are the German anti-Nazi laws actually so restrictive that they don’t even allow depictions of Nazis as the bad guys? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2087 "2025-04-06T22:58:21Z")
I read a stat that said 75% of the aluminum ever made is still in use, because it doesn’t corrode and much of it is recycled. I am a bit skeptical of that claim, but it would be good if it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2088 "2025-04-06T23:08:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Are the German anti-Nazi laws actually so restrictive that they don’t even allow depictions of Nazis as the bad guys? Nope. 1952 were different times when Germans were still terrified of being confronted with the crimes they had committed and didn’t want to be confronted with them, especially in entertainment. It was an era of denial and suppression of the nazi past. It would have been totally legal to show “Casablanca” in a dub that was true to the original, but nobody would have wanted to watch it. This happened with a lot of non-German films that were dubbed into German where German villains (mostly nazis) were transposed into other nationalities, mostly Soviets or other communists. It was a complicated and long process before Germans somehow began to realize their nazi history and historical guilt, eventually provoked by the mid 60s student revolts of the post-war generation who confronted their parents and grandparents with their past and asked “What did YOU do between 1933-45?”. Before that, depictions of the real ongoings in the war were possible and totally legal (including depictions of nazi symbols like swastikas, the “German salute” and “Heil Hitler”, which are illegal in public, but allowed in arts), but not wanted and suppressed in post-war Germany (like “[Die Brücke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Br%C3%BCcke_(film))”, a 1959 German anti-war movie). This changed in the 70s. tldr: it has always been legal to depict nazis and nazi symbolism in arts in post-war Germany, but almost nobody in Germany wanted to be confronted with their past until maybe 1968. ETA: I just wanted to add that I write this from the perspective of someone born in 1968 in West Germany. Things regarding this subject in East Germany were different, but I don’t know enough about them to put it in perspective. ---
**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 6, 2025, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2089 "2025-04-06T23:35:45Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Because of course the American (and British too?) policy of deliberately rotating their most successful aces to teaching new recruits, a luxury the Axis didn’t have. And also there were a heck of a lot more targets for Axis fighters than Allied pilots. And conveniently above their territory. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2025, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2090 "2025-04-07T01:30:33Z")
Today I learned about USB kill sticks: > **[What Is A USB Kill Stick And Does It Really Work? - SlashGear](https://www.slashgear.com/1819672/usb-killer-explained-kill-stick-how-works-what-damage-cause/)** > > USB Kill sticks can be used to damage an adversary's computer hardware, and work against a variety of port types. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2091 "2025-04-07T01:35:25Z")
According to the quiz program **QI** , **The Sound of Music** was so popular in Korea that one cinema owner edited out all the songs to he could run it more often in a day. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2092 "2025-04-07T01:37:45Z")
I’ll bet that’s because many of the Germans’ opponents were minor nations with poor equipment and/or poorly trained pilots; from the start we can name Poland, Norway, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Greece, and finally Russia in the early years of that front. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2093 "2025-04-07T06:02:16Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > It was a complicated and long process before Germans somehow began to realize their nazi history and historical guilt, eventually provoked by the mid 60s student revolts of the post-war generation who confronted their parents and grandparents with their past and asked “What did YOU do between 1933-45?” There’s a terrific 1990 movie called _Das schreckliche Mädchen_ (generally translated as _The Nasty Girl_ in the English speaking market) which is about this process of reluctant historical reckoning, driven by the youth. I recommend it highly to those who want to learn about postwar Germany. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2094 "2025-04-07T13:53:19Z")
Years ago the Chicago ABC station used to run movies on Saturday afternoons. I remember once they ran a Fred Astaire movie and edited out all the dance scenes. ---
**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 7, 2025, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2095 "2025-04-07T13:58:42Z")
My WAG is that some films made before TV broadcasting did not have the music rights for outside a movie theater. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2096 "2025-04-07T14:08:54Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > There’s a terrific 1990 movie called _Das schreckliche Mädchen_ (generally translated as _The Nasty Girl_ in the English speaking market) which is about this process of reluctant historical reckoning, driven by the youth. I recommend it highly to those who want to learn about postwar Germany. Unfortunately I’ve never got around to see the movie, but of course I heard about it and the real case it was based on. IIRC, it happened in 1980 when a 15 year old girl began to research the nazi past of her hometown of Passau, Bavaria for a school project, and was confronted with the reluctance or even downright resistance by everyone for doing so. Passau was and still is a provincial and very conservative town, so the region was late in having their nazi past researched and acknowledged, a process that had begun in bigger and more progressive places more than a decade before. The “terrible girl” thus was a member of my generation (what we today call Gen X), and I sure can relate because I grew up in a similar provincial and conservative region of Germany. > **[The Nasty Girl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nasty_Girl)** > > The Nasty Girl (German: Das schreckliche Mädchen, lit. 'the terrible girl') is a 1990 West German drama film based on the true story of Anna Rosmus. > The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the 63rd Academy Awards. > A German high school student, Sonja (Lena Stolze as a fictionalised version of Anna Rosmus), wins an essay contest and embarks on a trip to Paris. Martin Wegmus begins teaching physics at Sonja's school, and one of her classmates falls in love... And the real person it was based on: > **[Anna Rosmus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Rosmus)** > > Anna Rosmus, also known as Anja Rosmus-Wenninger, is a German author and researcher born in 1960 in Passau, Bavaria. > As a 16-year-old, Rosmus started developing an interest in contemporary history, especially that of the Third Reich, a subject that was barely mentioned at school. Encouraged by her father, a principal, she participated in a national essay contest that addressed the history of her city during the pre-war years. Some prominent residents claimed that the community remained untouched... ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2097 "2025-04-09T11:13:59Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > 75% of the aluminum ever made is still in use The same applies to copper as well. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2098 "2025-04-09T12:10:04Z")
And gold. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2099 "2025-04-09T12:10:58Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > I’ll bet that’s because many of the Germans’ opponents were minor nations with poor equipment and/or poorly trained pilots; from the start we can name Poland, Norway, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Greece, and finally Russia in the early years of that front. While Poland lost 327 aircraft in the German invasion, the other countries listed had minimal numbers (for example, 29 planes lost in combat by Belguim). By far, the USSR was the overwhelming factor with the loss of 21,200 aircraft, of which 10,600 were lost to combat in Operation Barbarossa. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2100 "2025-04-09T16:27:27Z")
Steinway built its 100,000th grand piano in 1903, which it donated to the White House. In 1938, it built its 300,000th piano, which it also donated to the White House, to replace the 1903 one. The 1938 piano is still there in the East Room. Google images for “White House East Room” and you will see the piano in almost every image. An average Steinway grand costs about $100k. There are very few piano manufacturers left in the US. Tariffs on the popular Asian models - could they “create” more American pianos? Besides its main factory in Queens NY, Steinway has another in Hamburg (Germany), so tariffs aren’t a problem for them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=104) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=106)