# 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:** 18
**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:** [August 29, 2024, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/341 "2024-08-29T05:08:26Z")
TIL I learned of Country Swing pioneer and gruesome uxoricide Spade Cooley, who sexually tortured and beat his wife to death for her infidelity with Roy Rogers (!) Additional grimness was his forcing their teenage daughter to watch the murder, and the coincidence of her name Melody, also the name of Roy and Dale’s movie ranch. Most of the ranch/movie set, owned by Gene Autry, was destroyed by fire in 1962; the year after the murder. _Thanks to Governor Ronald Reagan,_ Spade served less than nine years, and while awaiting the parole paperwork to clear, died offstage after receiving a standing ovation at a deputy sheriffs’ benefit concert. Melody appears to have passed in 2019. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2024, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/342 "2024-08-29T10:54:01Z")
This is so true for this board. ### “Cunningham’s Law” **[Howard G. Cunningham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham#:~:text=%22Cunningham's%20Law%22,-For%20the%20mathematical&text=Cunningham%20is%20credited%20with%20the,than%20to%20answer%20a%20question.)** (born May 26, 1949) is an American computer programmer who developed the first wiki. Cunningham is credited with the idea: “The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question; it’s to post the wrong answer.” This refers to the observation that people are quicker to correct a wrong answer than to answer a question. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/343 "2024-08-29T20:27:18Z")
I thought Howard Cunningham’s Law was “We don’t talk about Richie’s brother.” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/344 "2024-08-30T00:10:07Z")
Well, I think they _did_ talk about him when he was on the show. And he was so vital to the series that it took 3 different actors to play him. Then he suddenly no longer existed. There may be a term for characters that vanish without a trace, or a special spinney between Aphodel and Tartarus where they are consigned to – perhaps a marsh fed by the waters of Lethe (the river of forgetting). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/345 "2024-08-30T00:17:21Z")
A Lyman? (After Odie’s owner in the Garfield comic strip.) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/346 "2024-08-30T04:04:17Z")
Did anyone post that _Star Wars_ got renamed on April 10th, 1981? ---
**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:** [August 30, 2024, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/347 "2024-08-30T04:12:58Z")
About 20 years ago, the 40 year olds on this board futilely spent countless posts trying to convince the 20 year olds that this actually happened. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/348 "2024-08-30T04:17:34Z")
Did they fall for it? ---
**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:** [August 30, 2024, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/349 "2024-08-30T04:20:42Z")
No. The youngins here are too smart to fall for our shenanigans. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/350 "2024-08-31T01:23:15Z")
Has it been that long? I still refuse to call it anything but _Star Wars_. I was 8 when that movie came out and that’s the title i’ve always known. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/351 "2024-08-31T02:36:16Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I thought Howard Cunningham’s Law was “We don’t talk about Richie’s brother.” There was an attempt at a _Happy Days_ musical around 2007 that used almost that same line (substituting “Chuck” for “Richie’s brother”). It was the only funny line in the entire evening. The musical never made it to Broadway ---
**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:** [September 3, 2024, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/352 "2024-09-03T01:44:25Z")
**Doggerland** was an area of land in [Northern Europe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Europe), now submerged beneath the southern [North Sea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea). [Doggerland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerland) ---
**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:** [September 3, 2024, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/353 "2024-09-03T13:58:08Z")
In another thread, someone recently posted a link to the classic Star Wars short film _Hardware Wars_. The genius behind it, [Ernie Fosselius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Fosselius), would later work in the sound department on _Spaceballs_ (which “borrowed” things from it such as the tag line “May the farce be with you.”) as well as doing uncredited voice bits in _Return of The Jedi_ and _Attack of the Clones_. He also got a song co-credit in the former. Now that’s a trifecta. Check out his IMDb [page](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0287629/) for the amazing movies he worked on. And that doesn’t include stuff like turning down being the director for _Pee-wee’s Big Adventure_. One of the big little giants of The Business. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/354 "2024-09-03T17:53:09Z")
> [@Identify and discuss heavily annotated works of historical fiction](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-and-discuss-heavily-annotated-works-of-historical-fiction/1006576/8): > > _Hild_ by Nicola Griffith includes this note: > [About the real Hild | Nicola Griffith](https://nicolagriffith.com/2014/05/13/about-the-real-hild/) > > Griffith did a great deal of research into historical sources for _Hild,_ its sequel _Menewood,_ and novella _Spear._ Her blog on sources and culture is at > [https://gemaecce.com/](https://gemaecce.com/) > > See also > [We Belong in History: Nicola Griffith on Menewood, Historical Fiction, and Diversity – Ancillary Review of Books](https://ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2023/11/10/we-belong-in-history-nicola-griffith-on-menewood-historical-fiction-and-diversity/) Today I learned about the patron sainte of ammonites. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/St_Hilda_memorial_ammonites.jpg/800px-St_Hilda_memorial_ammonites.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/St_Hilda_memorial_ammonites.jpg/800px-St_Hilda_memorial_ammonites.jpg) > Another legend tells of a plague of snakes which Hilda turned to stone, supposedly explaining the [presence of ammonite fossils](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilda_of_Whitby#Legends) on the shore. Local artisans carved snakes’ heads onto ammonites, and sold these as relics, “evidence” of her miracle. ---
**Author:** ![deltogre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deltogre/32/5041_2.png) [@deltogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltogre)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/355 "2024-09-03T18:16:20Z")
If you have never heard the Cocaine and Rhinestones podacst, I strongly recommend it. There is a marvelous episode on Spade Cooley. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/356 "2024-09-03T19:17:27Z")
More silly cycling news. Here’s an update from the Tour de l’Avenir (Under 23 Tour de France): [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczOojQAlYR_wAnlHR7uffuAjN00yre36YwksfHifipxT55-3tV_jnPRoeDnvXa9-ZLF034jF0sa9OK__AhZeSZbJjjmMCGx1ws-2aivWfnGLK7_7YFA=w555-h235-p-k "New item by j") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/8w1oub9Cf9nRsgpg8) (Oh Yes, there genuinely is a T. Rex on the course. Wonderful) (Loosely speaking). And there was. Meet Belgian cyclist [Tim Rex](https://intermarche-wanty.eu/members/tim-rex/), the man with arguably the best name in cycling. .j ---
**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:** [September 3, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/357 "2024-09-03T20:49:54Z")
Inosculation is the process of one tree attaching itself to another and incorporating one into the other. In the example in this image a tree that was felled as found new life. These trees are often known as marriage trees, or husband and wife trees, but this example looks like a mama tree to me… [![](https://i.redd.it/05avbo6vn50c1.png) ](https://i.redd.it/05avbo6vn50c1.png) > **[Inosculation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inosculation)** > > Inosculation is a natural phenomenon in which trunks, branches or roots of two trees grow together in a manner biologically similar to the artificial process of grafting. The term is derived from the Latin roots in + ōsculārī, "to kiss into/inward/against" or etymologically and more illustratively "to make a small mouth inward/into/against"; trees having undergone the process are referred to in forestry as gemels, from the Latin word meaning "a pair". > It is most common for branches of two trees... ---
**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:** [September 3, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/358 "2024-09-03T21:08:37Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Inosculation is the process of one tree attaching itself to another and incorporating one into the other. In the example in this image a tree that was felled as found new life. These trees are often known as marriage trees, or husband and wife trees, but this example looks like a mama tree to me… Very cool. Haven’t seen something like this in the wild, it must be very rare. Though the forests where I live are all heavily cultivated and there would be not many opportunities for trees to capture another before a forester would intervene. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2024, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/359 "2024-09-04T00:30:24Z")
There are other examples like this, eg [Sunda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunda_Shelf), [Sahul](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahul_Shelf), and [Beringia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beringia) (the probable route for humans to the Americas). ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/360 "2024-09-04T00:42:21Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The pilot’s name was Samuel Sullenberger. Earlier, he was visiting family and met a 3-year-old cousin, Chesley Sullenberger, who would later go on to have a more publicized unscheduled landing with fortunate outcome. Often, when reading a post in this thread I can’t help adding Paul Harvey’s old “And now you know the _rest_ of the story” onto the end. > [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Okay, I confess: I’d read this thread a few minutes earlier: [How to succinctly respond to a JFK assassination conspiracy proponent](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-succinctly-respond-to-a-jfk-assassination-conspiracy-proponent/1006246). Some variations of “WFC” are mentioned. I’m guessing “WFC” doesn’t mean “Wells Fargo Company” in your post (the most common search result shown by Google). What did you mean if not that? Thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=19)