# 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:** 204
**Author:** ![billy-jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4061 "2026-02-04T21:54:28Z")
Reportedly, Norway lost 60% of its population in six months in 1349 due to the bubonic plague. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4062 "2026-02-05T06:18:03Z")
Norway was deeply involved in the European trade, which accelerated the rapid spread of the Black Death. The (Eskimo-like) Sami population were less affected due their almost completely different diet and lifestyle. The sudden drop in population caused Norway to eventually lose its independence. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4063 "2026-02-05T07:21:15Z")
This article says that the population decline in Norway began decades before the Black Death, due to crop failures and famine: > **[Tree-ring growth shows that the significant population decline in Norway...](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1125786517301315)** > > The Black Death (1349–1350 in Norway) is often cited as the cause of a severe population decline and building hiatus in the middle of the 14th century… ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4064 "2026-02-05T13:41:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Tyrannosaurus rex” is, of course, a scientific species name, and it’s standard to abbreviate species names by reducing the genus to its first letter. “Boa constrictor” doesn’t usually get this treatment, but then, “Boa” is already pretty short. I never realized that the scientific name and common name were the same, there! That’s cool. I wonder if there are any other modern, extant species that are commonly referred to by their full scientific name, genus and species. Oh wow, that was an old post ---
**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:** [February 5, 2026, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4065 "2026-02-05T13:58:32Z")
Perhaps _Homo sapiens_? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2026, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4066 "2026-02-05T14:14:10Z")
But the common name is humans. Gorilla is the common name of the animal _Gorilla gorilla gorilla_ but no one calls it by the full scientific name. People routinely say “Boa constrictor” out loud, though. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4067 "2026-02-06T16:55:22Z")
I can’t think of one, but I’ll take this moment to remember the longtime Doper _Pseudotriton ruber ruber_ (red salamander). Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4068 "2026-02-07T02:37:51Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Gorilla is the common name of the animal _Gorilla gorilla gorilla_ but no one calls it by the full scientific name. Similarly, the American bison is _bison bison_ which isn’t quite as compelling as Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. ---
**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 7, 2026, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4069 "2026-02-07T03:37:14Z")
I just read that Ayn Rand was living in Hollywood, trying to succeed as a writer, she lived at the Hollywood Studio Club, a residence for women who were trying to break into movies. She often had trouble paying the rent. Thel women of the club pooled their money to help out the “neediest” of those living there and decided that Rand needed it most. She got $50. She spent it on lingerie. ---
**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 7, 2026, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4070 "2026-02-07T03:55:47Z")
That’s pretty Randy-an. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4071 "2026-02-07T05:38:16Z")
Ann Morgan Guilbert was 4½ years older than Renee Taylor, who played her daughter on The Nannie. Also, surprisingly (to me, anyway), she wasn’t Jewish. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2026, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4072 "2026-02-07T06:16:45Z")
On _Golden Girls_, Estelle Getty played the mother of Bea Arthur, although she was actually a year younger than her. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4073 "2026-02-07T16:40:52Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > > [@Babale](#): > > > > Gorilla is the common name of the animal _Gorilla gorilla gorilla_ but no one calls it by the full scientific name. > > Similarly, the American bison is _bison bison_ which isn’t quite as compelling as Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. TIL that _Alligator Mississippiensis_ is the scientific name for the American alligator. And one of my favorite scientific names is _Lama glama_, the Llama. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4074 "2026-02-07T20:45:33Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Ann Morgan Guilbert She was eight years older than Mary Tyler Moore on _The Dick Van Dyke Show_, even though they were supposed to be contemporaries. OTOH, Moore was 24 when the show started, even though the character had been married for 10 years. The difference between her age and Van Dyke’s, who was 11 years older, was so obvious that they had a later episode establishing that she had been 17 when they married and they needed to get remarried to be legal. That’s right: Ritchie was a bastard. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4075 "2026-02-07T20:52:56Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > they needed to get remarried to be legal. > > That’s right: Ritchie was a bastard. And Dick was a…different times, man! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2026, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4076 "2026-02-07T20:55:36Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > And Dick was a… No he wasn’t! Alan Brady was. (There are so _many_ ways of ending that sentence. I chose one.) ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2026, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4077 "2026-02-08T15:43:03Z")
Learned this listening to A Way With Words on NPR last night. According to Webster’s dictionary (and others), the word [opossum](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opossum) can be pronounced with or without the o. Notably this is separate from the word possum. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4078 "2026-02-08T16:01:34Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > Notably this is separate from the word possum. Right now I’m in New Zealand. There is a fur-bearing animal here called a possum, specifically a [common brushtail possum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_brushtail_possum_in_New_Zealand). It was introduced to this country from Australia and is considered an invasive pest. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4079 "2026-02-08T16:44:37Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > According to Webster’s dictionary (and others), the word [opossum](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opossum) can be pronounced with or without the o. > Notably this is separate from the word possum. According to Wikipedia: > The common name “(o)possum” for various Phalangeriformes species derives from the creatures’ resemblance to the [opossums](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum "Opossum") of the [Americas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas "Americas") (the term comes from [Powhatan language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powhatan_language "Powhatan language") _aposoum_ “white animal”, from [Proto-Algonquian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Algonquian_language "Proto-Algonquian language") \*_wa·p-aʔɬemwa_ “white dog”). ---
**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:** [February 8, 2026, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4080 "2026-02-08T22:56:11Z")
For no particular reason that I can figure out I have, over the last couple of years, got to have quite a few people who are or were involved in bell ringing - that is to say, the ringing of church bells. And from one of these people I recently learned that there is a specific term for the leader of a team of bell ringers: The Tower Captain. Isn’t that great? j [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=203) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=205)