# 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:** 210
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4181 "2026-02-19T07:48:06Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > I think that, as a young child in Arizona, I was taught to answer the phone with my phone number I was, although my home number in my small rural town was quite easy for a young child to remember: “three nine one five, the X residence, Y speaking” My mum made us kids memorize it. 3915. So we could tell people who to phone if we got lost. She was a teacher, clearly a fairly good one if I still remember some 45 years later. I should ask my sister, who was only 5 when we moved from that house is she remembers it too. I bet she does. (I was 7) ---
**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, 2026, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4182 "2026-02-19T12:44:06Z")
I had an uncle who used to answer the phone with “County morgue – you kill ‘em, we chill ‘em!” It didn’t matter who was calling (no phone ID in those days), so he might be getting a relative, a survey, the IRS, the local priest, the police station…. He actually had a repertoire of joke replies, which he rotated through. To him, it didn’t matter who was calling. If you were offended, he probably didn’t want to talk to you, anyway. ---
**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 19, 2026, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4183 "2026-02-19T12:52:45Z")
If you see a reptilian with a name ending in ‘-suchus,’ it’s almost certainly a crocodilian of some kind. Crocodilians are members of an ancient reptile group called _Pseudosuchia_, ‘false crocodiles,’ as at the time they were not thought to be ancestral today’s critters. The name remained even after today’s crocodilians were found to be indeed descended from that group. ---
**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 19, 2026, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4184 "2026-02-19T16:47:19Z")
Today I learned in article in _The Atlantic_ about _ **Hitler’s Greenland Obsession** _ that whale oil, imported mostly from Norway, was the biggest import expense for Germany in the mid '30s. Germany was the second buyer for this product in the world, for a total of between 165,000 and 220,000 tons annually. Just imagine as an aside how many whales they had to slaughter for that. Whale oil was fundamental to produce nitroglycerin, a precursor product for dynamite and a key component of the munitions industry. They also ate a lot of it after transforming it to margarine. > **[Hitler’s Greenland Obsession](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/hitler-greenland/685984/?gift=cU4WmXraWG3WoSDDx6g_kZyj3Y_w3bHDFrhqYWteR2s&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share)** > > After creating an economic mess with ill-advised tariffs, Hitler looked north in pursuit of resources and national security. The rest of the article is very interesting too, and history does rhyme. Somebody should tell the temper tanTrump in the White House how WWII ended, in particular who won and who lost. ---
**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 19, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4185 "2026-02-19T17:03:34Z")
I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump tried to revive the whaling industry just to “own the libs”. ---
**Author:** ![motu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/motu/32/259_2.png) [@motu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4186 "2026-02-19T19:57:28Z")
New Mexico State Senators and State Representatives do not get a salary, only a daily stipend when in session. In November, one of the things to be voted on is giving them a salary. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2026, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4187 "2026-02-20T01:51:33Z")
From New Scientist this week: “Humans are the only primates with a chin”! ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2026, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4188 "2026-02-20T06:22:03Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > They also ate a lot of it after transforming it to margarine. The meat itself (not the _same_ meat, of course) also occasionally appeared in UK meat rations. Cue Vera Lynn - “Whale meat again…” ---
**Author:** ![Awb78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@Awb78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Awb78)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4189 "2026-02-20T17:33:40Z")
Posted in the wrong thread by mistake (Puzzlegal, edited at request of poster.) ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4190 "2026-02-21T22:49:21Z")
Today, February 21, 2026 is… > **[World Pangolin Day • Wildlife Conservation Network](https://wildnet.org/wildlife-fund/pangolin-crisis-fund/about/world-pangolin-day-updates/)** > > Stay updated with stories, progress, and global actions shared each World Pangolin Day. ---
**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 22, 2026, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4191 "2026-02-22T11:04:48Z")
Another Lewes\* related fact (it’s a endlessly interesting place). When we were there a few days ago we stumbled upon a street named Rotten Row. Like the one in London, I thought. Means something in French - I must look it up. Well. The street name “Rotten Row” is more common than you might think - [there are quite a few around](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotten_Row#Other_locations). What’s more, there are four separate explanations of the name.([source](https://wordhistories.net/2016/09/06/rotten-row/)). In brief: - The street was rotten - falling to bits, decaying etc - It was rat infested, so that the name originated from Ratten (rat) Row. - Soldiers were stationed there (“The street name has also been associated with the noun _ **rot** _ , meaning **a file or small detachment** of soldiers”) - In Hyde Park, London, the origin of that particular Rotten Row is supposed to be “Route Du Roi” (road of the king). Hmmm. Pinch of salt optional. j \* - just inland from the south coast of England, more or less due south of London ---
**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 22, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4192 "2026-02-22T15:04:55Z")
The French word for rubbish bin is _poubelle_. I thought it was a word like the Spanish _papelera_ (paper bin) or the German _Papierkorb_ (same) or _Mülleimer_ (rubbish bin), just what such things are called. Indeed it has reminiscences of poo and trash, there will be an etymological reason for the name. There sure is no story behind it. Until **[I read this](https://thewalrus.ca/thrifting-was-about-frugality-how-did-it-become-all-about-profit/?utm_source=DamnInteresting)** today: > In 1884, Paris administrator Eugène Poubelle decreed that rubbish bins must be provided to apartment dwellers—not just one but several, to sort items for disposal or recycling. Paris bins became known as poubelles, a French name that has stuck. It wasn’t intended as a compliment. Trash bins, it was said, were a bureaucratic imposition that impinged upon the honest rag-and-bone trade. ---
**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 22, 2026, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4193 "2026-02-22T15:09:22Z")
There goes my John Lydon theory… ---
**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:** [February 22, 2026, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4194 "2026-02-22T17:12:14Z")
The “Athenia” was the first ship of WW2 torpedoed by German U-boats. 117 souls were lost (over 900 survived) off the coast of Ireland. It was sailing from Glasgow to Montreal. Among its cargo were 278 curling stones - destined for various points across Canada. “On 4 September 1939, curling stone manufacturer Andrew Kay & Co. sent a cablegram to its sales representative in Toronto stating, “We now learn that the Athenia was this morning sunk off the coast of Scotland, and we regret that the finest consignment of curling stones that have ever yet left our factory has gone with it.” According to James Wyllie, secretary and director of [Kays of Scotland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kays_of_Scotland "Kays of Scotland") (as the company is now known) in 2018, three bills of lading for this shipment included 48 pairs of [Blue Hone Ailsa curling stones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailsa_Craig#Curling_stones "Ailsa Craig") for the London, Ontario Curling Club, 41 pairs of Blue Hone Ailsa curling stones for the [Toronto High Park Curling Club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Park_Club "High Park Club"), and 50 pairs of Red Hone Ailsa curling stones for the Lindsay Curling Club. This is a total of 278 Andrew Kay & Co. Excelsior Ailsa curling stones with handles and cases weighing nearly six tons with a 1939 value of [£](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_sterling "Pound sterling")585.12 (equivalent to £45,822 in 2023).” (Wikipedia) At today’s prices of about $600 each, that’s a loss worth $166,800. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2026, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4195 "2026-02-22T20:09:14Z")
And only in about 200 meters of depth; potentially worth salvaging! 😀 ---
**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:** [February 22, 2026, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4196 "2026-02-22T20:14:06Z")
That was my first thought but it’s probably a protected war grave. Another piece of trivia is that one woman who died in the sinking was the first Canadian to die in WWII. ---
**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 22, 2026, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4197 "2026-02-22T21:13:36Z")
The only cast member of The Brady Bunch to win an Emmy was Ann B. Davis, although it was not for TBB. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4198 "2026-02-22T22:51:38Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > The “Athenia” was the first ship of WW2 torpedoed by German U-boats. 117 souls were lost (over 900 survived) off the coast of Ireland. I’m vaguely familiar with the Athenia from the Old 97s song “Rollerkate Skinny”: _Wouldn’t be here if the Athenia hadn’t sunk Or if dear old dad hadn’t gotten so drunk_ IIRC, Rhett Miller’s grandparents were survivors who met each other in the aftermath of the sinking. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2026, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4199 "2026-02-23T13:06:08Z")
Today I learned that remotely operated vehicles, controlled via radio waves, go back as far as 1904. > **[The first cars bold enough to drive themselves](https://arstechnica.com/features/2026/02/the-first-cars-bold-enough-to-drive-themselves/)** > > Quevedo's telekino of 1904 was the first step on the road to autonomous Waymos. Lots of additional fascinating technical history in the article. ---
**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 23, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4200 "2026-02-23T17:34:16Z")
Magician Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin, regarded as the “inventor of the modern Magic Show” (and the guy Houdini got his stage name from), after he retired from the stage, started working on optical instruments and invented half a dozen different optical devices for measuring the pupil and imaging the retina. Then he was called on by the French government to put on a magic show in Algeria to prevent a revolt. He did, and it worked. > **[How Robert-Houdin Quelled A Rebellion With Illusions And Magic | Ripley's...](https://www.ripleys.com/stories/how-robert-houdin-quelled-a-rebellion-with-illusions-and-magic)** > > Considered the father of modern magic, Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (no, not Houdini) was once employed by France's emperor to help pacify a revolt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=209) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=211)