# 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:** 246
**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:** [June 18, 2026, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4901 "2026-06-18T11:36:55Z")
TIL, with some pleasurable amusement, that the Latin name for the hoopoe is _Upupa epops_ ---
**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:** [June 18, 2026, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4902 "2026-06-18T13:21:59Z")
And just last week I saw one for the first time in my life! It is called _Wiedehopf_ in German, _abubilla_ in Spanish and when I read the Latin name I knew exactly what it was. Don’t ask me how, I did not know the English name, but it somehow was obvious. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2026, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4903 "2026-06-18T15:26:30Z")
For those of us who live in America and have no idea what they’re talking about, they’re referring to some strikingly marked bird in Europe. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Israel._Eurasian_Hoopoe_%286497645007%29.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Israel._Eurasian_Hoopoe_%286497645007%29.jpg) [Eurasian hoopoe - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_hoopoe) The first I’ve ever heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4904 "2026-06-18T15:32:38Z")
A woodpecker with Invasion markings. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4905 "2026-06-18T17:40:28Z")
And I always thought it was an American bird as well . we live and learn ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4906 "2026-06-18T17:45:00Z")
Another interesting fact I learned from _Lucy and Desi_, mentioned above. When Lucy became pregnant for the first time, she and Desi first learned about it in a newspaper column. Walter Winchell had spies in the Hollywood labs that processed pregnancy tests, and reported it before Lucy heard from her doctor. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2026, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4907 "2026-06-18T17:50:21Z")
Also, Desi constantly cheated on Luci with other women, mostly prostitutes. He didn’t understand why Luci objected to this. He said that he didn’t love the other women. He only loved Luci. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4908 "2026-06-19T01:14:41Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > [Eurasian hoopoe - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_hoopoe) > > The first I’ve ever heard of it. I only know it because of the NYTimes Spelling Bee puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4909 "2026-06-19T04:05:20Z")
Although it touches on his problems with alcohol, the film doesn’t even hint at this. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4910 "2026-06-19T05:53:49Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > It doesn’t strike me as particularly unusual; I mean that it’s .. odd … in being different than previous research. Not wrong, just that that they’ve got different results by asking an only slightly different question. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4911 "2026-06-19T12:40:47Z")
> [@APB](#): > > England’s non-inclusion was hardly surprising. Italy was out because they wanted to host and refused to play away. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4912 "2026-06-19T13:02:14Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > The first World Cup was in 1930 and the finals was between Uruguay and Argentina. And it was Amateur. This was ?? the reason England was out of it for a while ?? Association football in the UK was more working-class than rugby, and the match payment system wasn’t acceptable to Europe ?? Interesting aside (to me). One of the points of 'amateur" sport was that it wasn’t corrupted by gambling interests. The players weren’t playing for money, and weren’t taking money to get the “right” result. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2026, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4913 "2026-06-19T14:36:48Z")
My Spotify list recently played “China Girl” sung by Iggy Pop. I was only familiar with the David Bowie version. Turns out Bowie scored the music while Iggy improvised the lyrics in 1977, based on a fling he had with a Vietnamese girl where neither one could understand the other’s language. Bowie released his own version in 1983, and shared royalties with Iggy to help him out financially. > **[China Girl (song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Girl_(song))** > > "China Girl" is a song written by Iggy Pop and David Bowie in 1976, and first released by Pop on his debut solo album, The Idiot (1977). Inspired by an affair Pop had with a Vietnamese woman, the lyrics tell a story of unrequited love for the protagonist's Asian girlfriend, realizing by the end that his Western influences are corrupting her. Like the rest of The Idiot, Bowie wrote the music and Pop improvised the lyrics while standing at the microphone. The song was released as a single in May... ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4914 "2026-06-19T15:41:51Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Interesting aside (to me). One of the points of 'amateur" sport was that it wasn’t corrupted by gambling interests. The players weren’t playing for money, and weren’t taking money to get the “right” result. I feel like I’m missing something. How would amateur status prevent players cheating? If bettors want to bet on a game and offer money to a player to get the “right” result, the player’s amateur status isn’t going to prevent him from wanting money. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2026, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4915 "2026-06-19T16:20:04Z")
“Amateur” was code for “British Public School Gentleman”. A gentleman would _never_ cheat. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2026, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4916 "2026-06-19T16:24:29Z")
Which is convenient, because if you accept this belief, a gentleman can never be _called out_ on his cheating, lest you insult his status as a gentleman, which another gentleman would never do. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4917 "2026-06-19T20:53:35Z")
Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ was originally called Der Schrei der Natur, which translates from German to “The Scream of Nature”. The figure isn’t screaming, it is in shock, clamping its hands tightly over its ears in a desperate, failed attempt to block out a deafening, existential sound vibrating through the air, the scream of nature. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4918 "2026-06-19T21:06:57Z")
Think of the three biggest empires of history: Roman, Mongol, and British. What was the only country occupied by all three? Iraq. 🇮🇶 ---
**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:** [June 19, 2026, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4919 "2026-06-19T22:51:44Z")
Not to mention the Persian, Macedonian, Ottoman, and American empires. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2026, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/4920 "2026-06-20T00:11:37Z")
Wasn’t the USSR bigger than the Roman Empire? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=245) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=247)