# 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:** 277
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5522 "2026-10-09T16:23:47Z")
Oh, only about a hundred years 😆 between enemies, the same ---
**Author:** ![Wincerind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@Wincerind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wincerind)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5523 "2026-10-09T16:40:43Z")
In Dublin, Ireland, they still have DUKW Tours. They make your wear fake viking helmets (with horns 🙄). ---
**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:** [October 9, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5524 "2026-10-09T16:41:30Z")
Damn! Didn’t see those when we were in Dublin. Maybe they hadn’t started them by then. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5525 "2026-10-09T18:14:41Z")
There was an actor William Martin “Clu” Gulager once upon a time (d. 2022). I’ve never seen that last name with anyone else, so I was curious about it. I haven’t been able to trace his specific genealogy, but for the surname Gulagers that I could trace, the origins seem to be in Denmark, as an uncommon variant of a slightly more less uncommon Danish name Guldager (Goldfield or Goldacre). And it wasn’t until a few years ago that I heard how his name was actually pronounced. I had made up the pronunciation ‘guh-LAG-er,’ but it’s actually “GOO-luh-ger,” not that I’ve ever had occasion to say it out loud. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5526 "2026-10-09T19:36:03Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Seattle also had tourist ducks. Might still, as far as I know. The Seattle company shut down in the wake of a multiple fatality crash caused by an axle breaking on one of the vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5527 "2026-10-09T19:51:23Z")
The hype over the War of the Worlds Broadcast in 1938 with Orson Wells, turns out to be overstated. Yes, there was apparently some scares and panic, but that was the early days of radio. The newspapers exaggerated the panic as there was a war between newspapers and radio over advertising money. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_War\_of\_the\_Worlds\_(1938\_radio\_drama)#Research](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(1938_radio_drama)#Research) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5528 "2026-10-09T20:01:50Z")
Many people don’t understand how dangerous tug-of-war can be. There have been a number of serious accidents, loss of fingers and hands, and even fatalities, during tug-of-war games. Sometimes this is caused by people foolishly wrapping the rope around a hand before pulling, but more horrific is the result of the rope snapping while at full tension. There may be many tons of force stored in the rope, and the elastic rebound when it snaps can easily be enough to kill anyone it hits. Amateur games often use a rope insufficiently sized for the amount of force generated. > **[A History of Tug-of-War Fatalities - Priceonomics](https://priceonomics.com/a-history-of-tug-of-war-fatalities/)** > > Ignore simple physics and your appendage could be amputated by a tug of war rope. ---
**Author:** ![Cwturner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Cwturner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cwturner)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5529 "2026-10-10T14:31:25Z")
Philly also had Duck tours until 2010 when a disabled one was run over by a barge killing 2 tourists. ---
**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:** [October 10, 2026, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5530 "2026-10-10T17:26:51Z")
A prism with the cross section of a [Reuleaux triangle - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuleaux_triangle) is actually most stable when sitting on edge, since its center of gravity is lowest then. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tYNYqdRoKzg/maxresdefault.jpg "Why the Universe Forbids Perfect Balance") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYNYqdRoKzg) ---
**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:** [October 11, 2026, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5531 "2026-10-11T03:51:03Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > IIRC, Jed Clampett’s deceased wife was the sister of Jethro’s mother; No, you did not RC. But along the same line, and in keeping with the thread, I came across a new relationship term [Second Uncle](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/second_uncle), and, of course, by extension “second aunt” (or “second non-binary” if that suits your identity). It’s another term for ‘first cousin once removed.’ I guess if you’re a genealogy nerd you might know it, but I’d never heard of it. You are the “second uncle” (or whatever) to the children of your first cousin. Your “second uncle” (or whatever) would be a first cousin of one of your parents. So with this terminology, Jed would be Jethro’s “second uncle.” ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5532 "2026-10-11T10:57:22Z")
I was talking to a Japanese woman once whose English wasn’t great. She kept telling me that her second grandfather was English. I still don’t know if she meant Great Grandfather, or Step Grandfather, or something else entirely that had got lost in translation. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2026, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5533 "2026-10-11T11:24:58Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > …if you’re a genealogy nerd… I’m not, but here’s a thing. We’ve known for a while that if you go back a few generation the male side of my family lived in one of London’s worst slum areas. Two days ago I found out that my great-great-great grandfather died in a workhouse. It’s a British thing, so just in case: > **[Workhouse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workhouse)** > > In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (Welsh: tloty, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses. The earliest known use of the term workhouse is from 1631, in an account by the mayor of Abingdon reporting that "we have erected within our borough a workhouse to set poorer people to work". The origins of the workhouse can be traced to the Statute of Cam... j ---
**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:** [October 11, 2026, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5534 "2026-10-11T11:32:08Z")
In the US everybody has encountered - even used - the term “poor house”. I doubt 99% of us actually know what a poor house is. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5535 "2026-10-11T16:55:44Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > No, you did not RC. So what was the relationship? ---
**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:** [October 11, 2026, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5536 "2026-10-11T18:17:38Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > A prism with the cross section of a [Reuleaux triangle - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuleaux_triangle) is actually most stable when sitting on edge, since its center of gravity is lowest then. Very misleading to pair that statement with that video, because the video does not show a Reuleaux triangle sitting on its edge, as it naturally would. The video shows it sitting on its vertex, which is not stable, and is only possible because the triangular object in the video has a little computerized motorized flywheel inside balancing it. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5537 "2026-10-11T18:24:06Z")
They cheated? Damn. Everything on YouTube is now a lie. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2026, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5538 "2026-10-11T18:37:12Z")
Well, the reason I know about the flywheel is that they show it, towards the end of the video. So in that sense it’s honest. It’s just not what you see in the teaser frame. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2026, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5539 "2026-10-12T00:43:36Z")
Pearl and Jed were first cousins. Granny confirmed that during a conversation with a psychiatrist where she said that Jed and Jethro were [second cousins](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-cousin-once-removed-referred-to-as-second-cousin-how-far-back/547508), as they were more commonly called back then. Side note: She also said that Jethro’s dad’s name was “Fred.” ---
**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:** [October 12, 2026, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5540 "2026-10-12T02:28:07Z")
Today I learned that traditional Balsamic vinegar must be aged at least 12 years in a series of wooden casks before it can be marketed as such. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5541 "2026-10-12T12:14:30Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > died in a workhouse. I can beat that, I was BORN in a workhouse\* \*Ok, a hospital maternity unit based in the old workhouse buildings. Strangely enough, my ex-wife was also born in a different hospital/workhouse. A lot of them across the country got converted into hospitals or asylums. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=276) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=278)