# 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:** 52
**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:** [December 6, 2024, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1021 "2024-12-06T01:44:32Z")
My wife’s maiden name is very rare. But when we were dating, I learned my great grandmother had the same rare name. We joked about being cousins. My mother’s maiden name was even more rare. The only non-relative I’ve ever come across with it was from Turkey. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1022 "2024-12-06T01:55:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > We joked about being cousins. Or time travelers. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1023 "2024-12-06T02:20:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Doctors do sometimes transplant a big toe onto a hand to replace a severed thumb. I had a music teacher at my High School who had that done. I guess that was crucial for his ability to play instruments. Which were piano and guitar. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2024, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1024 "2024-12-06T03:33:15Z")
There are only about 600 people in the US with my surname. Still, I know of two of those that what my first name. I even randomly ran into one of them at a grocery store not long after forwarding an email I got intended for him. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2024, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1025 "2024-12-06T12:32:28Z")
There are very very few people in Argentina with my surname, practically all are related to me through my Great-Grandfather who was the first “Baggins” here (About 20 years later almost all his relatives in Poland were killed in a pogrom, in or about the end of World War II). But there was one “Baggins” I saw in the phone guide (when such things still existed) that I can’t place, I wonder if he’s a relative or an non-related hobbit from the old country. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1026 "2024-12-06T12:57:50Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The notion that the wings would become a national dish and increase greatly in price because chickens couldn’t grow more than two per would have been dismissed even by enthusiasts. Where’s John Madden when you need him? ---
**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:** [December 6, 2024, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1027 "2024-12-06T15:59:41Z")
1. I’ve known several people who raised chickens (including my own family when I was little). One of my grandmothers did it for money. Eggs first, meat second. When the bird was older it was served for supper. No soup or such involved. May not have been as big and tender as a modern broiler but still considered very good eating. 2. Random fact: Catherine O’Hara [has](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_O%27Hara#Personal_life) situs inversus. That is, her internal organs are reversed right-left. Unless something is noticeably wrong as a baby, it’s nothing to worry about in most cases. Unless you need a heart or lung transplant when the “plumbing” might not line up. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1028 "2024-12-06T16:18:28Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Do you normally eat an egg bird after some time? Our hens begin as day old chicks in our home. They are treated like pets, hand fed mealworms and taught tricks. We eat their eggs, but continue to feed and care for them into their old age. They even get a burial at the end. Because of this, our eggs are pretty expensive. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2024, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1029 "2024-12-06T16:36:41Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > situs inversus. \<\>, it’s nothing to worry about in most cases. I do think a medical bracelet would be appropriate in case emergency care was ever needed. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1030 "2024-12-06T18:14:26Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > I have learned that pigs were an important part of home waste management: many pigs were kept even in cities and slaughtered after fattening them on food waste. Sigh. That reminds me of the time our city did a big overhaul of the municipal code, removing anything that no longer applied. It was in 2008. Up to then, the Director of Public Works was required to oversee and license the collection of ‘swill’. The big no-no regarding swill was leakage onto city streets. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2024, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1031 "2024-12-06T18:49:47Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Random fact: Catherine O’Hara [has](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_O%27Hara#Personal_life) situs inversus. That is, her internal organs are reversed right-left. Unless something is noticeably wrong as a baby, it’s nothing to worry about in most cases. Unless you need a heart or lung transplant when the “plumbing” might not line up. A girl in my high school biology class had this. Naturally, she was the focus of anatomy talk. All totally scientific and above-board, I should add. If people sniggered it wasn’t around me. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1032 "2024-12-06T19:07:41Z")
Red broiler hens are just about perfect - 4-5 eggs per week per hen, don’t bulk up and die of heart attacks like Cornish crosses, and at 2+ years old are still good for most methods of chicken preparation (alas, still only 2 wings. Paging John Madden!) ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1033 "2024-12-06T19:09:55Z")
I assume they have a mirror hung around their neck just in case they need an emergency appendectomy or intercardiac injection. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1034 "2024-12-08T01:52:47Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Saudi Arabia, the world’s 12th largest country, has no permanent rivers. I believe it’s the driest country in the world, so I’m not too surprised. However, I have heard of a place in the mountains that gets snow in the winter, and I wish I could remember the name. For some reason I’m fascinated by locales that belie what we usually expect in their regions. For instance, Nevada is the driest state in the U.S., yet it has mountain ranges topped by dense pine forests. And I’m talking the middle of the state, not just Tahoe. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2024, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1035 "2024-12-08T02:01:48Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > However, I have heard of a place in the mountains that gets snow in the winter, and I wish I could remember the name. That’s probably the reason for the “permanent” qualifier. In Montana, all of the roads are flanked by ditches deep enough to swallow cars two deep without them even being visible from the road. 51 weeks of the year, those ditches are empty. But for a week every spring, they’re full to the brim with snow-melt runoff. I imagine those Arabian mountains have similar meltoff. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1036 "2024-12-08T02:19:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > In Montana, all of the roads are flanked by ditches deep enough to swallow cars two deep without them even being visible from the road. Roadside ditches are the rule here in Oregon as well, though they aren’t as big as the ones you describe. It’s been a source of frustration for me because I like to do astrophotography, which I started doing when I still lived in California. Down in California the roads have generously wide shoulders, and in hilly or mountainous regions there are plenty of spaceous turnouts where you can pull over and turn around, or even just park and sit there. In areas away from city lights these locations are excellent for astrophotography. But here in Oregon the inner edge of the roadside ditch is like six inches beyond the concrete or asphalt. You can’t stop, you can’t park, and if you need to turn around you have to just keep on going until you find a lonely intersection or something where you can do it. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1037 "2024-12-08T02:27:43Z")
I’m always interested in the lives of singers and musicians, even if I don’t care for their style or genre. So I was amused to learn a little about the life of Perry Como, who was one of 13 kids in the family. Though his father was just a mill hand and money was tight, he insisted that all the kids have music lessons. In the process young Perry learned to play many instruments…but he never studied voice! ---
**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:** [December 8, 2024, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1038 "2024-12-08T22:59:28Z")
The first picture of Earth from deep space came from the Russian Molniya 1-3 communications satellite on May 30, 1966 [https://www.reddit.com/r/Astronomy/comments/7y658z/earth\_seen\_from\_russian\_molniya\_satellite\_1966/#lightbox](https://www.reddit.com/r/Astronomy/comments/7y658z/earth_seen_from_russian_molniya_satellite_1966/#lightbox) More on early photos > **[90 Years of Our Changing Views of Earth - NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/history/90-years-of-our-changing-views-of-earth/)** > > Indirect evidence of the Earth’s spherical shape has existed for a long time, but the photographic proof was lacking until well into the 20th century. The > “The first photograph ever made showing laterally the curvature of the Earth,” read the original caption in the May 1931 issue of The National Geographic Magazine. > On Dec. 11, 1966, the ATS-1 advanced technology satellite beamed back the first photograph of Earth from geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above Ecuador. The Department of Defense Gravity Experiment (DODGE) satellite returned the first color image of the full Earth in August 1967. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2024, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1039 "2024-12-08T23:09:05Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The first picture of Earth from deep space came from the Russian Molniya 1-3 communications satellite on May 30, 1966 Take this, flat earthers! (yeah, I know it’s hopeless with these people…) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1040 "2024-12-08T23:36:54Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > This sort of thing is very common among Italian and Jewish immigrants in the 1880s to the 1920s who came through Ellis Island. My last name is very rare. It’s rare to begin but the spelling my family uses is an alternate mis-transliteration from the original Cyrillic spelling. There are probably only two branches and a couple dozen people total. Italy seems to have a lot of rare surnames. Maybe it’s due to pre-modern naming conventions? My ex-wife, my ex long term girlfriend and my wife all have unique enough names that anyone I’ve met, seen or heard about with their names turns out to be a relative. My mother’s maiden name is close but there is one prominent person with the same name but he’s probably related somewhere down the line. My Italian side of the family is full of names that I’ve never seen anywhere else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=51) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=53)