# 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:** 82
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1621 "2025-02-17T22:13:18Z")
_Do Not Taunt Happy Fun Fact_ ---
**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 18, 2025, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1622 "2025-02-18T01:22:15Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Was this a thing at the time, or was he breaking new ground? Have a look at Hale’s Tours > [@](#): > > [George C. Hale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_C._Hale) was born on October 28, 1849. He was a well travelled and prolific inventor, engineer and [Fire Chief](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Chief) of [Kansas City, Missouri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City,_Missouri) from 1882 until retiring in 1902. Interested in the use of film, Hale came across William Keefe who had conceived the idea of an imitation railway passenger car on a circular platform that would remain motionless as a panorama of images would revolve around the “passengers” to simulate the experience of a railway journey. “Realism” would be increased with staff providing a rocking motion, a wind machine and sound effects. Lacking the financial capital, Fell teamed with Judge Fred Gifford who introduced Fell to Hale who had possibly viewed the [phantom rides](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_ride) on tours of Great Britain. The idea was patented in 1904; Hale and Gifford soon bought out Keefe’s interest in the venture.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hale%27s_Tours_of_the_World#cite_note-1) > **[Hale's Tours of the World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hale%27s_Tours_of_the_World)** > > Hale's Tours of the World were an attraction at amusement parks and similar venues in the early 20th century. They were specially constructed spaces designed to simulate a railway journey. > George C. Hale was born on October 28, 1849. He was a well travelled and prolific inventor, engineer and Fire Chief of Kansas City, Missouri from 1882 until retiring in 1902. Interested in the use of film, Hale came across William Keefe who had conceived the idea of an imitation railway passenger car on a cir... There were several “phantom rides” around the turn of the century, including a fake submarine journey and a trip to the Moon (or Mars). It’s only a small step to a trip through times. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1623 "2025-02-18T01:47:40Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Conversely, there are no men in 1939’s _The Women,_ and even the pet dog of one of the characters was female. There were a number of dogs at the “spa,” and they were all female, as were the horses that Norma Shearer and Virginia Weidler rode. Additionally, any portraits seen on screen were only of women. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1624 "2025-02-18T01:47:58Z")
Listening to the audiobook of Simon Winchester’s [Pacific](https://www.simonwinchester.com/pacific) I found out that Jack London acquired a love of surfing when he visited Hawaii. He wrote about learning how to ride the waves in his essay " A Royal Sport", which was published in the Women’s Home Companion in 1911. ---
**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 18, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1625 "2025-02-18T02:02:44Z")
[Duke Kahanamoku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Kahanamoku) brought surfing from Hawaii to Australia: > His surfing exhibition at [Sydney, Australia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney,_Australia)’s [Freshwater Beach](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_Beach) on December 24, 1914, is widely regarded as a seminal event in the development of surfing in Australia.[[11]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Kahanamoku#cite_note-11) The board that Kahanamoku built from a piece of pine from a local hardware store is retained by the [Freshwater Surf Life Saving Club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_Surf_Life_Saving_Club). A statue of Kahanamoku was erected in his honor on the Northern headland of Freshwater Lake, [New South Wales](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales) ---
**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 18, 2025, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1626 "2025-02-18T12:42:16Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > I found out that Jack London acquired a love of surfing when he visited Hawaii. As, somewhat later, did Agatha Christie. > **[On Surfing: Agatha Christie's Love of the Sea](https://www.agathachristie.com/en/news/2021/on-surfing-agatha-christies-love-of-the-sea)** > > We explore one of Agatha Christie's lesser-known hobbies, surfing ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1627 "2025-02-18T21:47:50Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I loved her too when I was a child. I was also impressed that she was able to entertain my own kids decades later. Her daughter has taken over the mantle. > **[Mallory Lewis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallory_Lewis)** > > Mallory Hurwitz Lewis (née Tarcher; born July 8, 1962) is an American writer, television producer, ventriloquist, and puppeteer. She currently puppeteers Lamb Chop (a sock puppet created by her mother, Shari Lewis). > Mallory Lewis was born as Mallory Tarcher in New York City into a Jewish family. She is the daughter of Jeremy Tarcher (1932–2015) and Shari Lewis (1933–1998), creator of Lamb Chop. Growing up, Lewis used to sleep with Lamb Chop. She is of Jewish faith. > Lewis worked closely with h... [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HQ_T6clZbm8/maxresdefault.jpg "Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop on TMS") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ_T6clZbm8) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2025, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1628 "2025-02-19T00:15:44Z")
Looks just like Shari in a wig. ---
**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 19, 2025, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1629 "2025-02-19T01:47:25Z")
Woody Allen was once made a knight commander by France, but he didn’t know because the paperwork got lost in the mail. A decade later, he found out about the award by reading about it in the New York Times. The paper of record. ---
**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, 2025, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1630 "2025-02-19T12:35:22Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Woody Allen was once made a knight commander by France, but he didn’t know because the paperwork got lost in the mail. That sounds like something out of those pieces Woody Allen used to write for the _New Yorker_. “I was made a knight commander in France, but they lost my paperwork. I had to show people a Xerox of my certificate, but it came out wrinkled when they ran the parchment through the copier.” ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1631 "2025-02-19T19:52:38Z")
TI (and a lot of other people) L: Going viral is the story behind f the Nebraska opossum who found its way into a kind woman’s home, devoured an entire gloppy Costco chocolate cake until it was discovered quivering insensate on her couch. Collected and treated by the local wildlife org, possum has been dubbed the “Cake Bandit.” Those of us who Googled for that name to learn more accomplished just that, since Cake Bandit was already the taken name of an undergarment retailer specializing in reducing the prominence of genitalia for trans individuals. An oopsie by the wildlife org, or an act of guerrilla normalization? ---
**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 20, 2025, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1632 "2025-02-20T00:03:45Z")
I vote for pure coincidence. I mean the possum WAS literally a cake bandit. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1633 "2025-02-20T01:14:00Z")
… which surely gave furbaby cake farts. But DO NOT Google that! ---
**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:** [February 20, 2025, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1634 "2025-02-20T09:24:48Z")
Ernst August von Hanover, descended from the Georges and the current head of the House of Hanover, by family tradition can call himself Royal Prince of Great Britain and Ireland. (Note the inclusion of all Ireland). I think maybe his distant cousins in England should, to use a Geman expression in translation, tell him exactly who he is. ---
**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, 2025, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1635 "2025-02-20T12:49:43Z")
According to Wikipedia, in German law the “Prinz” bit is part of his surname since the abolition of titles. As far as the UK is concerned, it’s complicated since the law allowed him British citizenship, so they came up with a compromise. (Not that distant, btw, since his mother was Philip’s sister) ---
**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 20, 2025, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1636 "2025-02-20T12:59:27Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > cake farts That brings back memories! Doubt if the orginal site is still up. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2025, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1637 "2025-02-20T13:04:19Z")
The UK can call itself lucky that he’s not a real Royal, because he’s a massive, entitled asshole. He’s also the husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco, btw. > **[Ernst August von Hannover (born 1954)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_August_von_Hannover_(born_1954)#Controversies)** > > Ernst August von Hanover (German: Ernst August Albert Paul Otto Rupprecht Oskar Berthold Friedrich-Ferdinand Christian-Ludwig Prinz von Hannover Herzog zu Braunschweig und Lüneburg Königlicher Prinz von Großbritannien und Irland, lit. 'Ernst August Albert Paul Otto Rupprecht Oskar Berthold Friedrich-Ferdinand Christian-Ludwig, Prince of Hanover, Duke of Braunschweig and Lüneburg, Royal Prince of Great Britain and Ireland'; born 26 February 1954) is the head of the House of Hanover, membe He lef... ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1638 "2025-02-20T13:17:41Z")
In the [Restaurants that don’t serve essential dishes](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451) thread I learned that nachos were invented by a guy named Nacho. Ok, his given name was Ignacio, but he was called Nacho, and nachos were originally called _Nacho’s Especiales_ and he eventually opened his own restaurant called _Nacho’s Restaurant_. Thank you Ignacio Anaya for bringing cheesy crunchy joy to the world. Let’s all raise a chip in your memory. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1639 "2025-02-20T16:25:43Z")
Interesting. Among his outrages listed in the link was urinating on the Turkish pavilion at Expo 2000. From Strindberg’s _Miss Julie_, we’d learned that “Turkish pavilion” was a euphemism for outhouse. ---
**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 20, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1640 "2025-02-20T16:25:45Z")
Nacho is the nickname for Ignacio similar to Robert-Bob and Edward-Ted. There are a bunch of them that aren’t apparent. Fracisco-Pancho or Paco, Jesus-Chuy (two syllables sounds like chewy), Roberto-Beto, Jose-Pepe, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=81) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=83)