# 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:** 92
**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:** [March 7, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1821 "2025-03-07T17:08:50Z")
I don’t understand. It was a hoax when it was published in 1874. Tom Waits mentioning it over 100 years later doesn’t make it less of a hoax. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1822 "2025-03-08T15:07:18Z")
Station wagon missing since December 1958 may have been found. > **[A car pulled from a river may tell what happened to an Oregon family of 5...](https://abc7chicago.com/post/martin-family-disappearance-car-found-columbia-river-could-belong-couple-kids-went-missing-1958/15992177/)** > > A crane has pulled a Ford station wagon from the Columbia River that officials believe belonged to an Oregon family who disappeared while on a trip 66 years ago. > The Martins took their daughters - Barbara, 14; Virginia, 13; and Sue, 11 - on a ride to the mountains on Dec. 7, 1958, to collect Christmas greenery, according to AP stories from the time. The children left the Sunday newspaper comics scattered about their home. Dishes remained in the sink and a load of laundry in the washing machine. > > They never returned. Officials narrowed their search for the family after learning that Ken Martin had used a credit card to buy gas at a station near Cascade Locks, a small Columbia River community about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Portland. > > “Police have speculated that Martin’s red and white station wagon might have plunged into an isolated canyon or river,” the AP reported. “The credit card purchase was the only thing to pinpoint the family’s movements.” > Five months after their disappearance, the body of the youngest daughter was found “bobbing in a Columbia River slough,” according to the AP. “The body of Susan apparently floated free of the wreckage in the spring current and was washed to a back water slough near Camas, Washington,” the AP wrote. > > Virginia Martin’s body was found the next day about 25 miles (40 kilometers) upstream from where her sister’s was located. The other family members were never found, but the search continued. > > The Martins had a 28-year-old son, Don, who was a Marine veteran and graduate student at Columbia University in New York at the time and told the AP he believed his family was dead. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1823 "2025-03-08T15:25:37Z")
Huh, I knew that the bullet-impregnation story was probably false, but I had assumed it was just an urban legend, of no definite provenance. I hadn’t realized that it had a single, well-defined origin. And you can hardly blame later retellers for accepting the word of an established medical journal. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1824 "2025-03-08T15:39:12Z")
A Ukrainian refugee in Japan is building a career as a sumo wrestler. Not that earth-shattering, perhaps, but the puerile side of me is amused to learn that a sumo bout is, in Japanese, a _basho_ (I’ll bet it is - and this man is just _20_?!) > **[The Ukrainian refugee fighting to become the first European sumo grand champion](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/08/the-ukrainian-refugee-fighting-to-become-the-first-european-sumo-grand-champion)** > > Known by his fighting moniker, Aonishiki Arata, the Ukrainian wrestler recently won promotion to sumo’s highest level in Japan ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1825 "2025-03-08T16:34:20Z")
The surprising part of that story to me is that they used a credit card to buy gas in 1958. I know Diners Club existed then, but could you buy gas with it? BankAmericard was only a trial project in Fresno in 1958. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1826 "2025-03-08T16:42:31Z")
Maybe just a gas station brand credit card. Esso, Sunoco, etc. had them. They were often just ‘charge’ cards with a balance that had to be paid off monthly. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1827 "2025-03-08T16:45:25Z")
Sanskrit has a large number of words borrowed from an untraceable donor language. They are thought to have come from a little-known ancient civilization of Central Asia, the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC). The ancestors of the Indo-Aryan speakers, having migrated from the Proto-Indo-European homeland across Central Asia, stayed in the BMAC for a while before going over the mountains into India. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1828 "2025-03-08T18:26:13Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Sanskrit has a large number of words borrowed from an untraceable donor language. Linguistic fossils are fascinating to me. Very cool! ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1829 "2025-03-08T18:30:44Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > A Ukrainian refugee in Japan is building a career as a sumo wrestler. I thought that sumo was not merely a sport but had connotations in the Shinto religion. How have the Japanese received non-Japanese aspirants to the art? ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1830 "2025-03-08T18:41:40Z")
Akebono (born Chadwick Rowan) was a sumo champion a generation ago. > **[Akebono Tarō](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akebono_Tar%C5%8D)** > > Akebono Tarō (Japanese: 曙 太郎, Hepburn: Akebono Tarō, born Chadwick Haheo Rowan; 8 May 1969 – 6 April 2024) was an American-born Japanese professional sumo wrestler and professional wrestler from Waimānalo, Hawaii. Joining sumo in Japan in 1988, he was trained by pioneering Hawaiian wrestler Takamiyama and rose swiftly up the rankings, reaching the top division in 1990. After two consecutive yusho or tournament championships in November 1992 and January 1993 he made history by becoming the firs ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1831 "2025-03-08T18:46:10Z")
There have been difficulties in non-Japanese entering the sport in the past. Back in the 80s [Canadian John Tenta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tenta#Sumo_career) who later became a professional wrestler had a brief successful career in sumo. He experienced cultural bias and despite his success left in less than a year. He also saw that professional wrestling would be more lucrative and a more attractive lifestyle for him. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1832 "2025-03-08T19:29:49Z")
The team name for Pennsylvania’s Williamsport Area High School is The Millionaires. No idea why. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1833 "2025-03-08T20:03:08Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > Williamsport Area High School is The Millionaires. I did a quick google and found > Williamsport Area High School is The Millionaires. Williamsport, Pennsylvania, was known as “The Lumber Capital of the World” in the late 19th century, and it had a high concentration of millionaires, leading to the nickname “Millionaires’ Row” for the area where wealthy lumber barons built their homes. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1834 "2025-03-08T20:05:21Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > How have the Japanese received non-Japanese aspirants to the art? My understanding was that fewer young Japanese men are aspiring to be sumo wrestlers so importing wrestlers (e.g. Mongolians, Pacific islanders, etc.) is more common nowadays. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1835 "2025-03-08T20:12:03Z")
There’s probably also a geopolitical aspect to it, too, with him being specifically Ukrainian. Lots of people want to support Ukraine, and I imagine Japan is no exception. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1836 "2025-03-08T20:18:01Z")
I saw this yesterday. I was surprised that the car was apparently quite close to the low end of the old unused Cascade locks. Didn’t anyone else dive down to have a look at the submerged part in all that time? ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1837 "2025-03-08T20:36:21Z")
It’s telling that the mystery loanwords in Sanskrit are largely agricultural, which tracks with the timeline that the traditionally nomadic Proto-Indo-Aryan herders learned agriculture during their sojourn in the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (present-day Turkmenistan and northern Afghanistan). ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1838 "2025-03-08T21:17:20Z")
This is the kind of thing that is so interesting about linguistics and the detective work used to figure that out. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1839 "2025-03-08T21:25:41Z")
Not proven, but still circulating: “daughter” comes from the Sanskrit for “one who milks.” Entomologists dispute this with science, though it was a culture where anatomy = destiny. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1840 "2025-03-08T22:46:13Z")
Daughter doesn’t come from Sanskrit. Daughter and its Sanskrit cognate _duhitar_ both come from the same Proto-Indo-European root, [\*dʰugh₂tḗr](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/d%CA%B0ugh%E2%82%82t%E1%B8%97r) - which may be cognate with the Hindi word for milk, _dūdh_, dude. \*Etymologists [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=91) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=93)