# weird trivia **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2010, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603 "2010-01-04T10:07:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**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:** [January 27, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/301 "2010-01-27T18:19:24Z")
The Canary Islands were named after. . . Beats the hell out of me. Most sources say they were named after local dogs (_Insula Canaria_, “Island of Dogs” or “Dog Island”). [Pliny](http://www.zingzang.org/historiaviva/canarias/canarii_ing.shtml) believed that they were named after the local savages, yclept _Canarii_ after their dog-like eating habits (whatever that meant). There’s some other speculation that they were indeed named after dogs, but the “dogs” were actually an extinct species of seal. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/302 "2010-01-27T18:44:14Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Both “Jet” magazine and BET (cable channel) were founded by men named Robert Johnson. Jet by Robert E., and BET by Robert L. On the one hand, “Jet” was founded by [John H Johnson.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_%28magazine%29) OTOH, I always thought that BET was a branch of Johnson Publishing. Live in Chicago for a while and you start thinking anybody named Johnson is one of _those_ Johnsons, like anybody named Pritzker is one of _those_ Pritzkers. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/303 "2010-01-27T18:45:27Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Another Kevin Bacon one! > > Lots of people – planners, architects, geographers, etc. – are familiar with the coffee-table book _Design of Cities_, by mid-20th-C. Philadephia urban designer Edmund Bacon. I grew up with the book on my parents’ bookcase, and it surely influenced my lifelong interests and career decisions. > > I just found out that the author is Kevin Bacon’s father! Does this give many urban planners and the like a potentially lower KB number? Love that book! Almost went into urban planning because of it, too. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/304 "2010-01-27T19:28:02Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > That first (short) story was “The Island **of** Dr. Death and Other Stories” of course, and was published in a collection called ’ “The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories” and Other Stories’. > > Another Gene Wolfe title tale: one of the books in The Book of the New Sun series was to be called “The Citadel of the Autarch”. When he told his agent this over the phone, he heard it - and publicised it - as “The Citadel of the Otter”. Wolfe then wrote a story by that name, so as to render his agent’s press release truthful. Not quite. [Castle of the Otter.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Castle_of_the_Otter) I happen to own a copy from the Science Fiction Book Club printing. Not the most entertaining read, to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/305 "2010-01-27T20:08:44Z")
Noted jazz musician Billy Tipton was found, at the time of his death, to have actually been female: [Billy Tipton - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Tipton) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/306 "2010-01-28T14:21:58Z")
Bea Kauffman, who wrote Up The Down Staircase, is the maternal granddaugher of [Shalem Alecihem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sholem_Aleichem). Bock & Harnick should really turn that book into a musical. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/307 "2010-01-28T15:39:38Z")
The U.S. Supreme Court lacked a quorum when it first met in a Philadelphia tavern, so it immediately adjourned. It had so few cases in its first few years that its decisions were published at the back of the Pennsylvania courts’ reporters (case books). ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/308 "2010-01-28T17:51:27Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Noted jazz musician Billy Tipton was found, at the time of his death, to have actually been female: [Billy Tipton - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Tipton) It’s so easy to look at the picture (in the linked article) and say, “Well, of course!” ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/309 "2010-01-28T18:43:10Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > The Canary Islands were named after. . . > > Beats the hell out of me. > > Most sources say they were named after local dogs (_Insula Canaria_, “Island of Dogs” or “Dog Island”). > > [Pliny](http://www.zingzang.org/historiaviva/canarias/canarii_ing.shtml) believed that they were named after the local savages, yclept _Canarii_ after their dog-like eating habits (whatever that meant). > > There’s some other speculation that they were indeed named after dogs, but the “dogs” were actually an extinct species of seal. Key West was originally named Cay Huesos(sp?) or Island of Bones. Supposedly the original discoverer found a huge pile of bones on the island. Bimini is supposedly the Spanish word for the Garden Of Eden. ---
**Author:** ![Staver808](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Staver808](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staver808)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/310 "2010-01-29T19:57:18Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Ohio is the only U.S. state to have a non-rectangular flag: [Flag of Ohio - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_ohio) Here’s a recent bit of trivia, it would have been more appropos if you had posted that bit about Peter Jackson and Sir Christopher Lee. 😉 ---
**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:** [January 29, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/311 "2010-01-29T20:28:33Z")
The main “Killer Hippie Terrorist” in the Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry vehicle “The Enforcer” was played by [DeVeren Bookwalter](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0095430/), wearing a headband to clearly convey “Killer Hippie Terrorist.” He was also the lead in Andy Warhol’s minimalist [“Blow Job,”](http://tjnorris.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/2007_11blowjob.jpg) (image SFW) a 35-minute filmed close-up of Bookwalter’s face as he received fellatio, performed out of the camera’s view. According to [imdb.com](http://imdb.com), but never confirmed by Warhol, the eponymous act was performed by experimental filmaker Willard Mass. Mass and his wife Marie Menken were Edward Albee’s inspiration for George and Martha in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/312 "2010-01-29T22:06:11Z")
In an early draft, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective hero was named Sherrinford Holmes. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/313 "2010-01-29T22:15:07Z")
Wilbur and Orville Wright attended high school with black poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. The Wrights later invested in Dunbar’s newspaper for the black community of Dayton. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/314 "2010-01-30T03:51:50Z")
The Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, was born in Ireland while his father was a British government official there. He was not fond of the Irish, though, and emphasized his English heritage. He is often quoted as saying, “Just because you were born in a barn doesn’t mean you are a horse.” ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/315 "2010-01-30T05:16:04Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Tom Selleck was cast (not just tried out for the role, but had a contract to do it) as Indiana Jones, but delays in shooting caused him to pull out of the production because he needed to get back to his TV show, Magnum PI, leaving Harrison Ford the iconic role, and some very scary pictures online. (Search yourself, but don’t gouge your eyes out when you find it.) What? google “tom selleck indiana jones”? > [@](#): > > The best selling type of Campbell’s soup is Tomato, but nobody knows why. We assume it’s added to spaghetti sauce in restaurants. Because it’s mmm, mmm, good. Had some today, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/316 "2010-01-31T11:18:14Z")
Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > Karen’s drumming was praised by fellow drummers Hal Blaine, Cubby O’Brien, Buddy Rich and Modern Drummer magazine.[8] Many people are unaware that Karen had an impeccable ability to play the drums, in part because the public wanted a singing Karen Carpenter, rather than a drumming Karen Carpenter[citation needed]. However, according to Richard Carpenter in an interview, Karen always considered herself a “drummer who sang.” See? The readers of Playboy weren’t just looking at the pictures! AB Avowed fan of the Carpenter’s, so nyeah! (and kudos to the bear right, left frog) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/317 "2010-01-31T15:46:28Z")
Halle Berry was named for a Cleveland department store. Kobe Bryant was named for a Philadelphia Japanese restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/318 "2010-01-31T16:16:06Z")
Weird Al Yankovic is NOT related to Frankie Yankovic, The Polka King. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/319 "2010-01-31T18:39:07Z")
You all know from elementary school about the water cycle: liquid, solid, and vapor. Just learned yesterday, at a science museum, the ratios for how much of the world’s water is in each state at any given time: Liquid: 97%+ Solid: 2%+ Vapor: .001% ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/320 "2010-01-31T21:27:39Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > A good one for today: King County, which contains Seattle, Wash., was originally named for Franklin Pierce’s vice president, William Rufus King. The name was not changed, but the explanation for its origin was - it now named for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: [King County, Washington - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_County,_Washington) And King was the only Vice President to take the oath of office outside the United States and never set foot in the county during his whole term. From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > King was elected Vice President of the United States on the Democratic ticket with Franklin Pierce in 1852 and took the oath of office March 24, 1853, in Cuba, where he had gone because of his health. This unusual inauguration took place because it was believed that King, who was terminally ill with tuberculosis, would not live much longer. The privilege of taking the oath on foreign soil was extended by a special act of Congress for his long and distinguished service to the government of the United States. Even though he took the oath 20 days after inauguration day he was still Vice President during those three weeks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603.md?page=17)