# 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:** 9
**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 10, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/161 "2010-01-10T04:31:14Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > [re: RMS Titanic coal bunker fire] Not quite. There _was_ a fire, and one of the reasons they couldn’t get it out initially was because they didn’t have enough crewmen to do it (this was before the voyage, and thus they hadn’t hired all of their boiler room staff yet). With the extra help, they managed to put it out…the day of the sinking… That’s not what I read in a scholarly article a few years ago (whose title and author now escapes me, alas). ---
**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 10, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/162 "2010-01-10T04:47:33Z")
Can we agree that she was fucked from several directions? And that, had any of them been fixed earlier, Titanic might still be carrying passengers to and from Disney World, had she not been sold for scrap in the 50s? ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/163 "2010-01-10T05:09:40Z")
Two of my favourites, although these are perhaps too obscure: Natalie Portman’s Erdős–Bacon number is 6. That is, she is not far from Kevin Bacon (hence Bacon number) nor from Paul Erdős, the prolific and collaborative mathematician. Pia Zadora’s first ‘major’ film was _Santa Claus conquers the Martians._ ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/164 "2010-01-10T05:11:46Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > That’s not what I read in a scholarly article a few years ago (whose title and author now escapes me, alas). My own source is Lee Merideth’s _1912 Facts About Titanic_, which is fairly well-respected…though of course that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/165 "2010-01-10T16:21:57Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Natalie Portman’s Erdős–Bacon number is 6. So are Danica McKellar’s and Richard Feynman’s. Carl Sagan’s and Stephen Hawking’s are only 7. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/166 "2010-01-10T17:01:56Z")
I, personally, am 5 degrees away from Kevin Bacon: First, there’s me. (1) I have an older brother. (2) My older brother dated a girl we will call “Trish” for several years. (3) “Trish” had a brother who was an actor. (4) Trish’s actor brother played one of the camp counselors in the original “Friday the 13th” film, co-starring with…Kevin Bacon. (5) Kevin Bacon trivia - Before filming began for the movie “Footloose”, Bacon (who was not yet a well-known star) attended a high school in a mid-western town very similar to the one filming would take place. He passed himself off as a teenager who’d just transferred from a NYC-area school. Bacon had a new wave haircut and clothes that were popular with teens in the east & west coasts, but had not penetrated into middle-America yet. He got the same basic reactions his character in “Footloose” got. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/167 "2010-01-10T18:31:30Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > The original singer is not entirely lost to obscurity. She’s Ellen Foley, who played Billie on Night Court. Ellen had quite the life, and The Clash song Should I Stay Or Should I Go is supposedly about her relationship with Mick Jones. She sang on The Clash’s Sandanista album and did work with Ian Hunter and Joe Jackson. The Clash also helped out on her solo albums. She’s also my favorite public defender. ---
**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 10, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/168 "2010-01-10T18:36:13Z")
James Garfield was both very well-educated and ambidextrous. As a parlor trick, he could _simultaneously_ write Greek with one hand and Latin with another. Lyndon Johnson personally approved the design of new U.S. Air Force uniform trousers, because he was concerned about the fit in the crotch. Gerald Ford was locked out of the White House late one night while walking his dog. The Captain and Tennille performed “Muskrat Love” at a state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II in 1976 (but fortunately she didn’t order the White House burned down again). Jimmy Carter personally kept the signup list for the White House tennis court. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/169 "2010-01-10T18:37:43Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > I, personally, am 5 degrees away from Kevin Bacon: > > First, there’s me. (1) > I have an older brother. (2) > My older brother dated a girl we will call “Trish” for several years. (3) > “Trish” had a brother who was an actor. (4) > Trish’s actor brother played one of the camp counselors in the original “Friday the 13th” film, co-starring with…Kevin Bacon. (5) [This](http://xkcd.com/599/) is what you need to do. ---
**Author:** ![blood63](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@blood63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blood63)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/170 "2010-01-10T19:50:03Z")
Many people died during the building of the Hoover dam. The last to die was the son of the first to die an they both died on the same date thirteen years apart. ---
**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 10, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/171 "2010-01-10T20:02:17Z")
Fortunately, no one died in the carving of Mount Rushmore, which lasted from 1927-41. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/172 "2010-01-10T20:45:44Z")
There are two Empire State Buildings in New York City. The other – which was built in 1897 – is located at 640 Broadway; it’s nine stories tall and currently houses a Swatch Watch store. It was originally built by the Empire State Bank, hence its name. ---
**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 11, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/173 "2010-01-11T00:47:50Z")
In July 1945, the Empire State Building was struck by a bomber aircraft, killing fourteen: [1945 Empire State Building B-25 crash - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-25_Empire_State_Building_crash) ---
**Author:** ![Recliner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a88e57/32.png) [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/174 "2010-01-11T01:14:51Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > One of my favourites is that every time John Travolta steps out of the bathroom in _Pulp Fiction_, something bad is happening. And he’s always reading that book (dammit, can’t remember the title). I always wondered how he was able to carry it around invisibly…presumably a bag of holding. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/175 "2010-01-11T03:31:44Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > James Garfield was both very well-educated and ambidextrous. As a parlor trick, he could _simultaneously_ write Greek with one hand and Latin with another. Garfield was the only clergyman (Franklin Circle Christian Church) to hold the office of US President. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/176 "2010-01-11T04:02:21Z")
Mickey Spillaine . . . . –author of hardboiled detective novels, packed to the rafters with sex and violence –author of novels with titles like _The Girl Hunters_ and _The Erection Set_ –whose wife posed nude for the cover of _The Erection Set_ (If you ever browsed a paperback stand in the 1970s, you know the one I’m talking about.) . . . . was a Jehovah’s Witness. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/177 "2010-01-11T14:23:15Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > My older brother dated a girl we will call “Trish” for several years. \ Please advise when we can stop calling her “Trish”. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/178 "2010-01-11T14:44:50Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Please advise when we can stop calling her “Trish”. You can stop now. ---
**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 11, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/179 "2010-01-11T15:03:05Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Mickey Spillaine . . . . . also appeared in a series of Miller Lite Beer commercials in the late 1970s, with a blonde femme fatale oozing into the commercial at some point. That was none other than Lee Meredith, best known for her role as “Ulla” in Mel Brooks’ “The Producers” (1968). James Darren’s father **did not** die at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, as several internet sources indicate. His character in “The Time Tunnel,” however did travel back to Dec. 6, 1941 to try to save his father from dying. Chubby Chaney, from “Our Gang” was 14 when he started in “Our Gang.” However, he apparently suffered from some medical condition that stunted his growth, and his parents were able to pass him off as being several years younger. “Bumbo, the Wild Man from Borneo,” aka “Uncle George” from “Our Gang” was a former heavyweight boxer that Jack Dempsey said gave him the worst beating of his career. [James Karen](http://scottkenemore.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/jameskaren1.jpg), not to be confused with James Darren, is one of those instantly recognizable faces, who has been in probably ever movie and TV series in the past 40+ years, but nobody knows his name. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603/180 "2010-01-11T21:19:46Z")
Harrison Ford’s two sons by his first wife are named Ben and Willard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-trivia/523603.md?page=10)