I knew there was a reason I love guacamole so much. 
The first actor to play James Bond was Barry Nelson in a 1952 television version of “Casino Royale”, in which Bond was a CIA agent (Bond being American in this version).
The first British actor to play James Bond was Bob Holness, who voiced him in a 1957 South African radio adaptation of “Moonraker”.
The question to life the universe and everything:
How many pounds does a standard curling stone weigh?
Answer: 42
James Watt’s son was Sir Humphrey Davy’s mother’s lodger.
If you stood in the middle of Grand Central Station (New York) for a year, you would absorb as much radiation as you would if you ate a luminous watch.
I know a disturbingly large number of Tom Lehrer and Flanders and Swann songs, and I can (and, if not forcibly prevented, do) recite the whole of The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God.
The Silent Film star Colleen Moore was born with one brown eye and one blue eye. She also played the first silent screen flapper. And created the World’s Greatest Dollhouse, currently on display in Chicago’s Museum of Science & Industry.
Read her autobiography Silent Star .
My favorite silent star. 
One of the earliest dinosaur fossils recognized as belonging to a formely-living organism was given the name Scrotum humanum by a fellow named Brookes in 1763. It was actually the distal end of a Megalosaurus femur (this was corrected by Buckland in 1824).
“The Silent Film star Colleen Moore . . . played the first silent screen flapper.”
—Bzzzt!
Sorry. Colleen was indeed a honey, and I do recommend her films and her memoirs. But Olive Thomas starred in a film called “The Flapper” in 1920, three years before Colleen’s first flapper role, in “Flaming Youth” (1923).
I love this Board . . . Where else can you have a Colleen Moore vs. Olive Thomas debate?
The race of creatures depicted on the borders of ancient maps whose faces are on their chests, and who have no heads are named Blemyes.
Butter will melt in the Red Sea.
But Eve dear–I don’t believe Ms. Olive was sporting the bobbed hair, the open galoshes, & hats & dresses we associate with the term “flapper”. The term “flapper” is indeed used in the title of the film–but not in the context we are discussing.
And, you’re right about the “honey” part–Hugh Hefner once wrote that she was as lovely, and had as beautiful a body as, many of the movie “vamps” of her era. He was right.
Yes…your Unca Bosda has a crush on a silent star. :o
My obscure knowledge all seems to come from cricket, and my obsessive reading of Wisden Cricketers’ Alamanack.
Who was the only non-Test player to tour England with the Rest of the World team in 1970? Harilal Shah (Kenya). How many runs did Don Bradman need in his last innings to finish with a Test career average of 100? Four. What is N. F. Callaway’s claim to fame? He has the highest first-class score of anyone who only ever played one first-class innings (207). What unusual event delayed the fourth women’s one-day international between New Zealand and England in 1999-2000? Somebody stole one of the banks of floodlights.
The really scary thing is, most of my countrymen don’t even know what cricket is, let alone what any of the above means. Now that’s obscurity!
"But Eve dear–I don’t believe Ms. Olive was sporting the bobbed hair, the open galoshes, & hats & dresses we associate with the term ‘flapper’. The term “flapper” is indeed used in the title of the film–but not in the context we are discussing.
And, you’re right about the ‘honey’ part–Hugh Hefner once wrote that she was as lovely, and had as beautiful a body as, many of the movie “vamps” of her era. He was right.
Yes…your Unca Bosda has a crush on a silent star. "
—[rolls up her sleeves]
Associating the word “flapper” with “bobbed hair, the open galoshes, & hats & dresses” of the mid-to-late 1920s is spurious (as noted in my post above). “Flapper” originated around 1900, meaning flighty, butterfly-like girls. Whic is indeed what Olive Thomas was playing in the 1920 film of that name.
That having been said, I take my hat off to you in your admiration of the late, great Miss Moore. You might enjoy this article I wrote about her a few years ago: http://new.filmsofthegoldenage.com/foga/1999/spring99/moore.shtml
Although at least fifteen web pages claim that the first Telimco Wireless Telegraph Outfit advertisement ran in the January 13, 1906 Scientific American, the ads actually began running in the November 25, 1905 issue. And they cost $8.50, not $7.50.
*Originally posted by booklover *
The word “avocado” is derived from a South American native word for “testicle”.
I now know that I’m anticipating someday being the proud owner of a Cajones Orchard.
I know that Donald Duck’s license plate number is 313. It has been for decades.
You’ve got to admit that’s pretty obscure.
I’ve been gathering obscure knowledge for years. Some current favorites:
There are two Empire State Buildings in New York City (350 Fifth Avenue and 640 Broadway).
Limelight won an Oscar 20 years after its first release; it was Charlie Chaplin’s only non-honorary Oscar – for best original music.
The first U.S. stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar was held at my old high school in Southold, NY. It got to Broadway about six months later.
JFK’s "Ask not what your country can do for you . . . " was a direct paraphrase of a speech by a previous president – Warren G. Harding.
Pies in silent movies were blueberry, not cream. It showed up better on camera. Pies in pie fights were of uniform size and weight for better throwing.
“The War of the Roses” was never used to describe the war until centuries after it was fought. Red roses, the symbol of the house of Lancashire, didn’t exist back then. And the House of York had many symbols (most notably “the sun in splendour”) that they used instead of the white rose.
Dutch Zwilling is the only major league ballplayer who played his entire career for three teams in a single city.
Although I’ve never opened one of his posts, and so don’t know if he has yet divulged its meaning, I know the origin of new poster “Xapno Mapcase’s” name.
I know some Sumerian erotic poems. That’s all I can think of right now.
Getting in with the old movie crowd 
– Arthur Lake, who portrayed Dagwood in the Blondie and Dagwood movies, was born in Corbin, Kentucky (home of Col. Sanders’ first chicken restaurant) to parents who were trapeze artists. They performed as the Flying Silverlakes.
Most of my obscure knowledge is Kentucky history and heritage! Cumberland Falls, home of the moonbow and billed for years as “the Niagra of the South.” Stuff like that.
Well, I’m a moviegeek, so if you name any major motion picture in the last, oh, 20 years, I can tell you who directed it, starred in it, wrote it, produced it, what studio released it, what it’s about, and (whether or not I’ve seen it) how generally well-regarded it is by critics and public, and I may also know the cinematographer, composer, editor, and so on. The first few bits of data aren’t obscure; the latter few certainly are, based on the average-joe standard.
I actually wrote and performed a theatrical monologue a few years ago that was basically just a list of all the obscure stuff lodged in my head. “The name of the man who drove the golden spike that united the transcontinental railroad is Leland Stanford. The first pitcher to start All-Star games for both the American and National League teams was Vida Blue. ‘Scuba’ stands for 'self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.” Several dozen tidbits like that, delivered rapid-fire over a couple of minutes. Got big laughs.