This is the thread for unusual details in wikipedia articles.

Galaxy Records was closed down for good around 1990's due to conflict problems.

The most widely known edition of snakes and ladders in the United States is Chutes and Ladders, released by Milton Bradley in 1943. The playground setting replaced the snakes, which were disliked by children at the time

good thing the children of the USA outgrew that weird quirk!

"We sell a lot of products in the “Bag O'” line.. like Bag O’ Glass, Bag O’ Nails, Bag O’ Bugs, Bag O’ Vipers, Bag O’ Sulfuric Acid. They’re decent toys, you know what I mean?"

That is a surprisingly interesting article. I didn't know the game was so ancient.

The morality lesson of the game was that a person can attain salvation (Moksha) through doing good, whereas by doing evil one will be reborn as lower forms of life. The number of ladders was less than the number of snakes as a reminder that a path of good is much more difficult to tread than a path of sins.

Compared to other types of insults, "your mother" insults are especially likely to incite violence.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternal_insult

from Two Out of Three Ain't Bad article

The Japanese release changes the title of the song to use a percentage, translating it as "66% is good enough".[5]

Casting
Jennifer O'Neill was originally cast in the film but was told she needed to cut her hair because it would be easier to film the zero-G scenes. She gave in, drinking wine during the haircut and leaving noticeably impaired. She lost the part after a serious car crash on the way home.

wowwww. great one.

is re: The Black Hole (1979) if anyone else was wondering.

The band toured the United States and Canada in 2000, during which it had a fourth member, a giant robot guitarist named Zyclor.

xps, that haircut of Jennifer O'Neill's must have been the source of her short style in the Chuck Norris movie A Force of One. I thought that was a great look for her!

Zyclor (aciclovir) is used for the treatment of initial and recurrent mucocutaneous Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2) infections and the treatment of severe first episodes of genital herpes infections in immunocompetent individuals. It is also for the treatment of HSV encephalitis and neonatal HSV infections.

interesting name for a giant robot guitarist

does this work as a place for just strange things you've come across generally? i couldn't find a mummified cats thread ..

http://www.strangehistory.net/2013/12/18/tens-of-thousands-of-egyptian-mummies-in-english-soil/

basically tons of mummified cats were shipped over from egypt and used as fertilizer around Liverpool

(this was mentioned in passing in one of the two American Gods related short stories)

also used for paint and maybe cosmetics iirc

I've watched enough episodes of Horrible Histories to know mummies were used for all sorts.

human remains from Napoleonic battlefields were exported to England as fertilizer in the early 19th century. There was no such thing as "too soon" back then.

Posted this in the "shockingly old" thread, but I guess it fits better here:

The Country Life cover features two scantily-clad models, Constanze Karoli (sister of Can's Michael Karoli) and Eveline Grunwald (who was also Michael Karoli's girlfriend).

Away from football, during his spell with Norwich,[41] he invented a percussion instrument called The Dube,[42] a form of cajón. In 2011, he accompanied Ocean Colour Scene during a gig at the University of East Anglia.

Oh yeah, I remember reading about this, Dion Dublin?

Yup, 'Homes Under the Hammer' took me there.

The Country Life cover features two scantily-clad models, Constanze Karoli (sister of Can's Michael Karoli) and Eveline Grunwald (who was also Michael Karoli's girlfriend).

Karoli and Grunwald are also credited with the translation of the lyrics for Bitter-Sweet.

The Wikipedia entry for the Devon village of Lapford has a section called 'Local Legends', which starts off by describing two vengeful religious ghosts that are said to roam the village. But then the section concludes:

A female resident locally known as “Katie” has also gone down in more recent history for having the baddest fatty in the district and has been praised as a highly commended gardener for the growth of her massive melons known to many as the best in the county. She is often seen roaming the village with her accomplice “Beals” however has struggled publicly with the attention she draws from others due to the above statements and in late 2020 entered into a somewhat reclusive state.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapford

Timothy B. Schmit – background vocals ("Rikki Don't Lose That Number", "Barrytown" and "Pretzel Logic"

Long John Baldry:

He played Columbus, Ohio, on 19 July 2004, at Barristers Hall with guitarist Bobby Cameron, in a show produced by Andrew Myers. They played to a small group, some came from Texas.[citation needed][8]

A troll, but still amusing...

"Brandysnap, Cappuccino, Coconut, Christmas Orange Spice, Nutty, Coffee, Semen, Lemon and Irish Cream varieties have been produced – sometimes as anniversary special editions – and are not currently available. Brilliant Blackcurrant and Sizzling Strawberry have also been withdrawn."

A lot to unravel here:

Among the Kamula of Wawoi Falls in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, Rambo was very popular in the late 1990s. His figure was imported into local legends. For example, Rambo is rumored to have de-escalated the Bougainville conflict. Rambo is also said to have had sex with the daughter of the Queen. When threatened with execution, a PNG lawyer pleaded in his favor. As a result, Rambo promised to help Papua New Guinea in the Third World War.

That's some Chuck Norris bullshit.

Not nearly as bizarre, but there's also the inspiring Rocky statue in Serbia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_statue_in_%C5%BDiti%C5%A1te

In April 2009, a six-year-old Norwegian boy named Christer pressed his parents to send a letter to King Harald V of Norway to approve his name being changed to "Sonic X". They allowed Christer to write it himself but did not send it until he badgered them further, and the king responded that he could not approve the change because Christer was not eighteen years old

badgered? Hedgehogged, more like

We don't gots to show you any stinking hedgehogs

Roald Dahl originally planned for a child called Marvin Prune to be included in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl submitted the excised chapter regarding Marvin Prune to The Horn Book Review in the early 1970s. Rather than publish the chapter, Horn Book responded with a critical essay by novelist Eleanor Cameron, who criticised Dahl's worth as a human being.

Not what I expected when reading up on Lonnie Smith tonight

Following the 1987 season, Smith had trouble finding a new team to play with, and he came to think that then-Royals general manager John Schuerholz had blackballed him. By his own account, Smith was depressed and also addicted to cocaine when he considered murdering Schuerholz, and even purchased a pistol for that purpose. Smith had second thoughts about committing such a serious crime, however, and he dropped the idea entirely.

more like "fitting details", but from the Thomas Crapper article:

Crapper's death certificate records that he died from colon cancer.

New Trails is a studio recording by the Western band Riders in the Sky, released in 1986. It is available as a single CD.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Berry#Army_service

Berry's second and final year in the Army[when?] was with Special Services, under Sergeant Leonard Nimoy, who encouraged Berry to go to Hollywood and pursue acting.
...
The Sullivan appearance was to take place shortly before Berry would muster out of the Army. Nimoy sent telegrams to several studios and talent agents asking them to watch Berry on the show.

Leonard Nimoy and Ken Berry were in the army special services together, with Sergeant Nimoy in charge. He encouraged Berry to go to Hollywood and try his hand at acting! (photo likely thanks to @NCBonnie1) pic.twitter.com/H5OaS7lBW6

— Lisa (@StarTrekWreck) December 2, 2018

Which leads to

Not believing the (deserved!) attention this post is getting! Two great losses 2 the entertainment industry & two fine gentlemen. Of COURSE I had that photo & (at least) one article! lol ! @TheRealNimoy @nimoycopdfilm @Chefjen21 @adam_nimoy @startrektour @larrynemecek @TrekMovie pic.twitter.com/gFN8rI3i2g

— Bonnie M. (@NCBonnie1) December 3, 2018

was going to suggest that nimoy shouldn't have bothered, but i liked the band idaho

also in Nimoy's unit: architect Frank Gehry

The scenes where Dan takes his son to a football match were filmed at Selhurst Park, the ground of Crystal Palace in a 1–1 draw against Birmingham City on 6 February 1999.

As of 2015, John Bahler lives in Branson, Missouri, where he runs Portraits by Bähler and conducts the Lawrence Welk orchestra. His wife, Janet Lennon, still appears at the Welk resorts. In early 2010, Bahler served as musical director for a PBS Marvin Hamlisch special.

The mounted fish turns its head towards a person, wiggles its tail on the trophy plaque, and sings kitschy cover songs, such as "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin; and "Take Me To The River" by Al Green. Green claims he received more royalties from Big Mouth Billy Bass than from any other recordings of the song.

Please no one tell David Byrne this

he was interested in hopalong cassidy films

That ^ amused me because I could not tell at first whether we were talking about David Byrne or Arnold Schoenberg.

Pretty sure they were both interested in Hopalong Cassidy films

From O.C. Smith’s bio:

After his discharge in July 1955, Smith went into jazz music to pay the bills.

One more time for the people in the back:

Smith went into jazz music to pay the bills.

It was a different time.

How do you make a million dollars in jazz? Start with two million!

It's like that thing where a musician sat down to calculate how much money they lost while not gigging due to the pandemic, and it turns out they saved $237.

Never gets old.