This is the thread for unusual details in wikipedia articles.

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.

Marcus was born Greil Gerstley in San Francisco, California, the only son of Greil Gerstley and Eleanor Gerstley (née Hyman), a Jewish woman.[2]

... and later...

His wife is Jennelle Marcus (née Berstein), a Jewish woman.[2]

On 5 May 1974,[6] he died when he crashed his MGB sports car on a roundabout in Chepstow,[7] following a Wurzels concert. Cutler is buried in the graveyard of Christ Church, Nailsea.[4][8]

A bronze statue of Cutler was installed outside the Royal Oak pub in Nailsea in October 2016.[9] In June 2020, the statue was defaced by the addition of googly eyes, however, these were quickly removed.[10]

Marcus was born Greil Gerstley in San Francisco, California, the only son of Greil Gerstley and Eleanor Gerstley (née Hyman), a Jewish woman.

Why Joey Ramone, a Jewish man?

Same last name.

Pretty common name.

No need to be a Dick about it.

Though Ellington took piano lessons, he was more interested in baseball. "President Roosevelt (Theodore) would come on his horse sometimes, and stop and watch us play", he recalled.[12] Ellington went to Armstrong Technical High School in Washington, D.C. His first job was selling peanuts at Washington Senators baseball games.

I think of Ellington as someone "old" but more or less of the modern era, died not that many years before I was born, so it was really striking to me to imagine him as a child playing baseball with TEDDY Roosevelt watching him FROM HORSEBACK. Not to mention that it was a time when a president would just ride out on horseback to watch some kids play ball.

Actor Philip Michael Thomas was asked by television producers if he had ever played a police officer, and he replied "Yes, I was a cop in a feature film." This led to his being cast in Miami Vice.

Ok, that's hilarious when you see the article it's from.

As of October 2013, MetroBuses in Greater St. Louis do not accept $2 bills.

From the Jimmy Swaggart entry:

Swaggart wrote a book "Religious Rock n Roll: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" in 1987.[10]

A review:

Religious Spirit
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2010
We need to discern between a religious spirit's work in people, apart from that of the Holy Spirit. This book is based on a religious spirit which seeks to add to what the Bible would say is wrong, and try to make everyone uniform into what an individual thinks is right with God. No music in and of itself is evil because God created music, but satan does pervert some music. Also, let me say I believe very much in righteous living as the Bible says

1John 3:4. Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5. And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. 7. Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8. the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. 11. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;

I am glad that Jimmy Swaggert is still serving the Lord and fulfilling what God called him to do. Very few have been used so powerfully by God as he has. Many people will be in heaven because of his ministry. As a matter of fact, Stryper got saved through his ministry. I don't mean this review to disrespect Jimmy Swaggert in any way at all. He has done great things for God and has a strong anointing. I simply feel we need to not judge by externals, and actually the rift that was caused by the religious community against Christian rock caused a division in the Christ's kingdom that is still there to this day. There actually needs to be a healing there. Those that continually bash Jimmy Swaggert because of his past failures are in sin and of a religious spirit as well.

But also, I want to make a point here. If there was someone called to be a missionary to an Arab country, they would wear the long beard, turban, and robes to get into that culture and have a voice, but they would preach the message of Christ and bring many to him. There is nothing sinful about having a long beard, turban, or robe on. I believe many of these in Christian rock circles are trying to be a missionary to get into a culture to bring them to Christ. There are some that are off base in Christian rock, rap, or worship, but there are those off base in every realm of Christianity. I think books like this are throwing out the baby with the bath water and based on a religious spirit. That is just my opinion. Hopefully this review helped someone.

Looking for Stryper and finding St. Vitus in the same bin... how many times has this happened