Editor and author A.J. Jacobs notes some fun facts about Father's Day, including prolific sires — Egypt's Ramses II had 110 children — and the otherwise underpublicized men who bear the titles of "Father of Bantu Linguistics" and "Father of Irish Geology."
SCOTT SIMON, host: Father's Day is Sunday, time to try to honor fathers with something more      inventive than just another tie or a new set of BVDs.  Ah, but the best      we can do for the moment is speak again with A.J. Jacobs.  He's the man      who's read the Encyclopedia Britannica from cover to cover and remembers      the basic plot.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: A.J....</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: Mr. A.J. JACOBS (Encyclopedia Man):  Here I am.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: ...we dip once more into the shallow well of your knowledge.      Thanks for being with us.</s>Mr. JACOBS: Thanks, as always, I suppose.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: Let's start off with the most prolific fathers in history, some      of the names that occur to you.</s>Mr. JACOBS: Yes.  Well, there's a running competition in the      encyclopedia to see which historical figure can sire the most kids, and      one of the contenders is Charles II of England, who was called `The Merry      Monarch,' with good reason.  He sired 14 illegitimate kids and, in fact,      legend has it that his doctor was a man named Dr. Condom, who came up      with the birth control device specifically for the randy king.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: Oh, my word.  Ramses II of Egypt?</s>Mr. JACOBS: He's in there, and I think he holds the record with an      impressive 110 children.  So ...(unintelligible).</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: Father's Day must have been quite a celebration at the old Ramses      castle, wasn't it?</s>Mr. JACOBS: Yeah.  Got a lot of Old Spice.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: I've got to ask you about the--there's a practice called couvade?</s>Mr. JACOBS: Yes.  I think it was the strangest ritual I read about in      the encyclopedia.  It's--while the wife undergoes labor, the husband goes      to bed and pretends to give birth himself, so he screams and makes      contorted faces. And this ritual was most recently practiced by the      Basques of Spain in the early 1900s.  So no offense to the Basque men,      but it just seems like a desperate cry for attention from the man.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: This phrase, `father of the country,' `father of his country,'      `father of nuclear physics,' who are some of your favorite `fathers of'      from history?</s>Mr. JACOBS: We've got Aaron Dennison, the father of American      watchmaking; Sir Richard Griffith, the father of Irish geology; and my      favorite is Wilhelm Bleek, the father of Bantu linguistics.  Where would      we be without him?</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: As I've so often said to myself.  You're a father, aren't you?      Pretty...</s>Mr. JACOBS: I am a father.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: Pretty new one?</s>Mr. JACOBS: That's right.  A year and three months.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: And your son is named?</s>Mr. JACOBS: Jasper Jacobs.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: Now you know, A.J....</s>Mr. JACOBS: Yes, sir?</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: ...I'm kind of a new father myself.  At this particular point the      kids don't really get us the Father's Day gifts, right?  It's usually the      mothers, and then they just put the name on the card.</s>Mr. JACOBS: I am disillusioned.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: I didn't mean to dispel whatever fantasies you had.  This is the      second Father's Day for both of us, isn't it?</s>Mr. JACOBS: Yes.  Happy Father's Day to you.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: And happy Father's Day to you.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: A.J. Jacobs, speaking with us from our New York bureau.  He's the father      of "The Know-It-All:  One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest      Person in the World" book, soon to be a major motion picture if he ever      completes the screenplay.</s>SCOTT SIMON, host: And it's 22 minutes before the hour.