# Amazing bullshit true facts that are in fact true. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 27, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514 "2013-01-27T03:44:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/101 "2013-02-01T12:45:23Z")
Convicts in Eastern State Penitentiary in Pennsylvania had flush toilets while the Presidents were still using chamber pots in the Executive Mansion. However, the toilets were flushed remotely by the guards, twice each week. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/102 "2013-02-01T14:22:02Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > However, the toilets were flushed remotely by the guards, twice each week. Thank you for raising my morning quease level to such highs. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/103 "2013-02-01T21:17:54Z")
I spotted this one on the Dope > [@I don't get the funny in Will Rogers.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-the-funny-in-will-rogers/648996/12): > > The funniest thing about Will Rogers today, is that Oklahoma City named its airport after him, even though he died in a plane crash. Funnier still, the other OKC airport is named after the pilot, who also died in the crash. right [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15960772&postcount=12) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/104 "2013-02-01T22:59:47Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Julia Child was too tall to be enlisted in the Women’s Air Corp (WACS) or the Navy WAVES, so she took a typing job at the OSS, Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA. > > She later advanced due to her education and ability and was sent to Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, where she met her husband Paul Cushing Child. She also played professional basketball in Italy. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/105 "2013-02-02T07:50:21Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I have a website where you can find some crazy things. > > Like, did you know that Ireland was a net-exporter of food during the Great Potato Famine? Awesome site. Did you create it yourself, or do you “have it” in the sense that you know of it? If the former, FYI the link on fact 186 is incorrect. Still, great info there. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/106 "2013-02-02T15:20:55Z")
I was listening to some co-worker who was going on about “the China problem”, i.e., how they’re going to take over the world, subjugate the US, and destroy everything we know and love. In a pissy mood, I decided to egg him on by stating: “Do you know that the number of Chinese people ranked in the top 25% of IQ, that number is larger than the entire population of the US?” Guys eyes just got wide in that “Holy Shit” :eek: kind of way when I dropped this on him. Of course, I didn’t bother to let him know that the opposite is also true: that if you rank Chinese people by their IQ points, the dumbest 25% is a number _also_ larger than the US population. On April 1st of some year (late 90s, early 2000s), I wrote a corporate memo stating that, by my analysis, 40% of sick days occurred on either Friday or Monday. This pissed-off my stepmother to no end, and she was planning on having a big-old group bitchfest with all the employees until I had to let her in on the joke. She was never very good at math, (or people for that matter, which is why the company is out of business less than 5 years after it was given to her). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/107 "2013-02-03T19:57:51Z")
Roald Dahl was a fighter pilot for England in World War II. After he suffered substantial injuries in battle, he was sent to Washington DC to work for our government. His second day on the job, a man came in and asked if he was Roald Dahl. When he said he was, the guy said “I’m C. S. Forester.” Dahl damn near fell off his chair. Turns out Forester had a job to write a story about fighter pilots for the Saturday Evening Post, and want Dahl’s imput on the subject. Dahl agreed to write up some notes for Forester. He spent 7 p.m. from midnight doing so, had them typed up, sent them and promptly forgot about it. Two weeks later he got a note from Forester: I asked you for notes, not a finished story. Do you know you are a gifted writer. I didn’t change a thing, but sent the story to my agent. He sold it to the Post for $1,000, took his10% and a check for $900 is enclosed." Dahl thought “It can’t be that easy.” But it was. To which I will add: Only if your name is Roald Dahl. ---
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/108 "2013-02-03T20:39:32Z")
The famous Battle of Bunker Hill actually took place at Breed’s Hill. Decades later they installed the Bunker Hill Monument on the site, and to forestall hordes of smartasses from pointing out the discrepancy, renamed Breed’s Hill to Bunker Hill and flattened the original. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/109 "2013-02-04T03:23:18Z")
A dentist came up with an idea for a bat bomb, where canisters containing live bats with incendiary devices attached would be dropped from planes over Japan. The idea was taken seriously and an estimated $2 million dollars spent on testing and development, despite incidents such as the bats setting a New Mexico airbase afire. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/110 "2013-02-04T03:50:34Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I was listening to some co-worker who was going on about “the China problem”, i.e., how they’re going to take over the world, subjugate the US, and destroy everything we know and love. In a pissy mood, I decided to egg him on by stating: > > “Do you know that the number of Chinese people ranked in the top 25% of IQ, that number is larger than the entire population of the US?” > > Guys eyes just got wide in that “Holy Shit” :eek: kind of way when I dropped this on him. Of course, I didn’t bother to let him know that the opposite is also true: that if you rank Chinese people by their IQ points, the dumbest 25% is a number _also_ larger than the US population. > > On April 1st of some year (late 90s, early 2000s), I wrote a corporate memo stating that, by my analysis, 40% of sick days occurred on either Friday or Monday. This pissed-off my stepmother to no end, and she was planning on having a big-old group bitchfest with all the employees until I had to let her in on the joke. She was never very good at math, (or people for that matter, which is why the company is out of business less than 5 years after it was given to her). There was a famous case out here in Australia a few years ago where the New South Wales Minister of Education noted that about 50% of primary-school students were ‘below average’ at reading skills, and that he was going to change this. OK, we know what he meant to say, but - you’re the Minister of Education! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/111 "2013-02-04T13:56:30Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > On April 1st of some year (late 90s, early 2000s), I wrote a corporate memo stating that, by my analysis, 40% of sick days occurred on either Friday or Monday. This pissed-off my stepmother to no end, and she was planning on having a big-old group bitchfest with all the employees until I had to let her in on the joke. She was never very good at math, (or people for that matter, which is why the company is out of business less than 5 years after it was given to her). I bet if you actually analyzed it, more than 40% of sick days would occur on Fridays or Mondays–and for totally legitimate reasons. If you’re sick for one day, there’s no effect. But if you’re sick for 2 days, there’s nearly a 30% chance one (only one) of those days will be a Saturday or Sunday, meaning that day doesn’t count as a sick day, but the other one will. Sick for three days, and the chance increases. Long-term illnesses that fall partly on weekends will throw off the stats, I think. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/112 "2013-02-04T14:11:50Z")
> [@Vicullum](#): > > The famous Battle of Bunker Hill actually took place at Breed’s Hill. Decades later they installed the Bunker Hill Monument on the site, and to forestall hordes of smartasses from pointing out the discrepancy, renamed Breed’s Hill to Bunker Hill and flattened the original. Most of this is true, but the last bit about flattening the “original” Bunker Hill, to the best of my knowledge, isn’t. I talked with the park rangers about the identities of the hills and their history on my last visit. They didn’t mention anything about “flettening”, nor is there anything on the websites I’ve visited. I suspect your “to forestall hordes of smartasses” is intentional hyperbole, but I don’t see any evidence that the hill was flattened at all. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/113 "2013-02-04T14:55:06Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Roald Dahl was a fighter pilot for England in World War II. After he suffered substantial injuries in battle, he was sent to Washington DC to work for our government. He was a flying ace, no less. However, he was _not_ injured in battle- according to his autobiography, he was accidently given incorrect coordinates for a base, and ran out of fuel in no-mans-land while trying to find it. The Evening Post added their own title to his story, implying he was shot down. He actually contunued flying for several months after recovering from the accident, before starting to get blackouts, which were deemed to be due to the crash, and being invalided home. ---
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/114 "2013-02-04T14:58:29Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Most of this is true, but the last bit about flattening the “original” Bunker Hill, to the best of my knowledge, isn’t. I talked with the park rangers about the identities of the hills and their history on my last visit. They didn’t mention anything about “flettening”, nor is there anything on the websites I’ve visited. I suspect your “to forestall hordes of smartasses” is intentional hyperbole, but I don’t see any evidence that the hill was flattened at all. I got that from a book I just finished reading, [Loose Cannons.](http://books.google.com/books?id=idLQL0pd1V0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=loose+cannons&hl=en&sa=X&ei=B8oPUcytDMq02gWAjYHIBQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=breed's%20hill%20flattened&f=false) Happy coincidence, Cracked released another of their lists with a similar theme to this thread, [33 Facts About Famous People You Won’t Believe Are True.](http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_523_33-facts-about-famous-people-you-wont-believe-are-true/?view=article) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/115 "2013-02-04T15:04:02Z")
> [@Vicullum](#): > > I got that from a book I just finished reading, [Loose Cannons.](http://books.google.com/books?id=idLQL0pd1V0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=loose+cannons&hl=en&sa=X&ei=B8oPUcytDMq02gWAjYHIBQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=breed's%20hill%20flattened&f=false) > > Happy coincidence, Cracked released another of their lists with a similar theme to this thread, [33 Facts About Famous People You Won’t Believe Are True.](http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_523_33-facts-about-famous-people-you-wont-believe-are-true/?view=article) Hmm. I’d like to know where Loose Cannons got their information, since I haven’t found it corroborated elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/116 "2013-02-04T15:12:36Z")
> [@Vicullum](#): > > The famous Battle of Bunker Hill actually took place at Breed’s Hill. Decades later they installed the Bunker Hill Monument on the site, and to forestall hordes of smartasses from pointing out the discrepancy, renamed Breed’s Hill to Bunker Hill and flattened the original. They did the same thing with the Kwai river here in Thailand; the famous bridge was actually built over another river, after years of confused tourists they just swapped the names of the rivers. Problem solved. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/117 "2013-02-04T15:47:54Z")
How does the Thai government deal with the minor matter of the bridge still being there after having been blown up in the movie? ---
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/118 "2013-02-04T15:57:33Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Hmm. I’d like to know where Loose Cannons got their information, since I haven’t found it corroborated elsewhere. It took some digging around, but I finally found some decent topographic maps of the site: [Then](http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wcarr1/Lossing1/23-05.gif) and [Now.](http://toposm.com/ma/) (you’ll have to zoom for yourself). To my eye Bunker Hill does look flatter, but really the topology of the site has so radically changed over the years that it could very well have just been due to natural erosion. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/119 "2013-02-04T16:01:30Z")
Ann Rule got her first book contract to write about the murders of several young women in Washington state before there was even a suspect! When she heard her friend Ted Bundy had been arrested for the crime, she thought that a writer could not write a convincing fictional book with that twist. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514/120 "2013-02-04T16:41:19Z")
> [@Vicullum](#): > > It took some digging around, but I finally found some decent topographic maps of the site: [Then](http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wcarr1/Lossing1/23-05.gif) and [Now.](http://toposm.com/ma/) (you’ll have to zoom for yourself). To my eye Bunker Hill does look flatter, but really the topology of the site has so radically changed over the years that it could very well have just been due to natural erosion. The hill could have been excavated for landfill in the 19th century - much of Boston is built on fill. Much of Beacon Hill was used to turn the Back Bay from a mudflat into a neighborhood, for instance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazing-bullshit-true-facts-that-are-in-fact-true/648514.md?page=7)