# Favorite random facts **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 26, 2001, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450 "2001-04-26T23:02:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/61 "2001-04-30T07:41:26Z")
You’re right, Crunchy, I got some of my species crossed. The seahorse is the only known animal in which the seahorse incubates eggs. I retract my earlier statements regarding the animal. ---
**Author:** ![Bboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bboy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/62 "2001-04-30T08:26:02Z")
> [@](#): > > **SPOOFE** said: > The seahorse is the only known animal in which the seahorse incubates eggs. Yer killin’ me, Man. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gadgetgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@gadgetgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gadgetgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/63 "2001-04-30T09:12:59Z")
Dragonflies can walk. They can only use their legs to land. Male platapus are poisonous. They have a “spur” in their back legs that emits a poison. Chitty-Chiity-Bang-Band was written by Ian Flamming. Rick Springfield was born in Australia. James Cagney never said, “you drity rat” in any film. The fabric rayon is made from wood pulp. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/64 "2001-04-30T09:20:35Z")
Oh, shush, Bboy, I have a headache. I MEANT to say “The seahorse is the only animal in which the MALE incubates eggs”. Gah… more Tylenol, MORE TYLENOL!!! ---
**Author:** ![gadgetgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@gadgetgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gadgetgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/65 "2001-04-30T10:28:55Z")
oops, I meant “Flemming” not “Flamming”. ---
**Author:** ![bwanasimba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/53a042/32.png) [@bwanasimba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bwanasimba)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/66 "2001-04-30T12:09:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wariat \* > **Blood stains can be removed from clothing with milk (go on, try it today)** …you can also use saliva to make it _almost_ disappear in an emergency (it’s what they use in fashion shows when blood and hair is flying backstage ;)) ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/67 "2001-04-30T22:35:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jaimest \* > **John Quincy Adams, while president, was frequently seen swimming stark naked in the Potomac river.** Didn’t most people swim naked back then? More random facts: A globe of the Earth six feet in diameter has a surface rougher than the actual Earth. A bump representing Mt. Everest would be too small to be felt. Before 1912, patrons at major league baseball games were required to return foul balls and home runs or face ejection. It’s estimated that Babe Ruth would have hit 50 more home runs under today’s rules. When Ruth played, a home run did not count if the ball went foul after going over the fence. Try this [webpage](http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/2413/useless.html) for more useless facts. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/68 "2001-04-30T23:26:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sapphire Bullet \* > \*\*the headlights on NASCAR stock cars are decals \*\* Stock cars are anything but (when was the last time you saw a Taurus or Monte Carlo with a V8 or rear-wheel drive?). Up until the mid 1980’s, NASCAR stock cars actually ::gasp:: _looked_ like real cars! In dirt-track racing, the “stock” (stock = somewhat realistic-looking body) class that allows the most modifications is called “Pure Stock”. Trans Am racecars actually do have real stock parts…namely, the taillight lenses. ---
**Author:** ![Daemon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Daemon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daemon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/69 "2001-05-01T07:02:37Z")
You have a belt encircling the Earth with a tight fit at the Equator (a little less than 25,000 miles). You add 3 feet of length to the belt, expanding it equally away from the Earth all around. Will you be able to crawl under it? Probably, for the average human. At this point the belt will be almost a foot from the ground! Circumference = 2 \* 3.1416 \* Radius Still seems amazing to me… ---
**Author:** ![Sapphire\_Bullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Sapphire\_Bullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapphire_Bullet)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/70 "2001-05-01T09:17:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gunslinger \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Sapphire Bullet \* > > \*\*the headlights on NASCAR stock cars are decals \*\* > > Stock cars are anything but (when was the last time you saw a Taurus or Monte Carlo with a V8 or rear-wheel drive?). > \*\* good point 🙂 clarification: the fast race cars you can watch on saturdays and sundays in Winston Cup and Busch series races do not have headlights- they are stickers 😃 [sub]better?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![gadgetgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@gadgetgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gadgetgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/71 "2001-05-01T11:21:35Z")
“Moby” (the music artist and all around cool guy) got his nick name because his uncle was Herman Melville. ---
**Author:** ![BobSchroeck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@BobSchroeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobSchroeck)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/72 "2001-05-01T12:32:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gadgetgirl \* > **Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang was…** …a real car, which inspired Fleming to write his story. It was not named for the sound it made, but for an off-color WWI-vintage song about getting leave passes (“chits”) and what one then did with the local whores… The last surviving working vehicle from the movie is available for parties in the UK – and has been given the actual license plate number “GEN11” by the UK equivalent of the DMV so that it will look just like it did in the film. (See [http://www.ChittyChittyBangBang.co.uk](http://www.ChittyChittyBangBang.co.uk).) – Bob ---
**Author:** ![BobSchroeck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@BobSchroeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobSchroeck)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/73 "2001-05-01T12:34:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobSchroeck \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by gadgetgirl \* > > **Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang was…** > > …a real car, which inspired Fleming to write his story.\*\* Oh, and the opening of the film, with the race car crashing? That was pretty much an accurate portrayal of the end of the real Chitty’s “career”. As I recall, the car used was a fairly accurate reproduction of the original Chitty, too. – Bob ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/74 "2001-05-01T14:28:16Z")
Prior to World War II, major league baseball players didn’t bother to bring their gloves in with them when their turn at bat came up. They’d just drop their gloves in the field. The word “bullshit” is Australian in origin. The center red line in hockey was invented during World War II to slow the game down, as inexperienced players were being victimized by long passes. Tonic water is so named because it’s a treatment for malaria. Tales of UFO abduction were unknown until “Weird Tales” published a horror story about a UFO abduction. When Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, everybody knew the world was round. Columbus’s disagreement was that he mistakenly believed the earth is much smaller than it actually is. Nobody ever said “What’s good for General Motors is good for America.” Actually, what was said was the exact opposite. Prior to continental simulcast of sports games, it was common for local baseball broadcasts to be completely made up. Announcers would get ticket reports and they’d call the game as if they were there, with assistants making bat and crowd noises. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/75 "2001-05-01T15:30:36Z")
You can still buy a brand new OLD BEETLE…in kit form. Search the web for the Mexican plant which makes 'em and they’ll send you the car in a bunch of crates, so you can put it together yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/76 "2001-05-01T16:39:39Z")
Bats always turn left when exiting a cave. There are no living descendents of Shakespeare. John Kennedy was a very distant relation to the woman who posed for the Mona Lisa. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/77 "2001-05-01T17:11:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Daemon \* > \*\*You have a belt encircling the Earth with a tight fit at the Equator (a little less than 25,000 miles). You add 3 feet of length to the belt, expanding it equally away from the Earth all around. Will you be able to crawl under it? > > Probably, for the average human. At this point the belt will be almost a foot from the ground! > > Circumference = 2 \* 3.1416 \* Radius > > Still seems amazing to me… \*\* I got it to be about 6 inches, but still, that is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/78 "2001-05-01T20:49:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*\*Bboy \* > **jsc1953** said: > > > [@](#): > > > > (both sets are infinite, but one infinite is bigger than the other). > > Hello? Infinity comes in different sizes now? What have they done to math these days? > One set may be _denser_ than the other… Yes infinity comes in different sizes. Two sets are the same size if it is possible to find a one-to-one map from one set onto the other. Using this definition of size. The integers, the even integers and the rational numbers are all the same size. The reals are strictly larger than the integers. Sets that are no bigger than the integers are called countable. Sets that are larger than the integers are uncountably infinite. Given any set (finite or infinite) the set of all subsets is always larger than the given set. There is a lovely diagonal proof of this. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/79 "2001-05-01T21:38:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > **Prior to continental simulcast of sports games, it was common for local baseball broadcasts to be completely made up. Announcers would get ticket reports and they’d call the game as if they were there, with assistants making bat and crowd noises.** Ronald Reagan used to be such an announcer, long before he went to Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![kmudd20001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ce73a5/32.png) [@kmudd20001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kmudd20001)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450/80 "2001-05-01T22:04:46Z")
When SECRETARIAT was a yearling Penny Tweedy lost a coin toss to Ogden Phipps over who would get their pick of two horses. Phipps won and picked The Bride who ended up never winning a race. Tweedy lost and had to take SECRETARIAT one of the greatest horses of all time. Arch Duke Ferdinand’s driver turned down the wrong street, a serbian nationalist pulled out a gun and killed Ferdinand. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-random-facts/63450.md?page=5)