# Need Seattle fact checking, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483 "2008-09-07T14:10:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/1 "2008-09-07T14:10:37Z")
I received this in my email concerning reasons why Seattle should get an upcoming Worldcon bid, and was wondering as to its accuracy. > [@](#): > > SEATTLE FUN FACTS > > The State of Washington is the only state to be named after a United States > president. > > Seattle’s Space Needle is home to the first revolving restaurant, 1961. > > Washington State produces more apples than any other state in the union. > > Washington State has more glaciers than the other 47 contiguous states > combined. > > Everett, Washington is the site of the world’s largest building by volume, > Boeing’s final assembly plant. > > The highest point in Washington is Mount Rainier. It was named after Peter > Rainier, a British soldier who fought against the Americans in the > Revolutionary War. > > Washington is the birthplace of both Jimi Hendrix (Seattle) and Bing Crosby > (Tacoma). > > The world’s first soft-serve ice cream machine was located in an Olympia > Dairy Queen. > > Inventions in the Pacific Northwest include water skis, Slinky Pull Toy, > Pictionary, Elmer’s Glue and electric guitar. > > The longest, heaviest floating structure in the world is the Evergreen Point > Floating Bridge > > Seattle sells more sunglasses per capita than any other major city in the > nation! > > The Space Needle is fastened to its foundation with 72 bolts, each of which > is 9m (30 feet) long. > > The world’s first espresso cart was established below the Seattle Monorail > terminal at Westlake Center in 1980. > > The Wave, a ubiquitous sight at sporting events around the globe, > was invented by UW cheerleader Rob Weller at a University of Washington > vs. Stanford University football game on October 31, 1981 in Seattle at > U Dub’s Husky Stadium - the Huskies won 42-31. > > The 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 games tying the 1906 Chicago Cubs for the > most games won in a season. > > The “Happy Face” first appeared in Seattle. (No, Forrest Gump did not invent > it!) ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/2 "2008-09-07T16:05:07Z")
I have seen this before and do believe many of them to be true. > [@](#): > > The State of Washington is the only state to be named after a United States > president. Yep. > [@](#): > > Seattle’s Space Needle is home to the first revolving restaurant, 1961. According to the Space Needle website, this is true. > [@](#): > > Washington State produces more apples than any other state in the union. Yes according to the Washington State Apple Commission. > [@](#): > > Washington State has more glaciers than the other 47 contiguous states > combined. Found nothing to prove or disprove this. > [@](#): > > Everett, Washington is the site of the world’s largest building by volume, > Boeing’s final assembly plant. I have worked in this building, it is true according to the Guiness Book of World Records. > [@](#): > > The highest point in Washington is Mount Rainier. It was named after Peter > Rainier, a British soldier who fought against the Americans in the > Revolutionary War. True according to Wikipedia. > [@](#): > > Washington is the birthplace of both Jimi Hendrix (Seattle) and Bing Crosby > (Tacoma). Yep. I was born in Tacoma too. My mother’s aunt lived next door to the Crosby family. > [@](#): > > The world’s first soft-serve ice cream machine was located in an Olympia > Dairy Queen. Unable to confirm. > [@](#): > > Inventions in the Pacific Northwest include water skis, Slinky Pull Toy, > Pictionary, Elmer’s Glue and electric guitar. True according to a site that lists many of the other things in this list. Unable to confirm any though. > [@](#): > > The longest, heaviest floating structure in the world is the Evergreen Point > Floating Bridge True according to the Washington DOT. > [@](#): > > Seattle sells more sunglasses per capita than any other major city in the > nation! Keeps the rain out of our eyes. No specific information on the net. > [@](#): > > The Space Needle is fastened to its foundation with 72 bolts, each of which > is 9m (30 feet) long. A friend and I counted them back in the late 60’s. True. > [@](#): > > The world’s first espresso cart was established below the Seattle Monorail > terminal at Westlake Center in 1980. True according to the book Espresso by Kenneth Davids. > [@](#): > > The Wave, a ubiquitous sight at sporting events around the globe, > was invented by UW cheerleader Rob Weller at a University of Washington > vs. Stanford University football game on October 31, 1981 in Seattle at > U Dub’s Husky Stadium - the Huskies won 42-31. Disputed according to Wikipedia. > [@](#): > > The 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 games tying the 1906 Chicago Cubs for the > most games won in a season. Absolutely. > [@](#): > > The “Happy Face” first appeared in Seattle. (No, Forrest Gump did not invent > it!) Just happened to see a Happy Face collection at the Puyallup Fair yesterday. The owner of the collection stated this in his collection description. Disputed according to Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/3 "2008-09-07T16:15:50Z")
Here are a couple sites that may help. # 1. [Virtual Seattle](http://www.vrseattle.com/) # 2. [Seattle Center history](http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=1321) On the tour of the Everett Boeing plant they tell you it’s the biggest building in the world. It even has it’s own weather systems inside. Hubby has seen it rain (well, mist) on a sunny winter day. The fact about the glaciers is from the US park service film shown at [Lodge at Paradise](http://www.nps.gov/mora/). ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/4 "2008-09-07T16:17:13Z")
Here are a couple sites that may help. # 1. [Virtual Seattle](http://www.vrseattle.com/) # 2. [Seattle Center history](http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=1321) On the tour of the Everett Boeing plant they tell you it’s the biggest building in the world. It even has it’s own weather systems inside. Hubby has seen it rain (well, mist) on a sunny winter day. The fact about the glaciers is from the US park service film shown at [Lodge at Paradise](http://www.nps.gov/mora/). I previewed and found **racer72** had already done so. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/5 "2008-09-07T16:23:18Z")
Re: The Space Needle. Its center of gravity is only five feet above the ground. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/6 "2008-09-07T17:14:48Z")
I know you didn’t ask, but not one of those **Fun Facts** seems relevant to whether Seattle should get an upcoming Worldcon bid. ---
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/7 "2008-09-07T18:04:33Z")
Slinky was made in Pennsylvania, but not sure about a Slinky Pull Toy. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/8 "2008-09-08T21:10:05Z")
You’d think it would mention the [Sci-Fi Museum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Fiction_Museum_and_Hall_of_Fame). ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/9 "2008-09-08T21:47:19Z")
From [The New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/dining/23soft.html?_r=1&oref=slogin): > [@](#): > > Either J. F. McCullough or Tom Carvel deserves credit as the first soft-serve maker. Mr. McCullough made soft serve in 1938 in Moline, Ill. One August day, he offered it at a friend’s ice cream shop in Kankakee, Ill., and 1,600 people paid 10 cents for all they could eat of his newfangled treat. The quote in question is on the second page. So either the Times is wrong or your forwarded list is. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/10 "2008-09-08T21:52:48Z")
According to the Fodor’s guide I have handy, (hardly authoritative, so take it for what it’s worth) Mt. Ranier is named for a British admiral. According to a local boosterism-type billboard I pass every day (hardly authoritative, etc), the electric guitar was invented in the ‘great state’ of Oklahoma. But, since this is for Worldcon, the SF museum would seem a more obvious reason to use. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/11 "2008-09-08T22:52:12Z")
Cecil himself [tackled the smiley face issue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Costello). Seattle doesn’t come out ahead there. And speaking as a Seattleite, we’re ill-served by that list. It’s far more about Washington State than Seattle. And what **ZenBeam** said. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/12 "2008-09-08T23:21:15Z")
I think you’ve made a brilliant mistake, there, **Interrobang**. Perhaps you wanted this link: > **[Who invented the smiley face?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342118/who-invented-the-smiley-face)** ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-seattle-fact-checking-please/462483/13 "2008-09-09T04:58:06Z")
Oops. Thanks. I’m glad it was random, rather than embarrassing.