# Post an Interesting Fact! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 20, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485 "2008-09-20T21:44:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CWN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@CWN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CWN)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/41 "2008-09-21T12:01:44Z")
Ulysses Simpson Grant is not Grant’s correct name, his real name is Hiram Ulysses Grant. Simpson was his mothers maiden name and when he went to West Point they entered his name incorrectly ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/42 "2008-09-21T13:24:18Z")
If you hum at a [periwinkle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periwinkle_(mollusc)), it’ll emerge (partially) from its shell. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/43 "2008-09-21T13:53:33Z")
Everyone of European ancestry alive today is descended from the Emperor Charlemagne (obviously this can’t be absolutely proved, but it is believed to be so). ---
**Author:** ![JimNightshade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jimnightshade/32/3354_2.png) [@JimNightshade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimNightshade)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/44 "2008-09-21T14:08:03Z")
I hear from trusted sources that there is in fact a ring of debris around Uranus. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/45 "2008-09-21T14:09:20Z")
> [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](#): > > How can this be true? Not saying you’re wrong, but what else is in a gallon of liquid hydrogen but hydrogen? The main reason is because liquid hydrogen is less dense than gasoline. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/46 "2008-09-21T14:09:32Z")
> [@Bobotheoptimist](#): > > The Beaker People (so named because of the distinctive shaped pottery found in their graves) are believed to influenced the introduction of metallurgy in Ireland. > It’s not known if they actually made it to Ireland or if their culture was brought by traders. > > Also - deforestation is mainly caused by Vampires and the “moon landing” was actually filmed in a film studio on Mars (Hijack- I always find it kinda sad that they’re called the Beaker People.) Anyway back to the topic at hand, according to the 2006 Census, there are 64 widowed teenagers in the Republic of Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/47 "2008-09-21T14:14:08Z")
If the US National Debt was a stack of dollar bills, it would reach from the Earth to the Moon 2 3/4 times, or 656,197 miles. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/48 "2008-09-21T14:23:53Z")
There is a species of wallaby native to Hawaii. A couple escaped from a zoo in the early 1900’s and adapted to the local environment. ---
**Author:** ![Nunavut\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e95f7d/32.png) [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/49 "2008-09-21T17:25:22Z")
A blue whale’s aorta is large enough for a grown man to crawl through. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/50 "2008-09-21T18:48:44Z")
Neither emus nor kangaroos can walk backwards. They are featured on the Australian coat of arms with the text “Advance Australia.” ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/51 "2008-09-21T18:48:52Z")
## The words **vanilla** and **vagina** mean pretty much the same thing. As long as we’re educating each other…How can I allow HTML in my sig? ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/52 "2008-09-21T19:16:48Z")
> [@SSG\_Schwartz](#): > > There are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand on the planet Earth. that just blows me away. > > SSG Schwartz That is just incredible. Makes me dizzy just thinking about it! It is impossible to keep your eyes open when you sneeze. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/53 "2008-09-21T22:23:58Z")
[This engaging young lady](http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm119/badger60/horner/). . . a) was an actress in the 1940s. . . b) appeared in numerous newspaper headlines in scandalous stories. . . c) later moved mack to New York State, where she taugh dancing lessons. . . d) became an advisor to the movie “Dirty Dancing”. . . and e) was the inspiration for the “Penny” character in that same movie. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/54 "2008-09-21T22:37:34Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > If the US National Debt was a stack of dollar bills, it would reach from the Earth to the Moon 2 3/4 times, or 656,197 miles. Great! at this rate we will be able to walk to Mars in a couple of years! /end hijack. sorry ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/55 "2008-09-21T23:51:39Z")
While popular culture would have us believe that one is the loneliest number, it turns out that 2.4 is shunned and ridiculed by all the other numbers - and it, not one, is the loneliest number. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/56 "2008-09-21T23:55:09Z")
When you tune to an unused TV channel or the cable fails, about 5% of that TV interference (aka “snow”) is the remaining energy from the Big Bang. (I read that decades ago and have tried to research it on the Internet. Depending on the source, the “Big Bang percentage” seems to vary from about 1 to 5 per cent. An exact figure would be much appreciated.) ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/57 "2008-09-22T00:06:33Z")
The ideal moisture content of popcorn is generally thought to be about 13.5%; however, a range of 13% to 14.5% is acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Arglefraster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@Arglefraster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arglefraster)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/58 "2008-09-22T14:25:04Z")
Yak milk is pink. (There’s blood in it) Male elephants have prehensile penises. This is necessary because female elephants have very long and twisty vaginal passages that the male elephant has to be able to navigate. As a result of this, it is very difficult to artificially inseminate a female elephant. It is possible to survive on nothing but mare’s milk and blood. I once read about a nomadic tribe that did exactly that (they were careful to bleed the mares without killing or seriously injuring them). ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/59 "2008-09-22T14:55:59Z")
> [@samarm](#): > > They say you learn something new every day. > > My interesting fact is: In China, all private citizens are forbidden from owning or selling firearms of any kind. In South Korea, anyone not in the military owning or selling a gun faces execution. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485/60 "2008-09-22T15:17:46Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > When you tune to an unused TV channel or the cable fails, about 5% of that TV interference (aka “snow”) is the remaining energy from the Big Bang. > > (I read that decades ago and have tried to research it on the Internet. Depending on the source, the “Big Bang percentage” seems to vary from about 1 to 5 per cent. An exact figure would be much appreciated.) I have a vague recollection of that being part of the Cosmos TV series, anyway, when I was a wee lad that really impressed me. Whoa, I remember that there where some instructions, like channeling an empty channel, turning the brightness all the way down and the contrast all the way up (or something to that effect) and of the remaining specks of white flashing on the black screen some low percentage represented the background radiation from the Big Bang. As for the bacteria living on and in us… they outnumber the cells that make us up to ten to one. We are more _them_ than _us_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-an-interesting-fact/464485.md?page=4)