# Tell me about your location - is it famous for anything? Does it hold any records? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 21, 2007, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934 "2007-09-21T00:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/101 "2007-09-25T02:23:18Z")
I rarely pass up an opportunity to say how wonderful my hometown is (yes, I know it has issues, but let me be proud of something). St. Louis is said to have the largest Bosnian population of any city outside Bosnia – something like 40,000 at last count. I just think that’s cool. My current location, Cincinnati, says that it has the biggest Oktoberfest in North America. I’ve gone the past few years – it is pretty big, and a lot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/102 "2007-09-25T03:08:41Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] The “Sex after Marriage … But Not with Your Wife” thread reminded me that Bangkok is famous for penile-reattachment surgery. The local ladies have a habit of slicing off a wayward husband’s good buddy while he sleeps. [/QUOTE] At least you’re not in Malaysia, when [they chop it off](http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-malaysia-penis.html) for even less reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/103 "2007-09-25T03:09:28Z")
Kitchener, Ontario makes the same Oktoberfest claim. ([Kitchener’s right](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest_celebrations), but you guys tend to forget Canada is part of North America too.) **matt\_mcl** forgot to add to his ‘best worlds fair’ statement, the fact that Montreal had the worst Summer Olympics ever just nine years later. The city of Guelph, Ontario is famous for… hmm… I dunno. We had that John McCrae fellow, Neve Campbell and a big church on a hill. Rockwood, just a few miles down the road, has the world’s largest pothole and is the turnip capital of the world. Dunedin, New Zealand has the world’s steepest street, Baldwin Street, at a rise of 1 meter for every 2.86 meters travelled. (The city was built according to a plan based on Edinburgh, Scotland, and was implemented regardless of the actual topography of the land.) And my current home, Calgary, Alberta, is famous for the [biggest outdoor party on earth](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary_Stampede). It’s also famous for urban sprawl, high cost of living, low vacancies and ridiculous housing prices! ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/104 "2007-09-25T03:20:51Z")
[QUOTE=Baffle] Kitchener, Ontario makes the same Oktoberfest claim. ([Kitchener’s right](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest_celebrations), but you guys tend to forget Canada is part of North America too.) [/QUOTE] Canada? Where is that again? So, I was repeating the propaganda without bothering to verify it. C’mon, anyone could do that. OK, so Cincinnati has the biggest Oktoberfest in the US. Still pretty cool. My apologies to my Canadian friends… ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/105 "2007-09-25T03:22:31Z")
I accept your humble apology on behalf of my country, noble sir. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/106 "2007-09-25T04:49:02Z")
[QUOTE=Redfrost] Delware had the last person to be hanged as a means of execution. [/QUOTE] When was that? I know they hanged a man in Washington State about 15 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/107 "2007-09-25T04:50:23Z")
[QUOTE=TokyoPlayer] At least you’re not in Malaysia, when [they chop it off](http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-malaysia-penis.html) for even less reasons. [/QUOTE] Yowch! ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/108 "2007-09-25T05:33:36Z")
I forgot to mention Pancake Day, an annual event featuring the Pancatron, the special system invented just for this. People wait all year for it. My daughter’s planning to come home from college. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/109 "2007-09-25T08:25:41Z")
Yokohama, where I live, is famous for being the port which Japan was forced to open to the West when Admiral Perry came over. It grew from a small 600 person fishing village in 1858 to the second largest city in Japan. ---
**Author:** ![Redfrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@Redfrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redfrost)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/110 "2007-09-25T21:36:07Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] When was that? I know they hanged a man in Washington State about 15 years ago. [/QUOTE] Billy Bailey in 1996. He had the option of lethal injection but _chose_ to be hanged. :eek: Freakin’ weirdo. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/111 "2007-09-25T22:04:48Z")
Here in Austin, we’ve got the world’s largest [urban bat](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bej2VeMNFYE) population ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/112 "2007-09-25T22:50:58Z")
[Arco Idaho](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arco,_Idaho) First city in the world to be lit by nuclear power. Well if you can count 4000 people a city. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/113 "2007-09-25T23:00:28Z")
I live in [the Castro](http://www.flickr.com/photos/troymccluresf/617096500/). ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/114 "2007-09-25T23:10:02Z")
Mountain View is home of / being consumed by Google, Inc. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/115 "2007-09-25T23:26:55Z")
Hmm, well they used to make the Morris Minor here. Was a Royalist stronghold in the English Civil War (the monarchy moved here). And there’s our beloved Inspector Morse. And probably the world record in per-capita sweatervests. And to steal a line from a denizen of a town I formerly lived in ( **Terminus Est** ), there’s some university here… Hometown of Evanston, IL is the proud home of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, and John & Joan Cusack. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/116 "2007-09-26T04:18:18Z")
[QUOTE=Redfrost] Billy Bailey in 1996. He had the option of lethal injection but _chose_ to be hanged. :eek: Freakin’ weirdo. [/QUOTE] Thanks for the info. The guy I mentioned in Washington State 15 years ago also chose to be hanged. All of his victims (all children, little boys) had died of strangulation, so he wanted the same. (Okay, it was not strangulation he died of per se, it was a broken neck, but you get the idea. I think he DID hang at least some of his victims with a sheet from a doorknob, something like that.) Plus he thought it would be a good, graphic anti-death-penalty statement for the witnesses. But you know what? The witnesses all said it was quick and rather non-gruesome. One guy said he had been prepared to see the worst but that it really seemed like a quick and effective method. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2007, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/117 "2007-09-26T11:23:35Z")
[QUOTE=Tapioca Dextrin] Here in Austin, we’ve got the world’s largest [urban bat](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bej2VeMNFYE) population [/QUOTE] I stayed in that hotel right next to the bat bridge at the beginning of bat season. I freakin’ LOVE the Austin bats! and you forgot to mention Eeyore’s birthday party. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2007, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/118 "2007-09-26T12:46:43Z")
Hmmm, let’s see… Thinking of the Medway Towns as a single entity: HMS Victory built here Horatio Nelson, Francis Drake and Will Adams all first went to sea from here. Home of the Royal School of Military Engineering. Charles Dickens lived here. Home of England’s largest second-hand bookshop (Baggins Book Bazaar). Birthplace of Sir David Frost. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/119 "2007-09-26T13:34:06Z")
Western PA is the Zombie Capital of the World and Monroeville PA currently holds the official record for the largest Zombie Walk – a record they hope to break on October 28th in Monroeville Mall. Now if that isn’t something to be proud of, I can’t imagine what would be. They also have some sports teams and universities, but so does everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![kjckjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@kjckjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjckjc)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2007, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934/120 "2007-09-26T13:51:24Z")
Let’s see here…We are “America’s Hometown”, the Pilgrim’s landed here (if we ignore all the time they spent vacationing on the Cape before they got here), the second permanent English settlement in the modern United States, once held the world’s largest ropemaking company, at one point, the longest ropewalk in the world was found on the Cordage Company’s site on the North Plymouth waterfront, the largest land area of any municipality in Massachusetts (not that that is saying much), the oldest continually operating museum in the United States, and the tallest free-standing solid granite monument in the United States. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-location-is-it-famous-for-anything-does-it-hold-any-records/419934.md?page=7)