# Tell me some interesting trivia that no one else knows at the SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 24, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766 "2011-06-24T22:12:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/61 "2011-06-30T22:47:44Z")
The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike (between Philly and Lancaster, natch) in Pennsylvania was the first road in the US where drivers were legally required to do what while driving on the road? Drive on the right side of the road. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/62 "2011-07-02T02:03:06Z")
Florida is in Massachusetts. https://maps.google.com/maps?q=hoosac%2Btunnel%2Bflorida%2BNorth%2BAdams,%2BMass&hl=en&ll=42.66931,-72.992821&spn=0.053012,0.15398&sll=42.69283,-73.025812&sspn=0.003312,0.009624&t=h&z=13 ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/63 "2011-07-02T02:45:09Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > Florida is in Massachusetts. > > [Google Maps](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=hoosac+tunnel+florida+North+Adams,+Mass&hl=en&ll=42.66931,-72.992821&spn=0.053012,0.15398&sll=42.69283,-73.025812&sspn=0.003312,0.009624&t=h&z=13) Ah! That’s where we left our forest! I’ve been looking for it all week. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/64 "2011-07-02T03:03:24Z")
If you take the four current main American coins - penny, nickel, dime, quarter - the penny contains the least amount of copper. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/65 "2011-07-02T03:37:49Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Not sure if is is “Google-able” or not, but I always found it interesting and nice: > You know that popular photo from the Vietnam War that shows a bunch of kids running through the streets (and the middle one–a girl–is naked because of her clothes having burned off)? > > Well, that girl and the pilot who dropped the bomb were reunited years later, where the pilot tearfully apologized to the girl and she forgave him. > > So I always thought it was cool that that photo sort of had a happy ending. Don’t know how many people know that story about that photo. I think that this was the only one in this thread that I already knew, so you lose. But it’s cool nonetheless! ---
**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:** [July 2, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/66 "2011-07-02T04:32:54Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > It’s featured in Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon, among many other interesting snippets – so there’s one sub set of geeks that know about it at least I must read that book, but so many of the faskinating fakts I think I have, someone will say, oh yeah I read about that in Cryptonomicon! ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/67 "2011-07-02T12:59:47Z")
Something I just read in the new Charles Schulz bio: Despite its popularity and renown, the George Herriman comic strip “Krazy Kat”, at its peak, never appeared in more than 40 newspapers. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/68 "2011-07-02T17:57:20Z")
I bet someone here knows all mine. But I always liked the trivia that Richard Gere’s middle name is Tiffany. > [@brewha](#): > > I don’t really buy this trivia. Lego didn’t immortalize Harrison Ford - they immortalized Han Solo and Indiana Jones. I know it’s kinda a semantics thing, but the figurine isn’t of Harrison Ford pretending to be Han Solo - the figurine IS Han Solo. > > I’ve dressed up as Indiana Jones and Darth Vader for Halloween. Does that mean that Lego has immortalized me - twice? The figure’s based on Ford’s face and body, not just the clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/69 "2011-07-03T03:35:03Z")
Sam Houston is the only person in U.S. history to serve as a United States senator after having previously been the Chief Executive of a foreign nation. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/70 "2011-07-03T06:46:55Z")
Honey is the only food that does not spoil. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/71 "2011-07-03T12:01:09Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > Honey is the only food that does not spoil. What about rum? LOL! Which is the preservative used in my Great-Grandmothers’ fruitcake. . . (JK) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/72 "2011-07-03T15:25:01Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > Honey is the only food that does not spoil. What about salt? ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/73 "2011-07-03T17:50:26Z")
> [@beagledave](#): > > What about salt? Salt is a mineral. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/74 "2011-07-03T18:38:26Z")
What about sugar ? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/75 "2011-07-03T20:14:57Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > What about rum? LOL! Which is the preservative used in my Great-Grandmothers’ fruitcake. . . (JK) You still have your great-grandmother’s fruitcake? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/76 "2011-07-03T21:09:06Z")
Music: [ul] [li]Drummer [Carlo Little](http://www.carlolittle.com/) gave Keith Moon (The Who) drumming lessons and turned down being a member of the not-yet-famous Rolling Stones. Later in life, he supported himself by driving a bread truck.[/li][li]Before Paul McCartney wrote the lyrics for “Yesterday,” the working title was “Scrambled Eggs.”[/li][/ul] Computers: [ul] [li]If you type “[WAIT6502,1](http://www.pagetable.com/?p=43)″ into a Commodore PET with BASIC V2 (1979), it will show the string “MICROSOFT!” at the top left corner of the screen. Legend has it Bill Gates himself inserted this easter egg “after he had had an argument with Commodore founder Jack Tramiel”, “just in case Commodore ever tried to claim that the code wasn’t from Microsoft”.[/li] [li]When designing [ENIAC](http://www.computersciencelab.com/ComputerHistory/HistoryPt4.htm) (the first general-purpose electronic computer), J. Presper Eckert ran an experiment where he starved lab rats for a few days and then gave them samples of all the available types of cable to determine which they least liked to eat.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/77 "2011-07-03T22:19:00Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > Salt is a mineral. So is ice, but not coal, and by extension not sugar. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/78 "2011-07-03T23:27:57Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I bet someone here knows all mine. But I always liked the trivia that Richard Gere’s middle name is Tiffany. Seriously? That’s almost as bad as naming a boy “Sue”. I’ve been reading [The Story of English](http://www.amazon.com/Story-English-Third-Revised/dp/0142002313/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309735564&sr=1-1), and found out the word “poppycock” is from a Dutch word meaning “soft dung”. I plan to adopt this wholesale, because it amuses me to think I’m telling someone something is shit without their knowing it. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/79 "2011-07-04T00:30:51Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > You still have your great-grandmother’s fruitcake? :eek: JK = Just Kidding. But consider this: ( From: [FoolishTimes.com](http://www.foolishtimes.net/guest-articles/fruitcake-eaters/) ) > [@](#): > > The oldest known fruitcake is approximately 130 years old and lives under glass in a Michigan home. It was baked by a woman in preparation for a Thanksgiving meal in 1878, but she died right before the holiday and her family didn’t have the heart to eat it. So instead of throwing it out, they saved it and passed it down through the generations. In 2005 this fruitcake made an appearance on “The Tonight Show” and Jay Leno actually took a bite. And just like every other fruitcake ever made in this world, it was nasty. > Basting fruitcakes with liquor and powdering them with sugar on occasion prevents mold and ensures their long shelf life. Many people believe this is the charm of fruitcake, similar to a fine wine, and will wait up to 25 years to eat them. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766/80 "2011-07-04T02:12:52Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Is this true? Kimchi lasts a really long time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-some-interesting-trivia-that-no-one-else-knows-at-the-sdmb/586766.md?page=5)