# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 13, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674 "2020-04-13T03:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 116
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2306 "2021-07-14T13:50:01Z")
The story of the enormous goldfish is yet another example of why people shouldn’t just free pets in the wild when they’re non-native species. Really either find someone else to adopt the pet or just kill it. ---
**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 14, 2021, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2307 "2021-07-14T15:22:41Z")
Today I learned that during WWII, bomber crews and fighter pilots would take up ammo cans filled with cream/canned milk (and other ingredients) and the vibration of the plane and the cold at altitude would churn it into ice cream. > **[DIY Ice Cream in Wartime](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/cool-side-tropical-warfare-180969515/)** > > Take one Corsair, 5 ammo cans, canned milk and circle at 33,000 feet. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2308 "2021-07-14T15:34:34Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > From World War II (1939-1945) I can only think of the bomber jacket. How about the [Ike jacket](https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/belgian-military-surplus-us-style-wool-ike-jacket-used?a=1884244) and the [hachimaki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachimaki), at least in the West? ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2309 "2021-07-14T16:29:42Z")
Delighted (and surprised) to be able to fill a gap in your musical knowledge. 😀 j ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2310 "2021-07-14T23:40:35Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Poor deformed creatures. I think I’ll stick with the local place that raises chickens that can use their bodies. It’s horrible, but places that raise chickens that can use their bodies are more susceptible to this condition, which happens when over-muscled chickens use their bodies. The solution, apart from breading chickens which have less muscle, is to keep the chickens quiet, relaxed, and unstressed. An equivalent condition in humans was called ‘marching gangrene’, when soldiers were forced to march long periods, causing swollen leg muscles. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2311 "2021-07-14T23:58:28Z")
Suppose you find a perfect condition Ford Model-T in your grandparent’s barn. How much would you guess it’s worth? A million? Five million? Nope, between $17,600 - $24,200. About half the $40K average price of cars coming off the production line today. > **[Here's How Much A Ford Model T Is Worth Today](https://www.hotcars.com/heres-how-much-a-ford-model-t-is-worth-today/)** > > The Ford Model T changed the auto industry forever. For those wishing to add one to their collection, here's what they'll pay. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2312 "2021-07-15T03:57:19Z")
I knew, but I’ve been involved in stage lighting since the early 1970s. 😁 > [@AskNott](#): > > I used Super Troupers in high school, in Band Lighting Crew. The very bright light comes from an electric arc between a pair of copper-coated carbon electrodes, each about the size of a pencil. The arc, with a chimney above it, sits in front of a curved mirror, and the light is focused by a series of lenses. The whole thing is about 6 feet long. This was true until sometime in the 1980s, by which time carbon arcs had mostly been replaced by more reliable and simpler xenon lamps (as mentioned in the wiki @Treppenwitz linked to). Carbon arcs were also used in movie projectors from the 1920s (perhaps earlier) into the '50s or '60s. This very powerful and somewhat unpredictable ignition source, combined with the explosively flammable nitrate film stock that was ubiquitous until “safety film” was invented in the late 1940s, made projection booths extremely dangerous places in which to work. (If not stored properly, deteriorating nitrate prints could form puddles of nitroglycerin!) Projection booths built before the late 1950s were required to have an asbestos safety curtain on their front wall that the projecionist was expected to drop (often by cutting a rope with an axe) at the first sign of a fire. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2313 "2021-07-15T04:09:44Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Suppose you find a perfect condition Ford Model-T in your grandparent’s barn. How much would you guess it’s worth? A million? Five million? Nope, between $17,600 - $24,200. At first that may be surprising, but wait: supply and demand. > With 15 million sold, it stood eighth on the top-ten list of most sold cars of all time, as of 2012.[[15]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T#cite_note-15) [Wikipedia source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T) If one percent are still out there, that’s 150,000 to choose from. Best-selling car of all time? Hint 1: It isn’t American Hint 2: It isn’t German (sorry, not the Beetle). Got your answer? The Toyota Corolla. 44 million sold, as of 2016, almost three times the number of Model T’s. [Toyota Corolla - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Corolla) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2314 "2021-07-15T04:42:39Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Projection booths built before the late 1950s were required to have an asbestos safety curtain on their front wall that the projecionist was expected to drop (often by cutting a rope with an axe) at the first sign of a fire. At my ancestors school in Lansing Michigan, the projection booth hung out the back of the theater. When the film caught fire, the projectionist pushed the projector sideways out of the window, pulled the fire alarm, and called the school office. This would have been only a few years after the [Kerns Hotel fire - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerns_Hotel_fire). The fire department, receiving fire alarms from both ends of the school (office and theater), formed the belief that the entire school in between was on fire, and moved every appliance in the city. Other trucks from further out moved in to cover the area. While the kids were forming up outside, trucks arrived and rolled out the hoses from the moving trucks, and a ladder truck arrived and pushed a ladder through a second-story window to form a rescue route. The film burned out on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2315 "2021-07-15T06:37:58Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > From World War II (1939-1945) I can only think of the bomber jacket. How about aviator sunglasses? ---
**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:** [July 15, 2021, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2316 "2021-07-15T10:03:40Z")
If you go to a hotrod show, you probably won’t see any Model T cars. But you’ll see _lots_ of Model A cars. I once heard there are more Model A cars currently in existence than were originally built. I am assuming this is due to kits. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2317 "2021-07-15T12:36:28Z")
There are [several](https://gilmorecarmuseum.org/learn/model-t-driving-experience) museums that offer [classes](https://www.opb.org/news/article/model-t-driving-school-hood-river-museum/) on how to drive a Model T. > Learn to Drive a Model T Ford…operated with 3 foot pedals (No Gas Pedal!), one hand lever, and two hand controls on the steering wheel! > Secure a seat behind the wheel of an AUTHENTIC Model T Ford, built between 1908 and 1927 — right out of the Museum’s fleet of vintage vehicles — and drive 3 miles on paved roads within our historic campus with an experienced and enthusiastic instructor. I believe [The Henry Ford](https://www.thehenryford.org/visit/greenfield-village/districts/model-t/) museum complex in Dearborn, MI, offered them, too, but Covid seems to have put the kibosh on them for a while. I thought I had heard that their cars were not original, but had been newly made just for the classes! (I could be mistaken about that.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2318 "2021-07-15T13:07:37Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Carbon arcs were also used in movie projectors from the 1920s (perhaps earlier) into the '50s or '60s. I saw them in use until at least the mid-1970s, and probably later ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2319 "2021-07-15T15:59:16Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > Later, while reviewing current treatment online, I randomly stumbled on the fact that there is an Eastern European mythology of the Noonwraith, Lady Midday, a demon that smites people on hot summer days. Thank you for this! I had not been fully aware of this “demon” before. I had heard of the “Noon Witch” which wikipedia tells me is the same thing, thanks to the Dvorak tone poem of that name. The [wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Noon_Witch) (different from your link) tells of the sad tale that inspired the music. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2320 "2021-07-15T17:20:14Z")
That’s very cool! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2321 "2021-07-15T17:26:58Z")
In a thread in Cafe Society on “[TV Shows Only You Remember](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-only-you-remember/946022/),” someone mentioned _Remember WENN_, a series about a radio station in the 1930s and 1940s, and which was one of AMC’s first forays into creating its own programming. In doing some reading about the show, I learned that it was created and written by a guy named Rupert Holmes, who is probably best-known for writing and singing “Escape (The Pina Colada Song).” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2322 "2021-07-15T17:42:01Z")
A man found over 150 bowling balls under his porch when doing renovations > [@](#): > > # Home renovation leads to the discovery of over 150 bowling balls under a family’s porch > > A homeowner in Michigan found an unusual surprise when renovating his porch. > > David Olson, 33, said he uncovered over 150 [bowling balls](https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2021/04/26/man-bowls-perfect-game-with-bowling-ball-containing-dads-ashes-orig-llr.cnn) when he demolished the concrete slab of the porch at his home in Norton Shores. > > “Before I smashed anything with a hammer, I was able to pull one of the cinder blocks on the side out and take a peek,” Olson said. “I saw a bunch of sand and half of a black and blue sphere, and that’s when I was intrigued and started brushing the sand off of it and realized it was a bowling ball.” > He then began to dig further into the sand and realized there wasn’t just one ball under his stoop – before he knew it he uncovered 15 bowling balls. Since he had no idea how long the balls had been there, or how they got there, Olson called the manufacturer, Brunswick Bowling Products, to confirm that none of the materials used to make the balls had turned toxic. > Olson said Brunswick confirmed they were clean and had him take pictures. Some balls had serial numbers and engravings that dated back to the 1950’s, the same time frame in which Olson’s house was built. However, it’s unclear when they were put under the home. [https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/14/us/bowling-balls-found-under-home-trnd/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/14/us/bowling-balls-found-under-home-trnd/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2323 "2021-07-15T18:39:36Z")
Wait until he finds out the hard way that the bowling balls were making up the majority of the foundation. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2324 "2021-07-15T18:42:02Z")
This would make one heckuvan episode of those shows my wife watches on HGTV. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2325 "2021-07-15T18:46:53Z")
Now he needs one of these: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0Q1waGceDjM/maxresdefault.jpg "Bowling Ball Cannon") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q1waGceDjM) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=115) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=117)