# 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:** 145
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2888 "2021-10-22T17:24:17Z")
I was trying for more a “[blinkenlights](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinkenlights)” vibe…you know, German language (or mimicry of it) that sounds funny to native English speakers. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2889 "2021-10-22T17:24:49Z")
It takes an Einstein to understand me! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2890 "2021-10-22T17:28:43Z")
In researching for another post, I learned that the total number of hours worked by slaves on the North American continent, from 1619-1865, was 410,000,000,000 hours, or 46,000,000 years, representing $2 to 4 _trillion_ in surplus productive wealth (assuming $5 to $10/hour at today’s wages, net of ‘sustenance’), all poured into the pockets of their white slave holders. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2891 "2021-10-22T17:39:04Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > It takes an Einstein to understand me! 😉 Nah, I’m just his dog. ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2892 "2021-10-22T19:50:43Z")
Did you subtract room and board, other expenses such as clothing that was furnished? Child care for those too young to do the labor? Slavery was not right and looking back a black eye for our country during that time in history but slaves were not “pure profit “ for the slave owners. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2893 "2021-10-22T20:00:33Z")
Holy fuckin’ Hell, really? Did you even read how I phrased it? What does ‘net of sustenance’ even mean anyway? Anyway, gotta be proud of your brave defense of slaveowner finances. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2894 "2021-10-22T20:02:50Z")
Wow! I guess someone was going to come here to defend the indefensible, with faint condemnation. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2895 "2021-10-22T20:20:28Z")
Most common national celebration on Earth, is a holiday shared by 65 different countries! On average, once every sixth day. Independence from the British! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2896 "2021-10-22T20:25:58Z")
Yeah, but did you think about how much it cost the British to set up those colonies? Huh? HUH?? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2897 "2021-10-22T20:30:00Z")
> [@a6ka97](#): > > Child care for those too young to do the labor? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I mean, tell me more about 18th-century child care benefits for the enslaved and the financial impact this had on white slave holders! I’m fascinated! Oh, wait! These are children which _could be sold_ if too expensive. Holy fuckin’ Hell. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2898 "2021-10-22T20:32:57Z")
And if a couple of them died, they can always make more. AMIRITE? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2899 "2021-10-22T20:36:21Z")
Nacogdoches to Tishomingo: 257 miles. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2900 "2021-10-22T20:40:28Z")
Anyway, if y’all are interested as to why I’m pulling up slavery statistics, it’s in the 2nd post of this 2-post reply: [https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-party-seems-determined-to-allow-the-perfect-to-be-the-enemy-of-the-good/951791/156?u=johnt](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-party-seems-determined-to-allow-the-perfect-to-be-the-enemy-of-the-good/951791/156) ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2901 "2021-10-22T21:35:51Z")
Oooh that’s a good one. Is this right though? More so than (say) Christmas or New Year Day? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2902 "2021-10-22T21:38:42Z")
The Amtrak Coast Starlight, as it goes through south Oregon, crosses over the Cascades southeast of Eugene, and its last two Oregon stops are tiny towns hardly anybody has heard of: Chemult and Klamath Falls. I wondered why the train doesn’t stop at, say, Ashland or Medford, well that’s because it doesn’t go that way. It’s too bad Amtrak can’t always go where most of the people are! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2903 "2021-10-22T21:45:42Z")
> [@Dahu](#): > > Oooh that’s a good one. Is this right though? More so than (say) Christmas or New Year Day? I think the key word is ‘national’… ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2904 "2021-10-22T21:52:59Z")
I’ve always found it fascinating that the greatest writers of English and Spanish, Shakespeare and Cervantes, died on the same date (April 23, 1616), yet ten days apart - Spain was alredy using the Gregorian calendar, England still the Julian one. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2905 "2021-10-22T22:25:51Z")
> [@a6ka97](#): > > Slavery was not right and looking back a black eye for our country during that time in history… That doesn’t sound like a defense of slavery to me. I had some similar questions when I read JohnT’s post. If someone describes the history of slavery in mathematical and statistical terms, it ought to be fair to ask mathematical questions about it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2906 "2021-10-22T22:31:03Z")
Guys, what do you think ‘net of sustenance’ meant? Or ‘surplus productive wealth’? It means the slave owner kept all surplus productive value produced by the slave, excepting that needed for sustenance. I mean… it’s right there in my words. Twice. More context found here: > [@Democratic Party Seems Determined to Allow the Perfect to be the Enemy of the Good](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-party-seems-determined-to-allow-the-perfect-to-be-the-enemy-of-the-good/951791/157): > > 410,000,000,000 hours. It’s a number which should be taught in American high schools, but if you mention it in, say, Texas, you will then have to (a) frame it in a way which is not negative, or (b) offer a countering, positive, connotation to this number. 410 billion hours. Remember it. For the rest of your life, @gandrews3367. What is this number? According to the National Institute of Health, [it is the total number of hours worked](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7716878/) by the near 10,000,000 slaves which existed in the colonies… ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2907 "2021-10-22T22:48:40Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Guys, what do you think ‘net of sustenance’ meant? Or ‘surplus productive wealth’? Having never taken an economics class, I don’t know what those phrases mean. And that wasn’t my only question. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=144) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=146)