# 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:** 149
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2968 "2021-10-27T16:07:38Z")
I don’t recall him giving credit to [Scott Kim](https://scottkim.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2969 "2021-10-27T19:17:21Z")
Unless I’m being wooshed, that’s because the ambigrams were designed by [John Langdon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Langdon_(typographer)?wprov=sfti1). ---
**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:** [October 27, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2970 "2021-10-27T19:31:30Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Unless I’m being wooshed, that’s because the ambigrams were designed by [John Langdon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Langdon_(typographer)?wprov=sfti1) I’m not sure if this is directed at me. I didn’t realize he did the work but it’s very cool. Speaking of things that look different from different angles…how cool is this? > **[This 19th-Century “Double Sculpture” Tells a Tale of Two Different People on...](https://mymodernmet.com/mephistopheles-margaretta-sculpture-india/)** > > One block of wood. Two completely different people on each side. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2971 "2021-10-27T19:32:34Z")
Yeah, I tagged the wrong person in my post. My apologies. It was meant for @74westy. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2972 "2021-10-27T19:59:58Z")
Your post was a reply to mine as I was notified. Thanks for pointing out my error. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2973 "2021-10-27T20:26:01Z")
Austin, TX is the largest city, and largest metropolitan area, in either the USA or Canada that does not have a franchise in any of the four biggest North American sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL.) Austin does have an MLS team though. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2021, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2974 "2021-10-27T22:26:30Z")
He did a [whole book of them](https://smile.amazon.com/Wordplay-Philosophy-Art-Science-Ambigrams/dp/0767920759/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Ambigrams&qid=1635373337&s=books&sr=1-1) in 2005. I used to own a copy before I downsized. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2975 "2021-10-28T01:53:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > This one is a little long, but it answers a couple of questions I’ve had for a while. > > Tarzan has been appearing in comic strips since 1929 and in comic books since the late 1940s. I grew up reading the Tarzan comics of the 1950s and and 1960s, published first by Dell and later by Gold Key. Although the Dell comics and the early Gold Key ones took their lead mostly from the movies (especially the Johnny Weissmuller films made by MGM in the 1930s – “Boy” was Tarzan’s son), they also took material from the novels, like the land of Pal-ul-don, with its dinosaurs (how could any comic book ignore stuff like that?) > > That changed in the 1960s. Gold Key started adapting Edgar Rice Burroughs’ books directly into the comics. Tarzan’s son was no longer “Boy” (as in the movies) but “Korak” (as in ERB’s novels), and he got his own comic book with that as a title. I seem to recall that there was also a comic adaptation of the 1960s television version of Tarzan which starred Ron Ely, where the boy sidekick was Jai. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2976 "2021-10-28T02:41:42Z")
The last pitcher to win three games in a World Series was Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001. He won games 2, 6, and 7. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2977 "2021-10-28T06:28:03Z")
Ellie Kemper, who is probably best known as the titular [Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3339966/), took drama classes in school. Her drama teacher was the future star of _Mad Men_, Jon Hamm. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2978 "2021-10-28T13:03:55Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Austin, TX is the largest city in the USA that does not … Indianapolis, IN is the largest city in the USA that does not… sit on a navigable river. Why this is interesting, I know not. What I found interesting is that when a resident there told me this fact, he seemed quite proud of knowing it. . ---
**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 28, 2021, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2979 "2021-10-28T13:08:06Z")
In 2000, the most populous city to not have its own webpage was Arlington, Texas which ranked #100 on the list. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2980 "2021-10-28T13:10:34Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Indianapolis, IN is the largest city in the USA that does not… sit on a navigable river. I don’t think Dallas has a navigable river; the Trinity surely doesn’t qualify, does 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 28, 2021, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2981 "2021-10-28T13:20:36Z")
Thinking the same about Atlanta, but perhaps the Chattahoochee is navigable? I mean, I have tubed the thing many a time as a kid… ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2982 "2021-10-28T13:21:03Z")
From this [article](https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-bizarre-cultural-history-of-saliva-as-powerful-therapeutic/?utm_source=DamnInteresting): > Although still produced, spittoons are now rare, and often present simply as decoration: They figure as part of the décor in the Senate Chamber of the United States. In the Supreme Court of this country, each Justice has a spittoon next to his or her seat in the courtroom, mostly out of respect for tradition. Since the spitting habit is largely lost, and the young are unacquainted with the traditional form and function of spittoons, these receptacles are likely to be used as wastebaskets. and > The Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping kept a spittoon by his side even at important diplomatic meetings. A newspaper photograph shows him in conversation with the British Prime Minister in Beijing in 1984; a white spittoon is visible on the floor at his feet. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2983 "2021-10-28T13:38:03Z")
Pray tell what river Phoenix, AZ (the largest capital by population and only US capital with more than 1,000,000 people) sits on? ---
**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:** [October 28, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2984 "2021-10-28T13:47:38Z")
Or Los Angeles, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2985 "2021-10-28T13:52:20Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Los Angeles, > **[LA River designated as a navigable waterway](https://www.dailynews.com/2010/07/07/la-river-designated-as-a-navigable-waterway/)** > > LOS ANGELES – The federal government on Wednesday designated Los Angeles River a full-fledged navigable waterway, affirming the river’s tributaries qualify for Clean Water Act protectio… ---
**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:** [October 28, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2986 "2021-10-28T13:54:09Z")
They have better drugs than those of us who live around here, obviously. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/2987 "2021-10-28T13:56:30Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Pray tell what river Phoenix, AZ (the largest capital by population and only US capital with more than 1,000,000 people) sits on? [[T]he Gila was once navigable by large riverboats from its mouth to near Phoenix, and by smaller craft from Phoenix nearly to the Arizona-New Mexico border – until irrigation and municipal water diversions turned both into usually dry rivers which carry water only after local downpours create flooding.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gila_River) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=148) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=150)