# 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:** 151
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3008 "2021-10-29T18:21:03Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > And stories that he had her stuffed have been debunked. It reminds me of an SNL Weekend Update bit, Jane Curtain anchor. They showed a picture of Roy Rogers on his horse. “Roy Rogers has said when he dies, he wishes to be stuffed and mounted on top of his horse Trigger, already stuffed and mounted. Dale Evans added that she would also like to be stuffed and mounted, but not necessarily in that order.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3009 "2021-10-30T17:19:37Z")
Superman wasn’t the first Man of Steel. In Zip Comics #1, Feb. 1940, John Sterling jumps into a vat of molten steel. And dies instantly. No, wait, he had covered himself with chemicals first, and came out with super-powers: invulnerability, great strength, and the ability to fly using the magnetic fields of airplanes. He became Steel Sterling, the Man of Steel. Superman, who was the Man of Tomorrow, had to wait for the character to disappear before DC started officially calling him the Man of Steel. Unoffically, there was a newspaper headline in _Action Comics_ #6, Nov. 1938, talking about the “Mysterious Man of Steel.” I leave it to fans to discuss the implications. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3010 "2021-10-30T17:28:24Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > The oldest age at which a woman gave birth to a child (before the modern era of fertility treatments or surrogacy) was recognized for decades as that of Ruth Alice Kistler, who gave birth at the remarkable age of 57 years, 129 days. > > Only. . . It was a lie to cover up a 20-year-old’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Wasn’t there an area in the Balkans where there was an unusual number of claims of long-lived men, but it turned out that in their youth they had started lying about being older to avoid the military draft? ---
**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 30, 2021, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3011 "2021-10-30T18:24:25Z")
If all of the people who died of COVID in the US were to come back to life and live in the same city, that city would be the 19th most populous city in the country with a greater population than Denver. ---
**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 30, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3012 "2021-10-30T20:01:37Z")
> The modern peace sign was designed by Gerald Holtom for the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1958.\*\* The vertical line in the center represents the flag [semaphore](https://www.britannica.com/technology/semaphore) signal for the letter D, and the downward lines on either side represent the semaphore signal for the letter N. “N” and “D”, for [nuclear disarmament](https://www.britannica.com/topic/anti-nuclear-movement), enclosed in a circle. > **[Where Did the Peace Sign Come From?](https://www.britannica.com/story/where-did-the-peace-sign-come-from)** > > Give peace a chance. If you’re ever in Amarillo TX…to be honest, I didn’t understand how some of it’s connected to peace, exactly. The signs tell dates like 12-3-80 (John Lennon shot) and 2-1-03 (Space Shuttle disaster). > **[Amarillo, TX - Stoner Patriot Peace Garden of All Faiths](https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/48869)** > > Visit reports, news, maps, directions and info on Stoner Patriot Peace Garden of All Faiths in Amarillo, Texas. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3013 "2021-10-30T21:35:35Z")
The “peace” hand sign, with two upraised fingers, originated in WWII as a “victory” sign. One of its early users was Winston Churchill. I find it amusing that he sometimes flashed it with his palm facing him, unaware, due to his aristocratic upbringing, that it was an offensive gesture when delivered that way. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3014 "2021-10-31T05:38:15Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Wasn’t there an area in the Balkans where there was an unusual number of claims of long-lived men, but it turned out that in their youth they had started lying about being older to avoid the military draft? My father claimed there was an area like that in the hills of Pakistan, of all places. I’ve also seen similar claims about the Georgian SSR, Okinawa, rural Italy and other places. What they all had in common were poor birth and death records; almost certainly these were children pretending to be their parent. In the case of Okinawa I believe it was basically a pension scam. ---
**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 31, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3015 "2021-10-31T16:14:05Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I find it amusing that he sometimes flashed it with his palm facing him, unaware, due to his aristocratic upbringing, that it was an offensive gesture when delivered that way. Oh, Winnie was very aware of what it meant. It’s not like he spent his whole life surrounded by only aristos. He was a serving member of the British military, remember. I’m quite sure he had seen “two fingers up” more than once in his life. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3016 "2021-10-31T19:18:17Z")
You can travel from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles crossing only nine counties. ---
**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 31, 2021, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3017 "2021-10-31T19:21:25Z")
The same person was the first to greet Hank Aaron after he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record and Pete Rose after breaking Ty Cobb’s hits record. It was Steve Garvey, the first baseman of the opposing team at the time. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3018 "2021-11-01T04:42:07Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > In Zip Comics #1, Feb. 1940, John Sterling jumps into a vat of molten steel. And dies instantly. No, wait, he had covered himself with chemicals first, and came out with super-powers: invulnerability, great strength, and the ability to fly using the magnetic fields of airplanes. He became Steel Sterling, the Man of Steel. > > Superman, who was the Man of Tomorrow, had to wait for the character to disappear before DC started officially calling him the Man of Steel. Unoffically, there was a newspaper headline in _Action Comics_ #6, Nov. 1938, talking about the “Mysterious Man of Steel.” I leave it to fans to discuss the implications. …and there’s a reason they wanted to call someone the _Man of Steel_. Doc Savage was already the _Man of Bronze_, starting with the first issue of his magazine in 1933. I’m not surprised more than one publication leaped on the “Man of Steel” title – it one-ups Doc Savage. Some ads for Doc Savage were even headlined “Superman”, well before Superman appeared in the comics. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3019 "2021-11-01T04:54:23Z")
There was a German film called _The Man of Steel_ (_Der Mann aus Stahl_) released in 1922. But I can’t find any information on what it was about. I doubt it was a superhero film. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3020 "2021-11-01T06:57:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’m not surprised more than one publication leaped on the “Man of Steel” title – it one-ups Doc Savage. Wouldn’t that be “Man of Silver”? Or is that the Lone Ranger? ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3021 "2021-11-01T13:29:19Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > There was a German film called _The Man of Steel_ ( _Der Mann aus Stahl_ ) released in 1922. But I can’t find any information on what it was about. I doubt it was a superhero film. Well, you know, Ioseb Besarionis dzе Jughashvili took the _nom de Revolution_ of Stalin, which means “Steel” > [@](#): > > Stalin’s article _[Marxism and the National Question](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism_and_the_National_Question)_ [[136]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#cite_note-FOOTNOTEConquest199153Service200485Montefiore2007266Kotkin2014133-143) was first published in the March, April, and May 1913 issues of the Bolshevik journal _[Prosveshcheniye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosveshcheniye)_ ;[[137]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#cite_note-FOOTNOTEKotkin2014133-144) Lenin was pleased with it.[[138]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMontefiore2007267-145) According to Montefiore, this was “Stalin’s most famous work”.[[135]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMontefiore2007266-142) The article was published under the pseudonym “K. Stalin”,[[138]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMontefiore2007267-145) a name he had used since 1912.[[139]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHimmer1986269Volkogonov19917Service200485-146) Derived from the Russian word for steel ( _stal_ ),[[140]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHimmer1986269Service200485-147) this has been translated as “Man of Steel”;[[141]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHimmer1986269Volkogonov19917Montefiore2007268Kotkin2014133-148) Stalin may have intended it to imitate Lenin’s pseudonym.[[142]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#cite_note-FOOTNOTEHimmer1986269-149) Stalin retained the name for the rest of his life, possibly because it was used on the article that established his reputation among the Bolsheviks.[[143]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMontefiore2007267%E2%80%93268-150) > **[Joseph Stalin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin)** > > Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin\[g\] (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili;\[d\] 18 December \[O.S. 6 December\] 1878 – 5 March 1953) was a Soviet revolutionary and politician who was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922–1952) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (1941–1953). Initially governing the country as part of a collective leadership, he consolidated power... ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3022 "2021-11-01T14:02:59Z")
As a Cub fan since 1984, I’m morally obligated to read “Steve Garvey” with the same venom that Red Sox fans read “Bucky Dent.” [Michelle Stacy](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0821094/), perhaps best known as the “Girl With Coffee” in the movie _Airplane!_ (“I take it black…like my men.”), was also the voice of Penny in _The Rescuers_. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3023 "2021-11-01T14:19:00Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > 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. . I listened to a team of Mormon missionaries place almost comical emphasis on the fact\* that when the city of Nauvoo, Illinois was founded by the Latter-Day Saints (or just Joseph Smith? My attention was wavering until the next line woke me up), they made sure to lay it out like …[dramatic pause]… a grid. "Annnd, it became the _first city ever to use A GRID!"_ And they looked so smugly at us, at each other, then back at us with a series of little nods and expressions that said “Your entire religion and view of the universe has just been upended by streets at right angles. Where’s your God now?” \*I’ve always assumed that Dat Dere Interweb could debunk that in a second, but I’ve never looked it up. Leave the Mormons proud of their grid, and the Hoosiers proud of… their _lack_ of a river? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3024 "2021-11-01T16:03:46Z")
All the comic book writers read the pulps and “borrowed” elements for their strips, and not just superheroes. Look at the _Black Bat_ for a series of overlaps and outright steals. It’s just fun to go through the early comics and stumble across ever earlier examples of now-famous tropes. Dick Cole, the Wonder Boy, e.g., was treated with gamma rays in his origin issue, _Blue Bolt_ #1, June 1940, to help make him the perfect human with exceptional strength and intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3025 "2021-11-01T16:19:46Z")
Ken Strickfaden is best known - to the extent he is known at all - for providing the Tesla coils and other electrical equipment seen in _Frankenstein_ (1931) and other films and serials, including _Young Frankenstein_ (1974). According to IMDB, he was also the uncredited stunt double “for Karloff as the monster under electrical sparking equipment.” And he doubled Boris again uncredited in _Mask of Fu Manchu_ (1932). > **[Ken Strickfaden - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0834349/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nm)** > > Ken Strickfaden. Special Effects: The Lost City. Ken Strickfaden was born on 23 May 1896 in Anaconda, Montana, USA. He is known for The Lost City (1935), The Shadow (1940) and Blackenstein (1973). He died on 29 February 1984 in Inglewood, California,... ---
**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:** [November 1, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3026 "2021-11-01T19:11:36Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > Ken Strickfaden is best known - to the extent he is known at all - for providing the Tesla coils and other electrical equipment seen in _Frankenstein_ (1931) and other films and serials, including _Young Frankenstein_ (1974). According to IMDB, he was also the uncredited stunt double “for Karloff as the monster under electrical sparking equipment.” And he doubled Boris again uncredited in _Mask of Fu Manchu_ (1932). There’s an excellent biography of him out there – **Kenneth Strickfaden – Dr. Frankenstein’s Electrician** by Harry Goldman. Strickfaden was giving demonstrations almost until the time he died. He provided some of the original equipment for Mel Brooks’ **Young Frankenstein** , but he had been doing that for years He did TV show effects in the 1960s and had done effects for **Blackenstein** the year before Young Frankenstein. Strickfaden took up with electrical musician Charles D. Willard and his wife Kittie in California in the 1910s at Willard’s Temple of Music (which had performed at Revere’s Wonderland), and ended up “inheriting” Willard’s extensive collection of spark-producing instruments, which probably incorporated into his repertoire of film effects. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3027 "2021-11-01T20:28:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You can travel from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles crossing only nine counties. You’ll have to explain this one to us dropouts. Looking at a map, it appears that if you’re determined to stay on land you can’t leave Oregon to the south or the east without crossing at least 5 counties after leaving Multnomah. There’s no way that I can see to get to L.A. by only crossing 4 more counties via some combination of California and / or Nevada. If you were to a) fly and b) do it in international waters you could conceivably travel from PDX to any number of airports in Los Angeles County and do so only crossing 2 counties, not including Multnomah or LA (those would be Washington and Tillamook, which are between Multnomah and the pacific ocean). Fly east from PDX, cross Washington and Tillamook, fly as far as you need to reach international waters, turn south and follow the coast until you reach Santa Monica and head inland and find a place to park. Et voilà! 4 counties total. Not seeing how 9 is possible. The lowest number going over land is 13 total (including Multnomah and LA, so I guess you’d be “crossing” 11 counties), if my shitty eyes and this tiny US counties map I found online aren’t deceiving me. So what am I missing? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=150) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=152)