# 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:** 155
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3088 "2021-11-14T08:43:46Z")
There is no simple equation for the circumference of an ellipse. You can only approximate it because the exact solution involves an infinite series. [Ellipse - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipse#Circumference) ---
**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:** [November 14, 2021, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3089 "2021-11-14T09:04:11Z")
I find it funny that the [perimeter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perimeter) of a circle and an ellipse is called circumference: for a circle it is logical, for an ellipse not so much. Why is the perimeter of an [oval](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oval) not called a circumference too? ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3090 "2021-11-14T10:06:28Z")
isn’t it ? What is it called ? It doesn’t mention it in that link. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2021, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3091 "2021-11-14T11:00:00Z")
Perimeter, I guess. The article about perimeter (see link above) begins: > A **perimeter** is a closed [path](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_(geometry)) that encompasses, surrounds, or outlines either a [two dimensional](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_dimensional) [shape](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape) or a [one-dimensional](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-dimensional) [length](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Length_(mathematics)). The perimeter of a [circle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle) or an [ellipse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipse) is called its [circumference](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumference). And the article about circumference starts: > In [geometry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometry), the **circumference** (from Latin _circumferens_ , meaning “carrying around”) is the [perimeter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perimeter) of a [circle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle) or [ellipse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipse). As there is no mention of ovals, I guess they are not included. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3092 "2021-11-14T11:27:29Z")
Hmmm. Most non-wikipedia definitions (of circumference) appear to be less specific so i reckon an oval can have a circumference. Wikipedia is obviously run by a bunch of shapeist bastards. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2021, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3093 "2021-11-14T11:48:35Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > […] a bunch of shapeist bastards. Ah, that would explain it! ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3094 "2021-11-14T13:22:30Z")
Since 1968, the world’s biggest car manufacturer (in terms of numbers) has been Mattel - maker of Hot Wheels model/toy cars. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3095 "2021-11-14T13:26:43Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Since 1968, the world’s biggest car manufacturer (in terms of numbers) has been Mattel - maker of Hot Wheels model/toy cars. And before that it was Lesney, makers of Matchbox cars. They actually held the honor later than 1968, until they went out of business and the other manufacturer caught up and eventually bought up the brand. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3096 "2021-11-14T18:00:54Z")
Various sites say that the honour goes to Lego (since 2011 at least) > **[Rolling, rolling, rolling: Lego, the world's biggest tire maker](https://www.cnet.com/culture/rolling-rolling-rolling-lego-the-worlds-biggest-tire-maker/)** > > For 50 years, the famous toy maker has turned out little plastic wheels. Last year, it produced a mind-boggling 381 million. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3097 "2021-11-14T20:33:36Z")
In November 1926, something unusual washed up one the beach in the town of Worthing, on the south coast of England. An elephant. > **[The new statue remembering elephant who washed up on Worthing beach](https://www.sussexlive.co.uk/news/sussex-news/new-statue-remembering-elephant-who-6101624)** > > The sad tale of Jumbo is remembered in this new statue Yep, that’s the new memorial which we happened across for the first time today. But - interesting fact number two - it isn’t Worthing’s weirdest animal-related memorial. That honor belongs to - wait for it - a pigeon war memorial > **[Stone plaque № 43542](http://openplaques.org/plaques/43542)** > > IN MEMORY OF > WARRIOR BIRDS > WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES ON ACTIVE SERVICE 1939 – 45 > AND FOR THE USE AND PLEASURE OF LIVING BIRDS > > FOR A BIRD OF THE AIR SHALL CARRY THE VOICE > AND THAT WHICH HATH WINGS SHALL TELL THE MATTER. > Ecc.X.20. > > THIS MEMORIAL IS... Any advance on two crazy animal-related memorials in a town? j ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2021, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3098 "2021-11-14T22:18:25Z")
[Fabian von Schlabrendorff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_von_Schlabrendorff#Attempts_to_kill_Hitler) was German involved in the July 1944 plot to kill Hitler. He was arrested and tortured. He was hauled before a kangaroo court. When American bombers attacked the Nazi judge ordered everyone to the bomb shelters. He must have been a little slow. The judge was crushed by a beam while still clutching Schlabrendorff’s file. So the Nazis had to have a second trial. It found Schlabrendorff not guilty because he had been tortured. (Imagine that.) But then Hitler ordered him to be killed anyway. But by this time it was April 1945. The military moved him from place to place to keep him away from the Nazis. He ended up with a bunch of other prominent prisoners. A German regular Army unit attacked the site and rescued everyone in April. The war ended a couple of weeks later. Schlabrendorff went on to serve on the prosecution’s staff at Nuremberg. He died in 1980. ---
**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 15, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3099 "2021-11-15T17:04:49Z")
Patrick Leahy, the Democratic Senator from Vermont\* who just announced his retirement, has been in FIVE **Batman** movies. > **[The man third in the line of presidential succession has been in five...](https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/23/us/senator-patrick-leahy-batman-trnd/index.html)** > > Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont and the longest-tenured member of the Senate, is a Batman aficionado who's turned his fandom into philanthropy. Now, he's President pro tempore of the Senate and third in line to be President. \*And also Vermont’s only Democratic senator ---
**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:** [November 15, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3100 "2021-11-15T18:26:25Z")
Looking up the Vermont governor to see who appoints Leahy’s successor, I stumbled across the fact that if no Vermont gubernatorial candidate receives a majority of the vote during the election, then the state legislature elects them. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3101 "2021-11-16T00:06:56Z")
Today I read that plate tectonics (proposed by Wegener in 1915) was an unprovable hypothesis until, post-Hiroshima, seismometers were placed world wide to suss out secret nuclear bomb testing. That’s when the Ring Of Fire was mapped. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2021, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3102 "2021-11-16T03:25:28Z")
One way that seismologists determined if a reading was caused by an earthquake or a bomb test was by looking at the clock - if it was exactly on the hour or half-hour, it was a bomb. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3103 "2021-11-16T03:49:08Z")
The version I learned spelled Shell oil (71077345) ---
**Author:** ![cytop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cytop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cytop)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3104 "2021-11-16T05:58:57Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > The version I learned spelled Shell oil … Who, by the way are officially known as ‘Royal Dutch Shell’ (which you cannot spell out on a calculator) and were headquartered in The Nederlands. However, they are proposing to [move the HQ to the UK](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59288593) so losing the ‘Royal Dutch’ tag … > … Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng welcomed Shell’s announcement, tweeting that it was “a clear vote of confidence in the British economy”. > > The Dutch government, however, said it was “unpleasantly surprised” by Shell’s proposal… ETA: Following up the story reveals: > …The business dates back to 1833 and a London antiques dealer, Marcus Samuel, who decided to expand into selling seashells that he imported from Asia. On his death in 1870, his two sons, Marcus Jr and Samuel, took on the concern and, building on his existing import-export business, expanded into crude oil. > > The two were pioneers in their field and came up with the idea of the world’s first oil tanker as well as creating the Shell brand. In 1907, the business they founded, Shell Transport & Trading, merged with a rival, Royal Dutch Petroleum… So, King Willem-Alexander doesn’t actually chair board meetings but it was a neat name in any case. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3105 "2021-11-16T11:24:30Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > One way that seismologists determined if a reading was caused by an earthquake or a bomb test was by looking at the clock - if it was exactly on the hour or half-hour, it was a bomb. Cool little fact, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3106 "2021-11-16T13:19:25Z")
I read about that in Sharon Weinberger’s The Imagineers of War - where did you read about it? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/3107 "2021-11-16T13:32:10Z")
[Science Info](http://scecinfo.usc.edu/education/k12/learn/plate2.htm#:~:text=Plate%20tectonic%20theory%20had%20its,fit%20together%20like%20a%20puzzle.) While googling aimlessly through the intertubes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=154) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=156)