# 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:** 226
**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:** [May 28, 2022, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4509 "2022-05-28T12:29:42Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > OTOH they might improve the performance of the SDMB servers … My God, those were the days, weren’t they? I even pitted this Boards servers back in 2002, a year before you joined: > [@To the poor, overworked 486-33MhZ that powers the SDMB...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-poor-overworked-486-33mhz-that-powers-the-sdmb/107726): > > I feel your pain. I really do. It must be hard to do so many page views, replies, and changes to the SDMB, all while making the effort of trying to stay online. Your poor little 10 year old CPU has so much to do that I understand why it takes so long for me to get a page view, why my posts keep disappearing in a “This page cannot load” screen from IE, why I just can’t logon sometimes regardless of whether I’m using cable, DSL, or a plain old dial-up. Oh, sometimes you’re fine. Like right now, I… Looking at the thread, the very last post has @MannyL inventing the cloud, so he has that going for him, which is cool. But then he envisioned it as a not-for-profit service which, lol, this is America: > [@To the poor, overworked 486-33MhZ that powers the SDMB...](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-poor-overworked-486-33mhz-that-powers-the-sdmb/107726/23): > > I don’t see why the server that The Straight Dope is on has to be owned by the Chicago Reader. If one was dreaming the following scenerio could work Chicago Reader pays for an internet connection but is not attached to anything Chicago Reader leases said internet connection to a not for profit group called anything. Part of the lease agreement calls for a payment fo $1.00 a year to be made to the Chicago Reader. This Not For Profit group attaches one or more servers to the internet conn… ---
**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:** [May 28, 2022, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4510 "2022-05-28T22:49:16Z")
Of “Deliverance,” one of the greatest movies of all time, IMDB says: > [Billy Redden](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0714681) didn’t know how to play banjo. To simulate realistic chord playing during “Duelling Banjos”, another boy, a skilled banjo player, played the chords with his arm reaching around Redden’s side while Redden picked. Musicians [Eric Weissberg](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0918716) and [Steve Mandell](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1300864) played on the soundtrack. [The scene.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFutge4xn3w) By the way, a grown up Billy was in “Big Fish.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/sPQ8YCYACyY/maxresdefault.jpg "Big fish/deliverance banjo player") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPQ8YCYACyY) And here he is, working at Wal Mart. > **[This is Billy Redden, the guy who played the "dueling banjos" kid in...](https://www.peopleofwalmart.com/this-is-billy-redden-the-guy-who-played-the-dueling-banjos-kid-in-deliverance/)** > > This is Billy Redden, the guy who played the "dueling banjos" kid in Deliverance. - Celebrity Look-A-Likes - People Of Walmart ---
**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:** [May 29, 2022, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4511 "2022-05-29T10:57:44Z")
Brian Eno wrote this. Said it was an amazing assignment which got him thinking about music differently: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/miZHa7ZC6Z0/hqdefault.jpg "Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Sound") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miZHa7ZC6Z0) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2022, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4512 "2022-05-30T11:06:39Z")
This ones about sodas. I found out, well it was a while ago, but cream soda is actually vanilla flavored. Most of them seem to just use artificial vanilla flavor now anyways. I don’t know why, but as a kid, I thought it really had cream in it. Also, club soda has just a little bit of sodium bicarbonate in it. It seems it’s not really necessary. But some people associate the taste with it anyways, so they put it in (I can’t even taste it, myself). And you do realize tonic water, with quinine, was originally used to treat malaria. It doesn’t have anywhere near the therapeutic dose now, of course, since it is only a beverage now. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4513 "2022-05-30T18:23:42Z")
The metal or plastic tube fixed round each end of a shoelace is called an [Aglet.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aglet) (I see this has already been mentioned, so i’ve mentioned it again.) ---
**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:** [May 30, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4514 "2022-05-30T20:57:27Z")
The soundtrack from the 1970 horror film _Cauldron Of Blood_, one of Karloff’s last movies, was the source of most of the background music for the Filmation live action series _Shazam!_ that started in 1974. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4515 "2022-05-30T22:22:54Z")
> _ **Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions Inc. v. McDonald’s Corp.** _ (1977) was a case in which puppeteers and television producers [Sid and Marty Krofft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_and_Marty_Krofft) alleged that the copyright in their _[H.R. Pufnstuf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.R._Pufnstuf)_ children’s television program had been infringed by a series of [McDonald’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s) “[McDonaldland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonaldland)” advertisements. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid\_%26\_Marty\_Krofft\_Television\_Productions\_Inc.\_v.\_McDonald's\_Corp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_%26_Marty_Krofft_Television_Productions_Inc._v._McDonald%27s_Corp). > This yielded a total award to the Kroffts of $1,044,000. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2022, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4516 "2022-05-30T23:50:36Z")
There was a Sid and Marty Krofft theme park. Built in the Omni Hotel in downtown Atlanta, only 300,000 attended by the time of its closing just 10-months later. Also seems to hold some dubious world records, including ‘longest free-standing escalator’. This meant the elevator is only supported at the ends (and not in the middle), which is _exactly_ the sort of creative civil engineering goal we all want in our LSD-themed amusement park, right kids?? Lastly: I went. Twice. First time was near opening day as lines were long. Second time was… later… and it took us about 50 minutes to do it all. > **[The World of Sid and Marty Krofft](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_of_Sid_and_Marty_Krofft)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The World of Sid and Marty Krofft was an entirely indoor amusement park in Atlanta, Georgia. It was based on the various TV shows produced by the sibling duo Sid and Marty Krofft. > The park was built in the Omni International complex with space to accommodate 6,000 visitors at any time. It opened with great fanfare on May 26, 1976, and was featured prominently at the host segments during the first season of the Saturday morning program Krofft Supe... ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4517 "2022-05-31T01:00:58Z")
Sid and Marty got their start with a Paris cabaret style revue featuring topless puppets. It was one of the top attractions in Las Vegas and the 1964 World’s Fair. [![](https://alchetron.com/cdn/les-poupes-de-paris-a4200c90-a08f-48d1-a106-0dc89175e27-resize-750.jpeg) ](https://alchetron.com/cdn/les-poupes-de-paris-a4200c90-a08f-48d1-a106-0dc89175e27-resize-750.jpeg) ---
**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:** [May 31, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4518 "2022-05-31T01:09:00Z")
Those puppets are firmer then the women carved on a hindu temple. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4519 "2022-05-31T01:51:37Z")
There was an ‘amusement’ park in Melbourne called Wobbies world, that consisted of incredibly tame, lame and unexciting rides ideal for children under 7. Ok, under 5. [Here’s an ad for it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRsnmZLXbLc&ab_channel=AustralianTelevisionArchive) Remember, this is an advertisement - designed to make it look fun, exciting and attractive. It was endlessly parodied by comedians - notably in a series of sketches that can be found on Youtube under the title ‘Pissweak World’. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2022, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4520 "2022-05-31T03:04:55Z")
Four of the rarest elements are named after [the town of Ytterby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ytterby) in Sweden - Ytterbium, Yttrium, Terbium and Erbium. All were first found in nature near that town. Four other elements were also first found there - Scandium, Holmium, Thulium and Gadolinium. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2022, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4521 "2022-05-31T13:49:06Z")
More than a third of recorded lynching victims in the US were white. In 1898, a large anti-segregation meeting was held in a Masonic hall in Jackson, Mississippi. The hall was located on Lynch street. (John Ray Lynch was an emancipated slave, and the state’s first black Congressman.). In 1970, two blacks were shot dead by police during a demonstration on the same street. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4522 "2022-05-31T15:41:29Z")
Been listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz? ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4523 "2022-05-31T16:02:03Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > The metal or plastic tube fixed round each end of a shoelace is called an [Aglet.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aglet) Off topic, but our dog Mo (RIP) was death on aglet’s. The only thing she would chew on, but if you left a pair of shoes on the floor, she would find them and gnaw off the aglets. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4524 "2022-05-31T19:27:32Z")
There are way more than those types. They didn’t even include any Asians in that set. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4525 "2022-05-31T19:34:12Z")
Good point. Maybe the key is the title “…Most Common…”? A quick google reveals: [https://ariamedtour.com/blogs/nose-shapes-in-different-races/](https://ariamedtour.com/blogs/nose-shapes-in-different-races/) ---
**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:** [May 31, 2022, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4526 "2022-05-31T21:09:21Z")
TIL that the US is issuing new quarters honoring women on the reverse, with a new portrait of Washington on the obverse. Got a “Maya Angelou” in my change this morning and the new design caught my eye. Now I’m actively looking for a “Sally Ride.” ---
**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:** [May 31, 2022, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4527 "2022-05-31T22:01:53Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Maybe the key is the title “…Most Common…”? You’d think any subject about the world that has “Most Common” in the title would include Asians. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/4528 "2022-05-31T22:40:07Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > since when is slicked-back hair a relevant characteristic? I learned that slicked back hair is called “Evangelical Hair” in some circles and I learned in over 20 years ago. But these days it is more fluffy than LBJ’s version. Look at Matt Gaetz’ hair; it is a great example. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=225) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=227)