# 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:** 303
**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:** [February 6, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6050 "2023-02-06T00:12:53Z")
There wasn’t a 3 point rule during half of his career, but it’s still an amazing…feat? ---
**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:** [February 6, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6051 "2023-02-06T00:16:04Z")
That explains why his total score so far is an odd number. Cool. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2023, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6052 "2023-02-06T00:21:53Z")
I’m sure he made a few one-point foul shots. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6053 "2023-02-06T00:22:38Z")
Right you are. I take everything back, still it is cool. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6054 "2023-02-06T00:23:49Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > But what about those 3-point plays? (The ones where the shooter is fouled while making a basket and then sinks the FT.) I wasn’t counting those. And Elmer is right, there wasn’t a three-point shot for the first several years after Kareen joined the league. He did attempt more three-pointers; he was 1-for-18 in his career. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2023, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6055 "2023-02-06T00:49:13Z")
Well, you try dragging Walton and Lenier up and down the court for 48 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6056 "2023-02-06T01:20:46Z")
Ooh! So close… > **[Bob Lanier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Lanier)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who was a center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lanier was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. > In 14 NBA seasons, Lanier played in eight NBA All-Star Games and was named Most Valuable Player of the 1974 game. His accomplishments came despite a ... ---
**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:** [February 6, 2023, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6057 "2023-02-06T01:26:21Z")
Well, in my defense, I’m a lot more familiar with both Airplane! and Babylon 5 than with basketball. (Although that’s not how Lennier’s name is spelled either.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6058 "2023-02-06T03:53:17Z")
Well, he did attempt 18 of them. The “feat” may be the lowest 3-point percentage in history. Stick to the Sky Hook, Kareem! ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6059 "2023-02-06T04:10:11Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > The “feat” may be the lowest 3-point percentage in history I was trying to verify (or disprove) this, but could not find such proof. But I did find this NBA record: The shortest NBA career in history belongs to Jameson Curry, who was signed to just one ten-day contract in his career. During those ten games, he appeared in only one game…for a total of four seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6060 "2023-02-06T12:59:21Z")
I found out that shoe sizes are based on the length of a kernel of barley. The length is 1/3 of an inch (give or take). So, a size 10 shoe is 1/3 of an inch more than a size 9 shoe. ---
**Author:** ![motu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/motu/32/259_2.png) [@motu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motu)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6061 "2023-02-07T00:59:07Z")
Not recommending, just saw this today, thought I would share with the class. [Abasolo](https://abasolowhisky.com/en/home/), El Whisky de Mexico They also make a corn liqueur, [Nixta](https://nixtalicor.com/en/home/) Cross-Post from [It’s time for some bourbon/whiskey recommendations](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-some-bourbon-whiskey-recommendations/927677) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6062 "2023-02-07T01:12:20Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Well, he did attempt 18 of them. The “feat” may be the lowest 3-point percentage in history. I don’t know who was lowest, but Shaq was 1 for 22, so he has Kareem beat for worst 3 point shooter. > [@Railer13](#): > > The shortest NBA career in history belongs to Jameson Curry, who was signed to just one ten-day contract in his career. During those ten games, he appeared in only one game…for a total of four seconds. Walt Alston made his career as manager of the Dodgers (he managed the team from 1954 to 1976, and preceded Tommy Lasorda). But his big league career as a player consisted of one plate appearance: a strikeout. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6063 "2023-02-07T02:18:57Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Shaq was 1 for 22 Holy crap. I would have bet my house he had more than 1. Amazingly, that’s still better than his free throw percentage. Jk! ---
**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:** [February 7, 2023, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6064 "2023-02-07T17:42:43Z")
TIL why Americans think the French are obsessed with Jerry Lewis. I have several French friends and acquaintances who have told me they have no idea what I’m talking about when I ask them why they think Jerry Lewis was a genius. in 1957, the most important film magazine in France was _Cahiers du Cinema_ who employed cutting edge filmmakers like Truffaut and Godard as reviewers. That year, the magazine published their list of the top ten films of the year. One each by Federico Fellini, Luis Brunel, Ingmar Bergman, Nicholas Ray, Fritz Lang, Charlie Chaplin, Sidney Lumet and… TWO by a former Looney Tunes director, Frank Tashlin. Jerry Lewis wasn’t in either of those films, but they both gave France their first glimpses of Jayne Mansfield and Rock and Roll. The French mucky mucks pontificating on auteur theory were impressed with Tashlin’s commentary on American culture with brilliant visual gags. (Tashlin wasn’t “commenting” on anything - he was just making films the same way he made cartoons.) Anyway, by the end of the Fifties, Tashlin was one of the most acclaimed filmmakers in France. His follow up to to the acclaimed Mansfield films (_The Girl Can’t Help it_ and _Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?_) were six Jerry Lewis films that were all scrupulously analyzed and studied by French cinephiles in search of some sort of meaning beyond “Hey, Laaady!”. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6065 "2023-02-07T17:52:07Z")
In 1930, a seven-storey telephone office bldg in Indianapolis was rotated 90 degrees and moved about 100 feet - all without disturbing the 600 employees working inside, or the utilities servicing it. [The Building That Moved: How Did They Move an 11,000-Ton Telephone Exchange Without Suspending Its Operations? | ArchDaily](https://www.archdaily.com/973183/the-building-that-moved-how-did-they-move-an-11000-ton-telephone-exchange-without-suspending-its-operations) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6066 "2023-02-08T00:15:38Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > In 1930, a seven-storey telephone office bldg in Indianapolis was rotated 90 degrees and moved about 100 feet - all without disturbing the 600 employees working inside, or the utilities servicing it. Huh, author Kurt Vonnegut’s father and grandfather were involved. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6067 "2023-02-12T15:34:50Z")
The first person to see sperm cells under a microscope, [Antonie van Leeuwenhoek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonie_van_Leeuwenhoek), was born in the same city and the same year (Delft, 1632) as Vermeer. They may have known one another, as Leeuwenhoek served as Vermeer’s executor. And there are those who believe he is the model for The Astronomer and The Geographer, but this is in dispute. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6068 "2023-02-12T16:39:12Z")
Allegedly - Palmyra NY (near Rochester) is the only place in the US (or world?) where there is a church on each of the four corners of an intersection. All date back to the 1800’s. [LOOKING BACK — ‘God’s Corners’ in Palmyra | Lifestyle | fltimes.com](https://www.fltimes.com/lifestyle/looking-back-gods-corners-in-palmyra/article_e5dc2572-cbab-5fca-aac7-4e02807b8ae9.html) [109 Church St - Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0639557,-77.2334245,3a,75y,162.09h,107.59t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7Gsu2DvDPoObbdXFsrG7sg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192) ---
**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:** [February 12, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6069 "2023-02-12T16:49:33Z")
There are Unintentional 3D Silent Movies I’m a big fan of old silent movies. In the past week I re-watched the reconstructed versions of **The Lost World** and **Metropolis** (and it wasn’t that long since I saw **The Thief of Baghdad** with tinting and the Carl Davis score). Several years ago I was watching a couple of copies of the silent version of **The Phantom of the Opera** and comparing them scene by scene, because I was convinced that they were different. Close comparison showed me that the scenes, although depicting the same actions, were, in fact, different. They shot the scene with more than one camera, capturing the same action from two different points of view (This is different from re-shooting a scene and using a different “take” in two versions) It occurred to me that, if the two points of view were close enough together, you could use them as a stereo pair. (The scenes I was looking at were from POVs that were WAY too far apart for this to work) So recently I looked online and found that, yes, there ARE scenes from the silent _Phantom of the Opera_ that were shot with cameras so close together that you CAN make a stereo pair from them. In fact, there are so many of them that there is now a project underway to produce a complete 3D silent version of the film. You can watch part of it in anaglyphic (red and blue glasses) version on this site: https://player.vimeo.com/video/52424187?h=4103405732&app_id=122963 But wait, there’s more! _Phantom_ isn’t the only silent film this happened with. It turns out that George Melies, that pioneer of special effects cinema, had a special camera built that simultaneously recorded two shots of every scene. He wasn’t doing it to make stereo movies – he just wanted to have two negatives to use for striking prints for the domestic and the overseas market. But the rigid side-by-side parallax setup automatically gave him a pair of stereo negatives. A project has been working to produce copies of such 3D Melies. Unfortunately, there exists little enough of Melies footage at all, but they were able to assemble three of his films in 3D versions – _The Oracle of Delphi (_ _L’Oracle de Delphes_ _**)**_ , and \*The Infernal Cauldron (\*_Le Chaudron infernal_ _**)**_ – were exhibited as 3D films in 2010 at the [_Cinémathèque Française_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cin%C3%A9math%C3%A8que_Fran%C3%A7aise) in Paris. A year later they were shown, together with a third, \*The Mysterious Retort (\*_L’Alchimiste Parafaragaramus ou la Cornue infernale)_ for the American _Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences_. Unfortunately for us, these AREN’T available online. Or in any format you can buy or download right now. Hopefully someday. [Accidental 3D film – The Generalist Academy](https://generalist.academy/2020/01/20/accidental-3d-film/) a By the way – there do exist INTENTIONAL 3D silent films. The first wave of 3D movies was in the 1920s. Instead of anaglyphs, however, they used a mechanical device that alternately blocked each eye, synched to the projector – a sort of low-tech version of the current LCD alternate-eye glasses used for 3D movies. And before that (as I have written elsewhere) there was the theoretical possibility of 3D Mutoscopes, although no one seems to have ever tried to make a commercial effort at placing these. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=302) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=304)