# 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:** 31
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/601 "2020-07-30T01:36:15Z")
Geddy Lee, Patti Scialfa, and Ken Burns were all born on this day, 67 years ago. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/602 "2020-07-30T16:40:31Z")
Today’s selection of music to mow the lawn by: Boston’s debut album. Forty plus years since its introduction, the music holds up beautifully. Tom Scholz disagreed with the label (Epic) and did it his way…though they didn’t know it. > [@](#): > > Epic wanted the band to record in [Los Angeles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles) with a record producer, but Scholz was unwilling and wanted to record the album in his basement studio, so he hired Boylan to run interference with the label. In an elaborate ruse, Scholz tricked the label into thinking the band was recording on the West Coast, when in reality, the bulk was being tracked solely by Scholz at his [Massachusetts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts) home. The album’s contents are a complete recreation of the band’s demo tape, and contain songs written and composed many years prior. RIP Brad Delp—what a voice! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oR4uKcvQbGQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Boston - More Than A Feeling (HQ)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR4uKcvQbGQ) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/603 "2020-07-30T16:57:25Z")
Another thread inspired me to look up RC Cola on Wikipedia. I learned that RC is part of the Dr. Pepper-Snapple Group, which in turn was bought by Keurig, and is now known as Keurig Dr. Pepper. But that’s not the interesting fact. Down at the bottom of the page is a list of all the soda brands that company owns. Among them are A&W, Hires Root Beer, Canada Dry, Schewppes, and Vernors. So in other words the same company owns two brands of root beer and three brands of ginger ale, two of which are also brands of tonic water. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/604 "2020-07-31T18:43:16Z")
John Ritter died in the same hospital he was born in. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/605 "2020-08-03T18:45:54Z")
In the Big Numbers category - It is estimated that the number of stars visible from earth through telescopes exceeds, by a factor of between five and ten, the number of grains of sand on all of the earths beaches and deserts. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/606 "2020-08-03T19:17:37Z")
Yet there are more trees on Earth than there are stars in our galaxy. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/607 "2020-08-03T19:59:22Z")
Huh? Do you have the numbers? As far as I know, our galaxy has about 100 billion stars, and I can’t imagine that there are as much trees on earth. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/608 "2020-08-03T20:14:17Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Huh? Do you have the numbers? As far as I know, our galaxy has about 100 billion stars, and I can’t imagine that there are as much trees on earth. I did not see this coming…3 trillion plus trees. > **[How Many Trees Are There in the World?](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-many-trees-are-there-in-the-world-video/)** > > It’s a simple question, but as Nature Video describes it, getting the answer required 421,529 measurements from 50 countries on six continents Related: > [@](#): > > In environments where hot, fast moving fires are frequent, some pine species have developed very thick, hard cones that are literally glued shut with a strong resin. These “serotinous” cones can hang on a pine tree for years, long after the enclosed seeds mature. Only when a fire sweeps through, melting the resin, do these heat-dependent cones open up, releasing seeds that are then distributed by wind and gravity. > **[How Trees Survive and Thrive After A Fire](http://www.nationalforests.org/our-forests/light-and-seed-magazine/how-trees-survive-and-thrive-after-a-fire)** > > Big or small, gradual or sudden, change rhythmically punctuates human life. In the natural world, change is just as intrinsic and pattern-based. Seasonal fluctuations in temperature, shifts in sun light, and natural disturbances, like fire, are all... ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/609 "2020-08-03T20:23:12Z")
Well, color me surprised! One more thing I learned at the Dope. ETA: though you have to admit that there are a many very very tiny trees in that number. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/610 "2020-08-03T20:24:36Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I did not see this coming…3 trillion plus trees. This one always floors me. there are 1.67 sextillion water molecules in a water drop. I know molecules are small, but I can’t wrap my head around how small. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/611 "2020-08-03T21:30:34Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > This one always floors me. there are 1.67 sextillion water molecules in a water drop. > > I know molecules are small, but I can’t wrap my head around how small Even though the conclusion is questionable I like this little explanation: If you take a glass with a pint of water in it and go throw that water into the ocean, then wait 30 years until the water molecules from that glass are now distributed evenly among all the ocean waters (let’s just pretend that happens in 30 years), then go take a pint of water out of the ocean and there will be at least one molecule of water in it from the glassful you threw in 30 years earlier. That’s because there were more molecules of water in that pint of water than there are pints of water in all the oceans. This has been questioned about accuracy though, I’m not sure how to do the calculations, but I don’t think it’s that far off. ---
**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:** [August 4, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/612 "2020-08-04T00:45:31Z")
1. One of the events of the 1900 Olympics was shooting: live pigeon shooting. Yes, the pigeons were actually killed by the bullets. 2. The National League of the US’s Major League Baseball was established 12 years before the English Football League. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/613 "2020-08-04T01:12:03Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I know molecules are small, but I can’t wrap my head around how small. Given a scale of “one atom” to “planet Earth”, a grain of sand is in the middle. (Someone will undoubtedly correct me on this- feel free, I can handle it.) ---
**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:** [August 4, 2020, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/614 "2020-08-04T12:27:55Z")
Nice one. Surprised that I hadn’t heard that before. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/615 "2020-08-04T14:48:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > If you take a glass with a pint of water in it and go throw that water into the ocean, then wait 30 years until the water molecules from that glass are now distributed evenly among all the ocean waters (let’s just pretend that happens in 30 years), then go take a pint of water out of the ocean and there will be at least one molecule of water in it from the glassful you threw in 30 years earlier. That’s because there were more molecules of water in that pint of water than there are pints of water in all the oceans. I heard same about air: every time you breathe, you are inhaling some nitrogen and oxygen molecules that were once breathed by George Washington. ---
**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:** [August 4, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/616 "2020-08-04T15:28:03Z")
If you read about the French Revolution, you came across the term “sans-culottes.” Nowadays, culottes are a woman’s clothing item, that looks like a skirt with separate legs. I wondered about the term. Then I discovered “culottes” in French is the same as “breeches” in English – tight, knee-length pants that were standard style for the nobility at the time. The sans-culottes were French men who were too poor to wear stylish clothing. They became the vanguard of the revolution. ---
**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:** [August 6, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/617 "2020-08-06T01:16:54Z")
Interesting, as our 8th grade French class trip was to a restaurant in NY called Les Sans Culottes. I asked our French teacher what it meant and she just said it was something vulgar, so she couldn’t tell me. This was way pre-internet, so I never thought of it again until now. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/618 "2020-08-06T09:04:37Z")
st louis lost 1 baseball team (Browns), 1 basketball team (hawks), and 2 football teams 9Cards, Rams) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/619 "2020-08-06T16:42:21Z")
There are [poisonous birds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_poisonous_animals#Birds). They’re not venomous, they can’t inject you with poison, but eating or even touching their feathers and flesh can make you very ill. Some of them produce [Batrachotoxin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batrachotoxin) also found in frogs and used for poison darts, and a couple of others like the [Common Quail can become poisonous based on their diet.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batrachotoxin) ---
**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:** [August 7, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/620 "2020-08-07T00:23:40Z")
St Louis almost lost their hockey team in the 1980’s, > **[The Saskatchewan Blues: How close was it to a reality?  ](https://www.ckom.com/2019/06/14/the-saskatchewan-blues-how-close-was-it-to-a-reality/)** > > The St. Louis Blues are Stanley Cup champions as of Wednesday evening, but one vote changed the history of the... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=30) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=32)