# 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:** 341
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6811 "2023-06-27T19:41:38Z")
Though the fame of Vance DeGeneres would be eclipsed by that of his sister Ellen, he was the original “Mr. Hands” in SNL’s “Mr. Bill” shorts. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6812 "2023-06-27T19:43:17Z")
Stephen Sondheim once wrote a musical based on _Mary Poppins_. He did this as an exercise suggested by Oscar Hammerstein II, his mentor. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6813 "2023-06-27T19:56:51Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > originated with the cakewalk, a dance that had its origins with slaves and former slaves in the southern US in the mid 1800s: The music used for cakewalks, also called “cakewalk”, as in song titles, is regarded by musicologists as the immediate precursor to ragtime, which itself was a huge influence on later jazz, blues, and popular music. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6814 "2023-06-27T20:05:15Z")
I’ve seen the move _All The President’s Men_ a few times, but never paid much attention to the names of real life people whom Hoffman and Redford were portraying. That’s pretty typical for me unless it’s a movie about people with whom I’m already deeply interested, e.g. favorite bands or musician. Otherwise I remember the movie, but not people’s names. And I don’t pay much attention to film credits. So what I didn’t realize is that Robert Redford was Bob Woodward, whom I often see on TV today! And he does look a bit like Robert Redford at that. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6815 "2023-06-28T18:20:06Z")
TIL: There’s such a word as “drant”. A Scottish borrowing, the New York Times Wordle accepts it as valid. I tried it purely at random and was surprised it was an actual word (not the solution though). This could be a thread in itself: really obscure five-letter words that Wordle will accept. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6816 "2023-06-28T18:25:45Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > So what I didn’t realize is that Robert Redford was Bob Woodward, whom I often see on TV today! And he does look a bit like Robert Redford at that. This is why Gary Trudeau named his muckraking reporter “Rick Redfern” in _Doonesbury_ ---
**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:** [June 28, 2023, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6817 "2023-06-28T19:18:36Z")
There were 13,000 weddings costing over $1,000,000. Last year. In America. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6818 "2023-06-28T19:25:19Z")
Meh, we’re so used to “million” being shorthand for an extravagant amount of money. Billion is the new million; that’s inflation for you. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6819 "2023-06-28T19:41:12Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > There were 13,000 weddings costing over $1,000,000. Last year. In America. For a little perspective, there were around 2,500,000 weddings last year in the US. The average cost is $29k. (I know that many many many weddings are essentially free. We don’t need bragging about how little yours cost or that you used coupons and actually got paid to get married). ---
**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:** [June 28, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6820 "2023-06-28T19:47:31Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > > > There were 13,000 weddings costing over $1,000,000. Last year. In America. > > For a little perspective, there were around 2,500,000 weddings last year. The average cost is $29k. > > (I know that many many many weddings are essentially free. We don’t need bragging about little yours cost or that you used coupons and actually got paid to get married). $29,000 on average is incredible on it’s own because of the large number of weddings that cost less than $1000. Sure, those $million weddings go in the average, caterers and banquet halls do need to make money too, but these numbers are staggering what it is. You can still get a half decent mid-size car for $29,000 that will last longer than some of those marriages. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6821 "2023-06-28T20:32:06Z")
I think there was a Straight Dope column or Staff Report many years ago that covered the real average cost of weddings. I can’t find it now. I recall it said the widely publicized budgets are based on a skewed sampling (selection bias) in a poll conducted by or on behalf of some bridal magazine. I don’t remember the details, but I can imagine a scenario a few scenarios. Suppose they polled only wedding planners. People who never hire a wedding planner (presumably because they’re trying to keep the budget small) are left out of the statistics entirely. Or suppose they poll only subscribers of the magazine. People who don’t subscribe (presumably because they’re planning a low-key, low-budget affair) are left out of the statistics. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6822 "2023-06-28T20:49:17Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > (selection bias) in a poll conducted by or on behalf of some bridal magazine. Let’s try our own poll on the subject: [Our own poll](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-did-your-wedding-cost/986261) ---
**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:** [June 28, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6823 "2023-06-28T21:15:10Z")
The wedding number came from an article in the new, July-August, [Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/07/luxury-wedding-planners-industrial-complex-cost/674169/). A staff writer there is a former wedding planner to the wealthy. An interesting transition. The article is not just slagging the rich, although she does some. You get more of a backstage look of the planning for the kind of weddings you’ll never, ever go to. For me the takeaway was that this country is sloshing in money. Unequally distributed, to be sure, but a level of societal wealth that should mean we could do anything. Help the poor, yes. The author notes that the people she serves already give millions to charity. On a percentage basis probably not as much as my wife and I do, but their millions get more done than our thousands. And those 13,000 spending a million dollars on a wedding means that the entire industry gets $13,000,000,000+ a year. Who would want our society to lose that, they ask. I have no good answer for that question. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6824 "2023-06-28T21:21:27Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > And those 13,000 spending a million dollars on a wedding means that the entire industry gets $13,000,000,000+ a year. And that doesn’t even count the billions being spent by the guests on gifts, travel, and formal wear. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2023, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6825 "2023-06-29T00:02:59Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > For me the takeaway was that this country is sloshing in money. Unequally distributed, to be sure, but a level of societal wealth that should mean we could do anything. Help the poor, yes. The author notes that the people she serves already give millions to charity. On a percentage basis probably not as much as my wife and I do, but their millions get more done than our thousands. And those 13,000 spending a million dollars on a wedding means that the entire industry gets $13,000,000,000+ a year. When I hear about rich people spending huge sums on extravagant things, I usually think “great”. I’d rather that money give jobs to caterers, musicians, and the like than be stuffed in some billionaire’s mattress. It’s how billionaires make that money that I sometimes have a problem with. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Varn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michael_varn/32/14411_2.png) [@Michael\_Varn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Varn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6826 "2023-06-29T01:31:51Z")
The only month in history where there was not at least one full moon was: FEBRUARY, 1865 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6827 "2023-06-29T02:24:22Z")
This is of course wrong. While it only happens in Februaries, It happens about every 19 years. Last in 2018. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6828 "2023-06-29T02:34:07Z")
I started one just when Wordle was getting big: > [@Have you learned any new words from wordle?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-learned-any-new-words-from-wordle/960029): > > I’m going through the archive, and have taken quite a few stab in the dark answers, thus adding new words to my vocabulary. Pronk - that sproingy movement that the antelope-type critters you see in nature shows use to escape the lions. Rownd - to speak softly And grogy is valid, fut flowy is not. Have y’all run into any words you didn’t know? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6829 "2023-06-29T06:41:29Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > TIL: There’s such a word as “drant”. A Scottish borrowing, the New York Times Wordle accepts it as valid Are you not going ro tell us what a drant is? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6830 "2023-06-29T11:53:04Z")
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