# 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:** 346
**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:** [July 6, 2023, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6911 "2023-07-06T14:16:42Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Since I don’t think I’ve ever seen a scythe in real life, Everybody gets to see one eventually. Maybe not in real ‘life’ exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6912 "2023-07-06T14:19:49Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > > [@Railer13](#): > > > > Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. > > David Letterman’s alma mater. As a youth in Indiana in the 80s it was commonly known as _Testicle Tech._ ---
**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:** [July 6, 2023, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6913 "2023-07-06T14:33:19Z")
Today I learned that Sylvester Stallone and George W. Bush both celebrate their 77th birthday today. They were both born on July 6, 1946. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6914 "2023-07-06T14:47:15Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Hell, I lived on a farm for a while and I’m never seen a scythe. Where do you attach it to the tractor? You know, once I went out to the fields with grandpa, on a tractor, natch, and I watched him mow the wheat using a scythe (what did your family use??), but, now that you mention it, I can’t remember where he had it attached while driving down the road. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6915 "2023-07-06T15:08:23Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > (what did your family use??) A combine? I’m actually a city boy, but I lived on a kibbutz for a time when I was younger. I didn’t work in the Fields Section that much, but I remember that it was all wrenches, grease and power tools, and no pre-industrial farming equipment. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6916 "2023-07-06T15:34:52Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > As a youth in Indiana in the 80s it was commonly known as _Testicle Tech._ Ball State was a youth in the 80s? ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6917 "2023-07-06T15:50:00Z")
Couple possibilities there. One, there was a brief period in the 80s when a small midwestern university briefly became corporeal. Two, a dire lack of caffeine this morning enabled both poor comprehensibility and a latent juvenile sense of humor in me. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6918 "2023-07-06T15:58:47Z")
And a former copy editor’s pedantry. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6919 "2023-07-06T22:55:02Z")
TIL that almost all of the Beatles’ most memorable riffs (I Feel Fine, Day Tripper, Paperback Writer…\*) are just a variation on a riff recorded by Bobby Parker in 1961. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/o-bbjcNeylk/maxresdefault.jpg "Watch Your Step") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-bbjcNeylk) \*You can add more than a few Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple songs to that list. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6920 "2023-07-07T04:18:26Z")
In my grandfather’s case, it was not so much _pre_-industrial as _non_-industrial. He made a living, though; not sure if that is possible these days. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6921 "2023-07-07T05:05:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > > [@commasense](#): > > > > Since I don’t think I’ve ever seen a scythe in real life, > > Everybody gets to see one eventually. Maybe not in real ‘life’ exactly. Reminds me of one of my favorite ads. One of the unique things about MTV when it debuted was that it was on 24 hours a day. Back then, most stations “signed off” at midnight or the wee hours. So death showed up (carrying a scythe… yay, we’re on topic) for a teenage boy, who replied “But I’m watching MTV…” _“Oh, that’s all right. I’ll come back when it’s over.”_ Kid says “Wheww…” and goes back to watching. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6922 "2023-07-08T13:35:11Z")
This weekend a celebration is being held to mark the [200th anniversary of Tunnel Road, Reigate](https://www.reigatebusinessguild.co.uk/reigate-tunnel-200-celebration/) – which is about a third of the way from London to Brighton. This location is significant because, 200 years ago, Brighton was becoming _ **the** _ place to take in some sea air – which justified the expense of tunnelling under Reigate Castle. Coaches were then charged six pence\* for the privilege of using the new road. The displays along Tunnel Road proclaim that this was the first road tunnel built in the UK “and possibly Europe” – although (ahem) they seem to have forgotten that [a road tunnel was built on the Via Flamina back in 77 CE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_Flaminia#History). Tunnel Road has been closed to traffic for about fifty years. The tunnel was designed by [William Constable](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG204791), who also designed the second suspension bridge built in England – over the same road, just north of Reigate. He sounds like an interesting character (he was also a pioneering photographer) but he’s a tough google, partly because William Constable is a pretty common name. When I first moved south, some 4 decades ago, I lived in Reigate – so it was cool to be back there and doing a little learning this morning. Oh, and we had no idea about the celebration until we turned up - so we did stumble across it, as required by the OP. 😉 > **[Reigate Tunnel](https://www.roads.org.uk/photo/reigate-tunnel)** > > An unassuming Surrey market town with an amazing claim to fame — the world's first road tunnel. j \* - at the time there were 240 pennies in a pound sterling ETA: picture of the site of the original suspension bridge: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Bridge_carrying_public_footpath_over_A217_%28Reigate_Hill%29_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1277367.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Bridge_carrying_public_footpath_over_A217_%28Reigate_Hill%29_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1277367.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6923 "2023-07-08T14:42:25Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > ETA: picture of the site of the original suspension bridge: I gather [this is a picture of the original bridge](https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/217742) or one nearby. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2023, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6924 "2023-07-08T16:16:38Z")
Yep, has to be - nice find! I thought it would be straightforward finding a picture, but struggled. Silly me for not checking out museums in New Zealand (!). Good job. j ---
**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:** [July 9, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6925 "2023-07-09T19:33:37Z")
And TIL that, in the same way that there are red lists for endangered/critically endangered plants, birds etc - there is a red list for endangered crafts in the UK. No, really - here’s the 2023 list: > **[Categories of risk](https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/redlist/categories-of-risk/)** > > The advocacy body for traditional heritage crafts Crafts that are now believed to be **extinct** in the UK include gold beating and lacrosse stick making. The **critically endangered** list includes bell founding; clog making; glass eye making; horse hair weaving; and straw hat making. Slightly less worrying, but nevertheless on the **endangered** list, we have cricket bat making; fairground art; illumination; and rope making. Each craft listed has a link - that’s how I know that “Illumination” refers to manuscripts, and that there are only 2-3 full time illuminators in the country and 6-10 part timers (plus quite a few hobbyists.) Be warned, you can lose yourself in this for hours. j ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6926 "2023-07-10T21:05:19Z")
I was just watching videos on YouTube and one was a recording of CBS news coverage of the assasination of JFK. I was in third grade at the time so old enough to watch news, and knew of course who Walter Cronkite was. Someone in the comments of this video commented on how Kennedy and Cronkite were of the same generation, so I looked it up and sure enoughj, Cronkite was **less than six months older than the president.** As I watched him through the years he never seemed to change. I thought, as a kid, that JFK looked young, but Cronkite older. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6927 "2023-07-10T22:53:10Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Cronkite was **less than six months older than the president.** A few days short of 7 months, if my math is right. They would have, in theory, graduated HS in the same class. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6928 "2023-07-10T23:16:25Z")
You are right. I just never thought of Cronkite as young. And this is when I thought kids in junior high looked like adults. I am a year and a half younger than my next younger sister, and we were only a year apart in school. I was born NYE and she was born in June. I could have gone to kindergarten when I was four, going on five, but my folks, thank goodness, held me back. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2023, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6929 "2023-07-11T01:03:18Z")
My sister and I are one year eleven months and two days apart but were one grade apart because we straddle the December 1st cut off. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/6930 "2023-07-11T01:43:35Z")
I recently leared that it’s best to use the expensive oil recommended by your lawn mower’s manual. Apparently the additives in “lawn motor oil” are superior to oil that’s used in car engines. That’s because the (better) additive that’s used in lawn motor oil are not compatible with car engines because they will destroy the catalytic converter. In other words, lawn mowers don’t have catalytic converters, so they can use “better” additives in oil. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=345) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=347)