# 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:** 352
**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 23, 2023, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7031 "2023-07-23T14:04:44Z")
In 2016, three stations on Japan’s [Sekihoku Main Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sekihoku_Main_Line) closed due to low ridership. The only passengers using those stations were students and the closure coincided with the end of the term. > **[The train station and the high school girl: what's the truth? - The Online...](https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2016/01/11/the-train-station-and-the-high-school-girl-whats-the-truth/)** > > It was a little story about Japan Railway keeping a tiny station in a remote part of Hokkaido open for three years just so that one high school girl can get to school and back. Unsurprisingly, the report, posted by Chinese broadcaster CCTV on its... ---
**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 23, 2023, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7032 "2023-07-23T14:26:26Z")
If every person who played in at least one professional baseball game at the major league level sat in Fenway Park, it would be at 60% capacity. ---
**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 23, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7033 "2023-07-23T14:50:26Z")
Fenway is a relatively small stadium too. 20,442 MLB players since 1876. 37,755 seats at Fenway. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7034 "2023-07-24T02:25:19Z")
TIL that in 2009, over the course of a year, two friends managed to film 7 episodes of a soap opera at IKEA without getting caught. > **[Over The Course Of One Year, This Guy Managed To Film 7 Episodes Of A Soap...](https://www.boredpanda.com/ikea-heights-soap-opera/)** > > As someone who has worked in marketing for some time, whenever I see an ad for something, I tend to appreciate it more than I hate it. It's like a fine art that has been lost on so many people. Granted, each episode was only 5 minutes, but I still think this is funny as hell. ---
**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 24, 2023, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7035 "2023-07-24T02:43:19Z")
One of them is the daughter of a friend, Whitney Avalon. She has continued building a career in acting since then. I admired the ingenuity of the creators of IKEA Heights. Whitney did have a part in the real soap commonly known as Days. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2023, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7036 "2023-07-24T03:31:41Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Fenway is a relatively small stadium too. 20,442 MLB players since 1876. 37,755 seats at Fenway. Of those 20,442 players, the alphabetically first (David Aardsma) and last (Tony Zych) missed being on the same team by only 5 years. They were both active in 2015, but I don’t think they played against each other. Zych was in the AL and Aardsma in the NL; I don’t see any interleague games between their two teams. Prior to Aardsma in 2004, the alphabetically first player in MLB history was Henry Aaron (who was also first in career home runs). ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7037 "2023-07-24T11:11:40Z")
This one’s pretty topical, pop culture-wise: [Barbie is helping scientists get ready for the nest Moon mission.](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230721-barbies-surprising-role-in-moon-exploration) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7038 "2023-07-24T14:10:01Z")
That obviously should be “next” not “nest.” I don’t even want to know what a “Moon nest” would entail. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7039 "2023-07-24T14:34:57Z")
I don’t know what a moon nest is. But I know who I want to feather it with… ---
**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:** [July 24, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7040 "2023-07-24T14:36:36Z")
A “nest moon” might be a full moon in springtime that owls are notably active in their nest building. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7041 "2023-07-24T15:34:27Z")
The music for “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” comes from a [cantata](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festgesang) composed by Felix Mendelssohn to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Gutenberg’s movable type printing press. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7042 "2023-07-24T16:03:07Z")
OK, that’s cool, but am I the only one puzzled by the role Barbie is actually playing, there? What they needed for the test was a sample of fabric similar to that used in space suits. How does it help to have that sample wrapped around a doll? If anything, I’d think it’d make it a worse test, since the actual spacesuit material would surely be too bulky to make doll clothes out of. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7043 "2023-07-24T16:28:21Z")
There was a reference to spinning the doll 360 degrees (possibly via the spray bar?), so having a model might have helped with that portion? Plus, it never hurts to have a hook when announcing your results. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7044 "2023-07-28T20:54:40Z")
[There’s been a tradition of TV hoaxes dating back to the spaghetti trees of 1957.](https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230727-the-hoax-documentary-about-human-flesh-eating-that-shocked-the-uk) ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7045 "2023-07-28T21:26:54Z")
There’s an Intercourse, PA. [![](https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/Cc_gvBGtnzubwcBTnfVgDQ/348s.jpg) ](https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/Cc_gvBGtnzubwcBTnfVgDQ/348s.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7046 "2023-07-28T21:29:35Z")
Not too far from Blue Ball. Really. And, then there is Fucking Austria. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2023, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7047 "2023-07-28T21:35:07Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > And, then there is Fucking Austria. There was a place in Austria called Fucking. [It’s called Fugging now](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugging,_Upper_Austria). ---
**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:** [July 28, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7048 "2023-07-28T21:36:15Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > There’s an Intercourse, PA Been there, done that. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2023, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7049 "2023-07-28T21:42:58Z")
I’d read they were not happy with the frequency with which the signs were stolen. Still, it will always be Fucking Austria. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2023, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/7050 "2023-07-28T21:44:17Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > I’d read they were not happy with the frequency with which the signs were stolen. Fuggers! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=351) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=353)