# 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:** 411
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8211 "2023-11-22T01:22:02Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The day after Memorial Day is Independence Day, and believe me, people _definitely_ gather for fireworks, parties and BBQs. The Memorial Day \> Independence Day transition is seriously the greatest thing ever. It makes both holidays feel so much more meaningful. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2023, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8212 "2023-11-22T01:36:48Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > The Memorial Day \> Independence Day transition is seriously the greatest thing ever. Obviously you do not live in my neighborhood. That 30~40 days sees increasing ordnance testing by the local morons. Add to that it often tends to be somewhat drier than the preceding months – luckily, we have not had wildfires raging through here because of it. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8213 "2023-11-22T02:02:26Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Obviously you do not live in my neighborhood I meant in Israel, where Memorial Day is incredibly somber and independence day is the next day. Not in the US where they are two unrelated car-sale-and-BBQ days. ---
**Author:** ![Wincerind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@Wincerind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wincerind)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8214 "2023-11-22T08:08:23Z")
Being Dutch, the only person I know who celebrates Thanksgiving is a US expat friend. Most Dutch have no clue about Thanksgiving AFAIK. Now, Black Friday gets shoved down our throats. Make of that what you want. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8215 "2023-11-22T15:34:32Z")
The nearest we in the UK would come to it\* used to be [Harvest Festival](https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/58813475) in churches and schools. Though I think I have recently noticed some hints (no more) that there may be some commercial promotion of some of the American-style Thanksgiving food and trimmings. \*Apart from those jokers who think we should have a Thanksgiving on 4th July. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8216 "2023-11-22T18:45:24Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > TIL: [American-style Thanksgiving is a thing in the Netherlands,](https://dutchreview.com/news/dutch-people-are-celebrating-thanksgiving-just-for-the-food-and-we-support-them/). It’s not their traditional harvest feast like other countries have all over the world, but an American import of turkey dinner with all the trimmings because of its own appeal. When I was in grad school, I mostly hung out with the international students. We’d all do Thanksgiving together. They all knew that Thanksgiving was basically a harvest festival; that, like most harvest festivals, it was traditionally celebrated with way too much food; and that the traditional main course was turkey. And that was all they knew. So everyone brought whatever the dish was in their culture that you’d serve at a big, festive meal. Mmm. Me, I brought pies, because I take it as axiomatic that there’s not enough pie. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8217 "2023-11-22T18:49:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Me, I brought pies, because I take it as axiomatic that there’s not enough pie. When come back, bring pie. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8218 "2023-11-22T19:57:52Z")
I was watching an episode of a late-50s show, and at the end, they showed a field littered with dead men and horses, upon which the guy proclaimed “_ **There** is your 7th Cavalry_.” Something seemed not quite right. In fact, Reno and Benteen were commanding several divisions of the 7th, and Custer only had 3. Less than a third of the soldiers involved in the overall kerfuffle were killed that day. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8219 "2023-11-22T20:52:45Z")
This amuses me. There is a branch of science called dendrochronology. IOW, dating wooden objects by the tree ring pattern in them. And of course there has to be a conspiracy theory that says the scientists are wrong about something. In this case, there’s a period of time when there aren’t many objects available to date. Therefore that span of time must not exist, and therefore, the powers that be must have jiggled the calendar for reasons. Obviously > **[Phantom time conspiracy theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_time_conspiracy_theory)** > > The phantom time conspiracy theory is a pseudohistorical conspiracy theory first asserted by Heribert Illig in 1991. It hypothesises a conspiracy by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, Pope Sylvester II, and possibly the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII,\[further explanation needed\] to fabricate the Anno Domini dating system retroactively, in order to place them at the special year of AD 1000, and to rewrite history to legitimize Otto's claim to the Holy Roman Empire. Illig believed that this was Ev... ---
**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:** [November 23, 2023, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8220 "2023-11-23T01:03:21Z")
What is the safest mode of transportation? Deaths in the US in a recent year: AIr: 444. Road: 35,092. Rail: 749 (60% were trespassers, so 40% - or about 300 - were actually on board a train). Boat: 692 (90% were recreational fatalities). City bus/metro/subway: 30. Elevator: 27 (about half were workers). US elevators travel about 1.5 billion miles annually. Escalator: 3. Stairs: 2,000. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8221 "2023-11-23T02:06:25Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Stairs: 2,000. I wonder how many of those were murder. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2023, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8222 "2023-11-23T02:21:00Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > [Phantom time conspiracy theory - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_time_conspiracy_theory) Which falls apart when European chronology is cross-referenced with independent sources such as Islamic history. > [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > What is the safest mode of transportation? Deaths in the US in a recent year: In the case of vehicles those are measured by passenger-miles, which I wonder if that exaggerates the safety record of airliners because they fly so far and so fast. I think if you measured by passenger-hours, the average death rate per hour in the vehicle, if planes would be less impressive, if still much better than automobiles. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8223 "2023-11-23T02:22:36Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Which falls apart when European chronology is cross-referenced with independent sources such as Islamic history. You expect conspiracy theorists to be rational? ---
**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:** [November 23, 2023, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8224 "2023-11-23T02:29:46Z")
And how would a decree from the Pope have changed which wooden objects have what ring patterns? ---
**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:** [November 23, 2023, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8225 "2023-11-23T03:04:56Z")
As I understand it, there’s few if any wooden objects from the era to check ring patterns. Which is what led to the conspiracy theory. I would ask them to show a piece of wood that has before and after rings, but none in the “missing years”. But that’s probably the same as asking a flat earther to explain time zones ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8226 "2023-11-30T14:35:37Z")
TIL that the “Pinball Number Count” song on Sesame Street was performed by the Pointer Sisters. > **[Pinball Number Count](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinball_Number_Count)** > > Pinball Number Count (or Pinball Countdown) is a collective title referring to 11 one-minute animated segments on the children's television series Sesame Street that teach children to count to 12 by following the journey of a pinball through a fanciful pinball machine. These segments are notable for the colorful, imaginative animation as well as the funky soundtrack with vocals by The Pointer Sisters. Pinball Number Count was originally produced in 1976 by Imagination, Inc. in San Francisco, Cali... Found out when I was watching this guy analyze the composition of the song. 16 minutes long, but maybe interesting if you’re into music. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TMtGImlEmu0/maxresdefault.jpg "This Song Teaches Counting But Is INSANELY Hard To Count") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMtGImlEmu0) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8227 "2023-11-30T16:50:41Z")
That was really interesting. I’m not a video-watching guy, as a rule, but I remembered the song, and the analysis was fascinating enough to keep me watching for about 11 minutes… couldn’t quite finish, though. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8228 "2023-11-30T18:06:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Me, I brought pies, because I take it as axiomatic that there’s not enough pie. My grandpa used to say: “I only like two kinds of pie . . . hot pie and cold pie.” ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8229 "2023-11-30T21:45:28Z")
A couple of examples of unions of Arabic royalty with Jewish women: Silly playboy King of Egypt, Farouk, was forced to abdicate in favor of his six month old son Fuad, who was himself deposed ten months later. Fuad eventually married Dominique-France Loeb-Picard, PhD. Their son, Muhammed Ali, is married to the granddaughter of the last king of Afghanistan. All very nice people, although the [the wackiness of Farouk is legendary.](https://www.factinate.com/people/facts-king-farouk-of-egypt/amp/) Not at all wacky but bizarrely tragic was the fate of Harriet Pearl Shapiro, who endured an abusive childhood yet prevailed and became [Susan Cabot](https://jonmwessel.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/film-the-terrrible-horrible-death-of-susan-cabot/#jp-carousel-1878); star of several early Roger Corman movies. A long involvement with King Hussein of Jordan produced one son, afflicted with dwarfism. At age 22, son Timothy Scott Roman beat his mother to death with a barbell handle and was found guilty of manslaughter. What moral do I draw from these stories? That insanity is amply occurring in its natural state, and the need to manufacture it over religion is literal overkill. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2023, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/8230 "2023-11-30T21:49:32Z")
Whenever I saw film or pictures of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington, I was puzzled by the men behind him wearing white caps. Were they kitchen workers? Members of some religious order? Now I know. [![](https://www.startpage.com/av/proxy-image?piurl=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic6.businessinsider.com%2Fimage%2F52d9d250eab8eab910c10be2%2Fheres-a-full-video-of-martin-luther-king-jrs-powerful-i-have-a-dream-speech.jpg&sp=1701379961Tacc2b3534b2f960b95039e86bfada9b92ad6c77a38e7daf1bd059faa905438e4) ](https://www.startpage.com/av/proxy-image?piurl=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic6.businessinsider.com%2Fimage%2F52d9d250eab8eab910c10be2%2Fheres-a-full-video-of-martin-luther-king-jrs-powerful-i-have-a-dream-speech.jpg&sp=1701379961Tacc2b3534b2f960b95039e86bfada9b92ad6c77a38e7daf1bd059faa905438e4) I just watched _[Rustin](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14160834/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_3_nm_5_q_rustin)_, a Netflix film about civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who organized the march. The men wearing those caps were “guardians,” off-duty Black NYC police officers. One thousand of them were specially trained in de-escalation techniques and went to Washington in white uniforms to provide security for the marchers, and quell disruptions from any source. I highly recommend the film. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=410) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=412)