# 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:** 46
**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:** [October 29, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/901 "2020-10-29T20:18:54Z")
From the podcast, **Ologies** by Alie Ward: **Anthropodermic Bibliopegy** and **Anthropodermic Biocodicology**. The first is the making of books out of human skin and the second is the study of books made with human skin. The Anthropodermic Book Project has identified 18 books as being covered with human skin, which is about half of the books they have tested. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2020, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/902 "2020-10-30T00:27:34Z")
From American history class, remember our tenth President John Tyler, who was born in 1790 and who took over from William Henry Harrison in 1841? His grandson Harrison Ruffin Tyler is living today. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/903 "2020-10-31T05:31:17Z")
Take any random 3 digit number. Say for example, 387. Repeat it to make a six digit number: 387387. The result will always be evenly divisible by 143. This is a fun one to give kids who are interested in math. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/904 "2020-10-31T07:27:41Z")
Neat - I see it’s because 143 happens to be a factor of 1,001. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/905 "2020-10-31T07:47:30Z")
John Fogerty was once sued for plagiarism. The artist that he copied was himself. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/906 "2020-10-31T13:26:53Z")
correction, we lost 2 basketball teams, spirit of stl and hawks. what’s interesting, when the ABA folded, the Spirit agreed to fold if they got a % of tv revenues forever (sports tv not big then)-they’re still collecting millions now ---
**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:** [October 31, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/907 "2020-10-31T13:58:52Z")
About the song “When I’m 64.” > [@](#): > > The song is sung by a young man to his lover, and is about his plans of their growing old together. Although the theme is [ageing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ageing), it was one of the first songs McCartney wrote, when he was 16.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_I%27m_Sixty-Four#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMiles1997319-4) [ source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_I%27m_Sixty-Four) And now he’s 78. In a couple years, the song will be 64. [A look back at Paul and Linda, who only made it to 56…with Spanish translations.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTgbWmaxu5s) ---
**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:** [October 31, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/908 "2020-10-31T18:11:28Z")
The Baron Joseph Henry Louis Charles de Palm was the first person cremated in a modern crematorium in America. The crematorium is located in Pennsylvania and it has a nice plaque, even if it only cremated 42 bodies. Well, it was sort of a prototype. [See Ask a Mortician](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pdq_4FJuR8) on YouTube for more random facts related to America’s first cremation. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/909 "2020-11-11T18:23:54Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > About the song “When I’m 64.” And Paul wrote it so perfectly that when The Beatles released it senior citizens insisted that they heard that exact song when they were growing up. Not a similar song - _that exact song_. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/910 "2020-11-11T18:28:02Z")
there are only 40 prisoners left at Gitmo down from over 700 when it opened. Most of the guys who left were released to be free, some were sent to other countries for trials ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/911 "2020-11-11T19:44:32Z")
Sophia Loren placed second in a beauty contest, which got her noticed by filmmakers. I have to wonder who took first. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/912 "2020-11-11T19:57:15Z")
a lot of 2nd place people had good careers like some of the American idol singers. One example is Clay Aiken who lives local to me . Some Idols who were 3rd or 4th did well. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/913 "2020-11-11T20:49:50Z")
> In 1950 the competition was broadcast live on radio. This was the year Miss Loren made her appearance under the name Sofia Scicolone. However, the teenage beauty was considered “too provocative” to win the contest and the judging panel awarded Miss Loren the specially devised title of “Miss Eleganza 1950.” > Maria Bugliari won the title of Miss Italy but her success was small potatoes when compared to the long and brilliant career Sophia Loren achieved as an actress from then on. > **[Teenage Sophia Loren was deemed ‘too provocative’ to win the title of Miss...](https://dangerousminds.net/comments/teenage_sophia_loren_too_provocative_for_the_title_of_miss_italy_1950)** > >   > The path to success is often circuitous, filled with detours, wrong turnings, dead ends and log-jammed highways. Perseverance and a great desire to succeed are requisite. Where one starts off is sometimes far removed from where one... > **[Annamaria Bugliari | Actress](https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0119512/)** > > Known for: Three Girls from Rome, Times Gone By, The Pagans ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/914 "2020-11-11T21:24:41Z")
Amusing to read, and so are the photos. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/915 "2020-11-11T22:55:53Z")
This guy explains how some illusions (“magic tricks”) are done. I’ll spoiler it for those who don’t want to know…I think one of the secrets will show on the preview. [World's 10 Greatest Magic Tricks Finally Revealed | Best Magic Trick Ever | FactoFusion - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExcJEP7HJL0) ---
**Author:** ![All\_About\_Venice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/all_about_venice/32/5453_2.png) [@All\_About\_Venice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/All_About_Venice)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/916 "2020-11-12T13:46:56Z")
[I found this article.](https://unfakely.com/chinas-one-child-policy/) And the amazing thing, that I didn’t know, is the tight connection between HDI - Human Development Index, and birth rate. To stop overpopulation, we need to develop the poor parts of the world. That’s no brainer but the extremely strong correlation between economic growth, education, especially among women, and the birth rate was surprising. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/917 "2020-11-14T03:30:51Z")
The first thing that Julia Child ever prepared in a kitchen was a shark deterrent. With no cooking experience while growing up, she found herself in the OSS attached to the navy, who had a problem with curious sharks detonating underwater explosives. Julia started experimenting with groceries until she found a mix that sharks avoided. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/918 "2020-11-14T16:08:47Z")
[ All\_About\_Venice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/All_About_Venice)[Guest](https://boards.straightdope.com/g/Registered) [Nov 12](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across/851674/916) _[I found this article.](https://unfakely.com/chinas-one-child-policy/) And the amazing thing, that I didn’t know, is the tight connection between HDI - Human Development Index, and birth rate. To stop overpopulation, we need to develop the poor parts of the world. That’s no brainer but the extremely strong correlation between economic growth, education, especially among women, and the birth rate was surprising._ It has long been known that the straight road to reducing the population is to empower women. Access to birth control, access to economic autonomy, access to education. Where women have power, everything is always better than where they don’t. For men too. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/919 "2020-11-15T21:28:12Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > TIL that if you are lost in Central Park, [you can use the numbers on the base of the lampposts to get an idea of where you are located](https://worksthatwork.com/artefacts/location-code-in-central-park). I’ve never been to Central Park, but I hope I remember this in case I ever get to visit. I just wanted to say that this is really good info. I asked my wife about it; she lived and worked in NYC for several years and knows her way around the city very well. She had no idea and related how she had many confusing times in the Park, trying to find her way home. So I posted it to some FB friends who live there, one of whom used to be the Metro editor for the NYT. They’ve lived there for a long time and had never heard of this. So thanks for allowing me to score “smart points”. 🙂 ---
**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:** [November 18, 2020, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/920 "2020-11-18T00:14:46Z")
Denmark is was the world’s largest producer of mink. > **[Coronavirus: Denmark shaken by cull of millions of mink](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54890229)** > > Why the "Cluster 5" coronavirus mutation in fur farms has led to a nationwide cull and a political outcry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=45) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=47)