# 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:** 467
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9333 "2024-04-16T04:36:48Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I think there’s ample evidence conjoined twins are legally two people. They can vote individually, need each get a driver’s license if either can drive. Did a court officially decide that they were legally two people or was this just the decision of clerks handling voter registration and driver licensing? ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9334 "2024-04-16T08:08:41Z")
Well if you think about it - only one can actually drive. The one on the left. Overseas trips to the UK and/or Australia could be fun. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9335 "2024-04-16T08:40:24Z")
Why would that matter? ---
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9336 "2024-04-16T11:41:33Z")
At one time, [Sweden considered building their own nuclear bomb](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240412-the-secret-scandinavian-a-bomb-project). ---
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9337 "2024-04-16T14:33:11Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > Well if you think about it - only one can actually drive. The one on the left. > > Overseas trips to the UK and/or Australia could be fun. For the record, Brittany is the one on their left, and Abigail on their right. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9338 "2024-04-16T14:39:50Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > Well if you think about it - only one can actually drive. The one on the left. They have to cooperate to drive a car: > **[Abby and Brittany Hensel | Adulthood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abby_and_Brittany_Hensel#Adulthood)** > > Dicephalic parapagus twins rarely survive into adulthood. > As teenagers the twins both passed their written and practical driver's license exams separately because, although driving requires coordination between them, state law required that they each be licensed. Abby controls the devices on the right side of the driver's seat; Brittany, those on the left. Together they control the steering wheel. They both graduated from high school in 2008 and began college at Bethel University in Arden Hills,... ---
**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:** [April 16, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9339 "2024-04-16T14:54:57Z")
Maybe they’d be naturals for piloting a Jaeger? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9340 "2024-04-16T14:56:09Z")
The White Sox are off to their worst start in the history of their franchise. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2024, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9341 "2024-04-17T13:30:44Z")
It’s often interesting to discover what the lyrics of a song are really about. When I was a kid, Eddie Grant’s “**[Electric Avenue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Avenue_(song))**” was just a cool song on the radio. I recently discovered that Electric Avenue is actually a real place of some historical significance: > **[Electric Avenue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Avenue)** > > Electric Avenue is a street in Brixton, London built in 1888. It was the first market street to be lit by electric lights. Today, Electric Avenue contains national retail chains (Boots, Greggs, and Iceland), plus various local food and housewares retailers. It also hosts a part of Brixton Market, which specialises in selling African, Caribbean, South American, and South Asian products. It is located just around the corner from Brixton Underground station (1972). The street originally The road... It makes for a catchy song title - but the main thrust of the lyrics is the 1981 Brixton riot, which happened in a nearby African-Caribbean community that had been suffering through high crime, unemployment, and racist policing: > **[1981 Brixton riot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_Brixton_riot)** > > The 1981 Brixton riot, or Brixton uprising, was a series of clashes between mainly black youths and the Metropolitan Police in Brixton, London, between 10 and 12 April 1981. It resulted from racist discrimination against the black community by the mainly white police, especially the police's increased use of stop-and-search in the area, and ongoing tensions resulting from the deaths of 13 black teenagers and young adults in the suspicious New Cross house fire that January. The main riot Brixt... ---
**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:** [April 17, 2024, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9342 "2024-04-17T13:33:17Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > It’s often interesting to discover what the lyrics of a song are really about. When I was a kid, Eddie Grant’s “**[Electric Avenue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Avenue_(song))**” was just a cool song on the radio. I thought it was a reference to some kind of drug experience. Of course like most other songs I had no idea what the rest of the lyrics were. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9343 "2024-04-17T18:54:15Z")
Today I learned that 44 years ago, on April 13, 1980, relief pitcher Dan Quisenberry entered a game for the Kansas City Royals in the 8th inning. Behind the plate was reserve catcher Jamie Quirk. And just like that, the first all ‘Q’ battery in Major League history was formed. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9344 "2024-04-17T20:14:47Z")
So I was replacing the batteries in my main calculator today. (It’s from the late 80s, btw.) After installing I ran some tests. One of my favorite ones is to put in a random value and next start an iteration on the formula 1+1/Ans (where Ans is the last value calculated). This iterates quite quickly to the Golden Ratio. I wondered what would happen if I used 1-1/Ans instead. I hoped it would converge on the GR’s little brother: 1-GR. But no, it cycled thru 3 values. I wondered if the start value was special so I tried another. Same deal. Tried several others. As long as I didn’t start with 0 or 1 it seemed to always cycle thru 3 values. I’ve seen lots of such simple iterations that cycle thru two values, but 3? A bit of algebra showed that this wasn’t a fluke. As long as you avoid the ones that get you dividing by zero, it was always going to be a cycle of 3. And for a formula that’s a slight variant of the one for the GR. Wow. Moleeds. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9345 "2024-04-17T22:18:04Z")
> [@Dahu](#): > > I heard it would fit under the bottom stage of the Eiffel Tower. Which is surprising considering all of the gold plundered from the Americas by the Spanish. Where did all of that gold go? Well, [Unca Cecil Says…](https://www.straightdope.com/21341789/what-happened-to-all-the-gold-spain-got-from-the-new-world) Dribbled away? ---
**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:** [April 17, 2024, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9346 "2024-04-17T22:54:49Z")
To be clear, it’s not always the same three values. But it starts cycling immediately, not after a convergence process. In other words, one of the values in the cycle is whatever you started with. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9347 "2024-04-18T03:14:43Z")
A man was voted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000, the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2006, the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009 and into the United States Speed Skating Hall of Fame in 2013. One source states the man didn’t like to skate. That was Frank Zamboni, inventor of the Zamboni ice resurfacer (h/t Tom Scott’s Lateral Podcast). > **[Frank Zamboni](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zamboni)** > > Frank Joseph Zamboni Jr. (/zæmˈboʊni/, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Italian: \[dzamˈboːni\]; January 16, 1901 – July 27, 1988) was an American businessman and inventor whose most famous invention is the modern ice resurfacer, with his surname being registered as a trademark for these devices. > Zamboni was born in 1901 in Eureka, Uta... ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9348 "2024-04-18T06:21:52Z")
In 1962, the New York Mets became the first team to have two players with the same first and last names: Bob Miller and Bob Miller. Since then, one other team repeated that feat: the 2000 New York Mets, with Bobby Jones and Bobby Jones. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9349 "2024-04-18T15:00:38Z")
Do Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey not count because of the “Sr., Jr.”? ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9350 "2024-04-18T16:40:13Z")
Very cool Algebraically if your starting value is x, then your first result will be 1 - 1/x. Your second result will be -1/(x -1) and your third result will be x, starting the whole process over. As long as x is not equal to 0 or 1. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2024, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9351 "2024-04-18T16:53:46Z")
Science! has cloned two more black-footed ferrets from genes obtained from another clone, thusly increasing their number. Science! > **[2 more endangered ferrets cloned from animal frozen in the 1980s: "Science...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/endangered-ferrets-cloned-animal-frozen-1980s/)** > > The recent births of Noreen and Antonia are boosting hopes of diversifying the endangered species. I also learned about [frozen zoos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_zoo) from the article. ---
**Author:** ![Slight\_Off\_Hand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Slight\_Off\_Hand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slight_Off_Hand)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/9352 "2024-04-18T17:05:40Z")
I think I just stumbled across the fact that you watch Lateral with Tom Scott (or at least the segments that show up on Tik Tok) 😁 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=466) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=468)