# 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:** 56
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1102 "2020-12-21T20:24:45Z")
I’ve come to enjoy, in a limited sense, Young Sheldon and am impressed with the extent the actress playing the young Mary Cooper, Played by Zoe Perry, inhabits the role. Not surprising, I guess, since her mother plays Mary all growed up (Laurie Metcalfe). ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1103 "2020-12-21T23:50:22Z")
King of the Dudes! > **[Evander Berry Wall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evander_Berry_Wall)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Evander Berry Wall (January 14, 1861 – May 4, 1940) was a New York City socialite and later an American expatriate in France during the Belle Époque and beyond. He was famous for his extravagantly refined look and was crowned "King of the Dudes" in the 1880s. > Evander was the son of Charles Wall and Elizabeth A. Wall. He was the grandson of William Wall, who was mayor of what was then Williamsburgh, New York (now part of New York City) and who d... ---
**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:** [December 22, 2020, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1104 "2020-12-22T00:34:47Z")
For all you Dion fans: US President Martin Van Buren named his first three sons Abraham, Martin, and John. (the other surviving son was named “Smith”). (actually - Martin was born before Abraham.) Thank you Alex, and Jeopardy! ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1105 "2020-12-22T14:49:53Z")
According to the year-end edition of The Economist, the most popular participatory sport in South Korea is walking up mountains. Not mountain climbing in the usual sense. Walking up well-marked paths to the tops of mountains. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1106 "2020-12-22T14:57:49Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > The FBI also did not record the 2,977 deaths from the attacks in their annual violent crime index for 2001, citing the fact that these deaths were statistical outliers, and would erroneously skew FBI analyses. The [Happy Land Fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Land_fire) that killed 87 people in 1990 is also not commonly counted in homicide totals. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1107 "2020-12-22T18:52:43Z")
> **[Jean Jaurès](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Jaur%C3%A8s)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Independent Socialists > French Socialist Party > Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 1859 – 31 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (French: \[ʒɑ̃ ʒɔʁɛs\]; Occitan: Joan Jaurés \[dʒuˈan dʒawˈɾes\]), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social democrats and (in 1902) the leader of the French Socialist Party, which opposed Jules Guesde's revolutionary Socialist... “On 31 July 1914, Jaurès was assassinated. At 9 pm, he went to dine at the [Café du Croissant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_du_Croissant), 146, [rue Montmartre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rue_Montmartre). Forty minutes later, [Raoul Villain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Villain), a 29-year-old French nationalist, walked up to the restaurant window and fired two shots into Jaurès’ back.” Shot by Raoul Villain at the Café du Croissant? Sounds like a Monty Python sketch… ---
**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:** [December 23, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1108 "2020-12-23T14:50:21Z")
While filming “A Christmas Story,” during down times the crew members would use the Red Ryder for target practice on the set. Eventually, a ricochet hit a leg lamp so they had to stop. Source: if you have amazon prime, you can watch (for free) a documentary two fans made as they hunt down filming locations etc. > **[Watch A Christmas Story Documentary: Road Trip For Ralphie | Prime Video](https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Story-Documentary-Road-Ralphie/dp/B00GK8RU22)** > > During an adventure spanning two years and two countries, two mega-fans of ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1109 "2020-12-23T22:38:16Z")
I’m right now reading [Lyndal Roper’s excellent biography of Martin Luther](https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01G0GFQE2/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1), and learned that Martin Luther’s original family name was “Luder”. Now that meant and still means “slut” or “loose woman” in German, that’s most probably why he always spelled his name “Luther”. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2020, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1110 "2020-12-23T22:47:42Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > According to the year-end edition of The Economist, the most popular participatory sport in South Korea is walking up mountains. Not mountain climbing in the usual sense. Walking up well-marked paths to the tops of mountains. It involves cramming yourself into mountain huts with hundreds of other hikers, there’s nowhere you’re allowed to camp independently. Not fun if you’re used to the freedom of backcountry hiking in the U.S. The Koreans love their mountains, but it’s a very densely populated country. ---
**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:** [December 24, 2020, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1111 "2020-12-24T10:21:59Z")
The Philippines are made up of over 7000 islands. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1112 "2020-12-24T16:04:53Z")
I used to wonder about stories I’d read of how cold winters were in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, such as the Hudson River freezing over or a [massive blizzard in 1888](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Blizzard_of_1888). Those stories seemed much worse than the winters I experienced in the Northeast in the last fifty years, even given that they had poorly insulated houses and no central heat. But apparently it _was_ colder then, with something called the [Little Ice Age](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age) lasting for a few centuries and ending in the nineteenth century. It must have been absolutely miserable for people back then. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2020, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1113 "2020-12-25T06:09:55Z")
Zee plane! Zee plane! > Villechaize was suffering from chronic pain due to having oversized internal organs putting increasing pressure on his body. According to Self, Villechaize often slept in a kneeling position so he could breathe more easily.[[11]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herv%C3%A9_Villechaize#cite_note-Frank-11) > **[Hervé Villechaize](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herv%C3%A9_Villechaize)** > > Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize (.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%}French: \[ɛʁve vilʃɛz\]; April 23, 1943 – September 4, 1993) was a French actor and painter. He is best known for his roles as the evil henchman Nick Nack in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, and as Mr. Roarke's assistant, Tattoo, on the American telev... ---
**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:** [December 25, 2020, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1114 "2020-12-25T13:31:02Z")
In London (UK), buses and the Underground (subway) don’t (and never have) run on Christmas Day. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2020, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1115 "2020-12-25T14:05:30Z")
Not entirely true, it would seem. [https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/13927/london-transport-bus-services-on-christmas-day](https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/13927/london-transport-bus-services-on-christmas-day) (I found that looking for something else: Christmas Day morning football matches were a thing in the past ([eg](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/dec/23/the-most-eventful-football-matches-ever-played-on-christmas-day)); and so I was wondering if there were scheduled bus services for supporters. Haven’t found anything yet.) j ---
**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:** [December 25, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1116 "2020-12-25T14:14:27Z")
London had “Frost Fairs” whenever the Thames river froze over (maybe once every 20 years or so) - the last time in 1814. Henry VIII travelled by sled along the ice from central London to Greenwich in 1536. Details, and some artists’ works… [https://folklorethursday.com/folklife/london-folklore-the-legendary-frost-fairs-of-the-river-thames/](https://folklorethursday.com/folklife/london-folklore-the-legendary-frost-fairs-of-the-river-thames/) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2020, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1117 "2020-12-25T17:02:44Z")
I only know about the frost fairs from an [episode of Doctor Who](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_Ice_(Doctor_Who_episode)). I assumed that nowadays rivers like the Thames or the Hudson weren’t allowed to freeze solid, not that it just doesn’t get as cold. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1118 "2020-12-25T18:46:50Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I assumed that nowadays rivers like the Thames or the Hudson weren’t allowed to freeze solid How do you think (global warming aside) we could stop them? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1119 "2020-12-25T18:54:05Z")
Perhaps icebreakers and just constant boat traffic would prevent a solid layer of ice from forming? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2020, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1120 "2020-12-25T19:05:05Z")
Ah. I hadn’t thought of icebreakers; though I’d think that would get expensive. Boat traffic might, I suppose, keep a light layer of ice from forming; but I doubt would have much impact on a heavy one. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1121 "2020-12-25T22:09:28Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I assumed that nowadays rivers like the Thames or the Hudson weren’t allowed to freeze solid, not that it just doesn’t get as cold. The London Bridge blocked the river, causing a dangerous rapid through the bridge (careful people got out and walked, meeting their boat on the other side), and causing a still-water pond on the uphill side. The London Bridge was replaced in 1831, and the river embanked in the 1860’s, and the Electric Power stations putting hot cooling water into the lower Thames prevented freezing below the bridge, (??? I’m not sure about my London Geography) So the last time the Thames froze (??? 1963), I don’t know which parts froze. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=55) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=57)