# 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:** 7
**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 19, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/121 "2020-04-19T18:34:59Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > [Mesa Verde in Colorado](https://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm)probably has it beat. But I guess it depends if you call a cliff dwelling a building. It’s impressive in any case. It isn’t counted as a building, but in some category it is older than St. Bernard de Clairvaux Church. However, none of those other structures this old were built in Europe and transported to the US and rebuilt hundreds of years later. Find an older building and it is still and interesting fact about the second oldest building in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/122 "2020-04-20T03:15:43Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Cy Young has the most wins in the history of Major League Baseball. He also has the most losses. And most Starts (815). ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/123 "2020-04-20T13:21:44Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Abe Lincoln’s birth mother was named Nancy Hanks. Tom (the well known Covid survivor) is a descendant of that same family. Which is why in _Toy Story 2_ upon meeting Woody, Jesse exclaims, “Sweet mother of Abraham Lincoln!” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/124 "2020-04-20T14:14:59Z")
But in later years, when Abe said “All that I am I owe to my angel mother.” he was referring to his step-mother. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/125 "2020-04-20T14:42:02Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > During a walk today (permitted exercise!) I was reminded of the time when I got so perplexed by seeing things marked “Pillow Mound” on an OS map that I gave in and looked them up ([the wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren#Pillow_mounds)) > > Here’s an [aerial view](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0599601,0.0740241,497m/data=!3m1!1e3) (google earth) of a bunch of them. > > We walked past a couple today, but then they really are all over the place round these parts. > > j We have something similar in the channeled scablands of the NW, but they are called mima mounds: > **[Mima mounds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mima_mounds)** > > .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}46°53′55″N 123°03′02″W / 46.898560°N 123.05048°W / 46.898560; -123.05048 > Mima mounds /ˈmaɪmə/ are low, flattened, circular to oval, domelike, natural mounds that are composed of loose, unstratified, oft... When I first saw them, I wondered why farmers would do that. :smack: ---
**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:** [April 20, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/126 "2020-04-20T21:04:21Z")
Wayne Gretzky retired in 1999 and held 61 records. Now he only holds 60. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/127 "2020-04-21T15:05:00Z")
When Trivial Pursuit was a thing, the Sports and Entertainment category – well Sports anyway – was my weak point. I quickly learned that if the question had _anything_ to do with hockey the answer was Wayne Gretzky. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/128 "2020-04-21T15:33:31Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I read that NYC got the 212 area code because it was very easy to dial on a rotary phone. Chicago got 312 . The idea was the biggest cities got the lowest number area codes. The “lowness” of the area code number corresponds roughly to the population density of that area as of 1947. The idea was to minimize the number of time that Americans spent waiting for a phone dial to rotate, and also to minimize the network traffic involved in dialing telephone numbers. That only applies to codes with a 1 or 0 as the middle digit. Area codes that don’t have a 0/1 middle digit were created after 1995 and aren’t planned around any efficiencies in mind, as far as I’m aware. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/129 "2020-04-21T16:10:45Z")
When they added area codes with middle numbers above 1 some phone systems had to be updated. Those systems would not do a call if the middle area code number was above 1. My area code 919 used to be the highest area code. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/130 "2020-04-21T19:30:14Z")
Another bit of Gretzky trivia that I stumbled upon a few weeks ago is that the Gretzky brothers have the most combined goals by two brothers: 2861. Brent has 4 of those goals, and Wayne has the other 2857. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/131 "2020-04-21T19:45:59Z")
Actually he has 2857 points including 894 goals and 1963 assists. Nobody else even has 1963 total points. Jagr is closest at 1921 points and he played until age 45. Gretzky retired at 38. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/132 "2020-04-21T20:16:14Z")
That’s correct, I meant points rather than goals. :smack: ---
**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:** [April 21, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/133 "2020-04-21T23:15:00Z")
Name the city where the board game Monopoly is set. Atlantic City, New Jersey Here is a color-coded street map to show you where they are: [Monopoly Streets on an Actual Map - GraphGraph.com - Google My Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1O6XFKHpHPsFddivDbWsXgohhXXg&msa=0&ie=UTF8&t=m&ll=39.364961000000015%2C-74.42791&spn=0.031852%2C0.054932&z=14&iwloc=0004d36dbd47677b2a11c&source=embed) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/134 "2020-04-22T17:07:45Z")
[Ralph’s mom]Everybody know that.[/Rm] Cool map! When I was a teen we were visiting the city in question and I was in the back seat idly reading the store names and street signs as we drove along. Suddenly, I was, “Hey! We’re on a Monopoly board!” ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/135 "2020-04-24T06:56:40Z")
The 1957 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay was won by _The Bridge on the River Kwai_. Wikipedia lists Pierre Boulle, Carl Foreman, & Michael Wilson as the recipients of the Oscar, but in fact it was given solely to Peter Boulle (author of the novel on which the film was _very_ loosely based) who had nothing to do with the adaptation and never wrote a word of English! Foreman and Wilson were blacklisted in Hollywood during the McCarthy era and Sam Spiegel, the film’s producer, didn’t want to mention their involvement. Twenty-seven years after the 1957 ceremony, the widows of these two writers were finally given Oscars. Yet in fact, primary credit belonged to none of these three! It was David Lean who did most of the script-writing and deserved the credit; he was denied it partly due to the Spiegel’s rivalry with Lean. (And, though _Bridge_ was filmed in CinemaScope — a big deal at the time — Spiegel withdrew his cameras at one point, forcing Lean to finish his filming with a hand-held camera.) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/136 "2020-04-24T07:26:22Z")
The movie _Die Hard_, starring Bruce Willis, was adapted from the book “Nothing Lasts Forever” by Roderick Thorp. This book was a sequel to his 1966 novel “The Detective” which was made into the movie _The Detective_, starring Frank Sinatra. Bruce Willis and Frank Sinatra basically played the same character. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2020, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/137 "2020-04-24T13:51:13Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > The “lowness” of the area code number corresponds roughly to the population density of that area as of 1947. The idea was to minimize the number of time that Americans spent waiting for a phone dial to rotate, and also to minimize the network traffic involved in dialing telephone numbers. > > That only applies to codes with a 1 or 0 as the middle digit. Area codes that don’t have a 0/1 middle digit were created after 1995 and aren’t planned around any efficiencies in mind, as far as I’m aware. I missed this the other day. More than that, the original area codes with a 0 in the middle were assigned to a whole state; Arizona’s was 602, for example. If a state had more than one AC, all had a 1 in the middle, 916, 415, and 213 in California. That carefully laid out plan was the first thing that got knocked into a cocked hat then the ‘only 0 or 1 in the middle’ part went bye-bye which, as Bijou Drains pointed out, caused trouble. I moved from San Jose (AC 408) To East Phoenix metro (AC 480) and it was a while before I got numbers straight without having to stop and think. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/138 "2020-04-24T22:36:58Z")
Most people now keep numbers in their phone and don’t memorize them. Our local jail lets people write down numbers before they take away your phone so you can call someone to bail you out. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/139 "2020-04-25T21:07:31Z")
OK so I’m ignorant - One of my fellow allotment (community garden) holders had a [slow worm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anguis_fragilis) in her composter. Actually not a snake, but a legless lizard. She was scared of it, so I said I would move it on for her. I was slightly concerned - it being spring, I didn’t want to disturb it if it had a batch of eggs with it in the compost bin. However: > [@](#): > > The females give birth to live young (ovoviviparous birth). I never knew, but quite a few snakes and reptiles do this. Like I said, I’m ignorant. There’s more: Britain’s largest snake is the aesculapian snake. I found this out after walking along the Regent’s Canal, [where one of the two UK populations is located](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesculapian_snake#Escaped_populations_in_Great_Britain): > [@](#): > > There are two populations of Aesculapian snake which derive from escapes in Great Britain. The older one is in the grounds and vicinity of the Welsh Mountain Zoo near Conwy in North Wales. This population had persisted and reproduced since at least the early 1970s. A second, more recent population was reported in 2010 to be along the Regent’s Canal near London Zoo, living on rats and thought to number a few dozen, limited by the scarcity of egg-laying sites. It is suspected this colony may have been there some years, undetected. j ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/140 "2020-04-26T15:40:16Z")
In the amount of time it takes The Proclaimers to sing the lines “but I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more” in the song _I’m Gonna Be_, the International Space Station travels about 1,000 miles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=8)