# 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:** 77
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1523 "2021-02-25T17:50:43Z")
TIL that food-service workers, especially those in manufacturing or processing plants, are supposed to use special blue bandages imbedded with tiny metal strips, rather than clear or flesh-colored bandages as most people use. Blue to be seen if the bandage falls off into food, as most food isn’t blue, metal to be detected by metal detectors already used to check packaged food for stray metal bits. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1524 "2021-02-25T17:53:45Z")
Testing an electronic dictionary with a link to Wikipedia the word “Ruso” (“Russian” in Spanish) it also pointed to a city in North Carolina called Ruso with only a population of 4, got curious and looked for the least populated cities in the US and this article pointed at Ruso, but also to one amazing coincidence: > **[The Smallest Town in Each of the 50 States](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/502234/smallest-town-each-50-states)** > > From Moonshine, Illinois (Pop. 1) to Funkley, Minnesota (Pop. 10), these tiny towns have unique claims to fame. Up to 2017 there where 2 cities called Bonanza, one in Utah and the other in Colorado. **Both** have just **one** official inhabitant. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1525 "2021-02-26T05:19:03Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Up to 2017 there where 2 cities called Bonanza, one in Utah and the other in Colorado. **Both** have just **one** official inhabitant. I guess the mines ran out. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1526 "2021-02-28T02:18:35Z")
Before Barrry Hansen became Dr. Demento, he was the sound man for the Ash Grove folk music club in LA. He was part of Randy California’s extended family, lived with and was briefly a roadie for the band Spirit in the “big yellow house” in Laurel Canyon. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2021, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1527 "2021-02-28T06:22:45Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > Isn’t this the song, about 2:40 in? OMG! That is the FATTEST magician I have seen in my life! ---
**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:** [February 28, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1528 "2021-02-28T22:44:29Z")
The most populated city in California that does not have a Spanish name is Long Beach. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1529 "2021-02-28T22:59:29Z")
I had no idea that Fresno is a Spanish name, so learned 2 things from your post. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1530 "2021-03-01T00:37:53Z")
Today via YouTube I learned about > **[de Havilland Hornet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Hornet)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > The de Havilland DH.103 Hornet, developed by de Havilland, was a fighter aircraft driven by two piston engines. It further exploited the wooden construction techniques that had been pioneered by the de Havilland Mosquito. Development of the Hornet had started during the Second World War as a private venture. The aircraft was to conduct long range fighter operations in the Pacific Theatre against the Empire of Japan but the war ended before the ... ---
**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:** [March 1, 2021, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1531 "2021-03-01T01:53:29Z")
South Korea doesn’t have any highways numbered between 70 and 99. Those numbers are reserved for highways in the North if re-unification ever happens. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2021, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1532 "2021-03-02T02:22:30Z")
> **[Canadian Coins, Gold, Silver & More | The Royal Canadian Mint](https://www.mint.ca/en)** > > The Royal Canadian Mint produces Canada's circulation and collector coins. Interested in starting your collection today? Click here to explore! > Incredible, but true: in 2007 the Royal Canadian Mint produced the world’s first million dollar coin. The 100 kg, 99999 pure gold bullion coin with a $1 million face value was originally conceived as a unique showpiece to promote the Mint’s new line of 99999 pure 1 oz Gold Maple Leaf bullion coins. After several interested buyers came forward, the Mint decided to make a very limited quantity available for sale. To date, five of these majestic gold bullion coins, weighing 3,215 troy ounces each, have been purchased by investors from Canada and abroad. And it’s worth more now… > **[Big Maple Leaf](https://currencies.fandom.com/wiki/Big_Maple_Leaf)** > > The 1,000,000 dollar coin, introduced in 2007, is a gold bullion coin of Canada's Maple Leaf series. Massive in both value and size, the piece is the highest denominated coin of the Canadian dollar and the second largest known coin in existence,... > In 2010, the Austrian investment firm AvW Invest declared [bankruptcy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:bankruptcy) and its assets, including one of the five million-dollar coins, were [liquidated](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:liquidation). At a [Dorotheum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Dorotheum) auction on June 25 of the same year, the piece was purchased for [US$](https://currencies.fandom.com/wiki/United_States_dollar)4.02 million by the Spanish gold trading company Oro Direct. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1533 "2021-03-02T02:29:53Z")
One of those coins was [stolen](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/27/giant-gold-coin-with-queens-head-stolen-from-berlin-museum) in Berlin several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1534 "2021-03-02T02:44:30Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Ah, but he played _A drum,_ as a [little blond “Circus Boy”.](https://youtu.be/WS4uQIjkNsk?t=67) > > And [sang, too](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qOcn6xX6fc)… > (just learned he later sang this same song in a circus episode of The Monkees…cool.) > > The first time I saw Circus Boy, it was so surprising to see a little blond Mickey Dolenz. Same here only reversed: As a 50’s kid, I loved “Circus Boy.” The first time I saw The Monkees, I was surprised to see an older dark-haired Corky. Bonus Points if you can name Corky’s “pet” elephant! ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1535 "2021-03-02T04:42:51Z")
A good bar bet to make. Ask which commercial airliner broke the sound barrier in controlled flight and in what year. give them + or minus 5 years. The first commercial airliner to break the sound barrier in controlled flight was a DC-8. the date was August 21, 1961. yes, 1961. For bonus points, name the pilot in the [F-104 chase plane seen in the picture in this article](https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/i-was-there-when-the-dc-8-went-supersonic-27846699/). It’s not hard to remember. It was the first person to break the sound barrier. Chuck Yeager. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1536 "2021-03-02T12:46:17Z")
**Peter Twiss** [OBE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officer_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire), [DSC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinguished_Service_Cross_(United_Kingdom)) & [Bar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_bar) (23 July 1921 – 31 August 2011) was a British test pilot who holds the [World Air Speed Record](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_airspeed_record) as the first man to fly a jet aircraft faster than 1,000 [mph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_per_hour) (1,600 [km/h](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilometres_per_hour); 870 [kn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knot_(unit))). [Peter Twiss - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Twiss) This came up in a quiz I watched last night. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1537 "2021-03-02T17:58:21Z")
If you are on linkedin follow Fermats Library, they put out regular posts on mathematical and scientific trivia. I cant figure out how to cross post a link here without posting my profile. ---
**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:** [March 2, 2021, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1538 "2021-03-02T18:10:55Z")
In the “Obvious after being told” category. In John Lennon’s _In My Life_, when he’s talking about his friends and “some are dead and some are living”, the dead friend referred to is Stu Sutcliffe. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1539 "2021-03-02T21:04:42Z")
Oh, I’d always assumed it referred to Brian Epstein. … (who, by the way, is referred to in heaven as The Third Beatle) ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1540 "2021-03-02T21:11:10Z")
I know, from first-hand experience, that Japanese often put Tabasco sauce onto pizza. Not before baking it, rather, while it’s still in the box waiting to be eaten after delivery. I was amazed. I told this to my brother, who attended biz school at Tulane (in NOLA) and he said he too had heard the tale, that Tabasco had been marketed in Japan as…Pizza sauce. This is so outside our (USA) experience of using Tabasco sauce to be nearly incredible. Imagine putting marshmallow fluff onto a steak. Or chocolate sauce onto a caesar salad. The trouble is, I can’t find a web citation to corroborate. Has anyone else heard of this? ---
**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:** [March 2, 2021, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1541 "2021-03-02T21:14:14Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Oh, I’d always assumed it referred to Brian Epstein. When “In My Life” was released in 1965, Brian Epstein was still alive. He died in 1967. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1542 "2021-03-02T21:45:43Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > When “In My Life” was released in 1965, Brian Epstein was still alive. He died in 1967.   Thus fulfilling prophecy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=76) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=78)