# 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:** 79
**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 3, 2021, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1563 "2021-03-03T14:18:55Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > > [@Morgyn](#): > > > > According to the Extreme Tech website, Mercury is not only the closest planet to Earth, it is the closest planet to _all the other planets in the solar system_ . > > I can see their reasoning, but I don’t particularly agree with it. Agreed. This comment to that article pretty well sums it up for me: > I guess it is good someone put the idea to paper, but I feel like this is a common sense conclusion (because of how concentric rings work) which is generally ignored because it’s not what most people want to know when they ask the question about the closest planet. When asking the vaguely worded question of “which planet is Earth’s closest neighbor” they are wanting to know which _orbit_ is closest to Earth’s _orbit_, i.e which orbit is going to be most like Earth. > > Wanting the literal average distance to a planet is like asking someone how fast they drive and expecting them to include time sitting at traffic lights in their average. Italics mine. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1564 "2021-03-03T17:43:32Z")
Louis Vuitton left home when he was 13 and spent two years walking to Paris where he began an apprenticeship in the trunk-making business. He became successful on his own fairly quickly, but his fame was sealed when he was hired as the personal trunk maker for the wife of Napolean III. ---
**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 9, 2021, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1565 "2021-03-09T00:30:33Z")
7 years ago today… > **[Malaysia Airlines Flight 370](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370)\[a\] was an international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared on 8 March 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to its planned destination, Beijing Capital International Airport. The crew of the Boeing 777-200ER registered as 9M-MRO, last communicated with air traffic control (ATC) around 38 minutes after takeoff when the flight was over the Sou... ---
**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 9, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1566 "2021-03-09T02:29:01Z")
Wow. 7 years go by in a big hurry. I’m in the biz and if you’d have said it was 4 years ago I’d have said “Sure.” And I only know it’d be 4 (or more) years because it couldn’t have happened during Trump’s term without lots of extra silly controversial baggage being attached. ---
**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 10, 2021, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1567 "2021-03-10T08:50:29Z")
In 1844, Irish surgeon Francis Rynd invented what was arguably the world’s first hollow needle. But it was a device which used gravity to make the liquid flow and involved breaching the skin with a tool known as a trocar. Within 10 years, however, the modern version of the hypodermic needle was born In 1853, Fife-born physician Alexander Wood added a plunger and developed the first all-glass syringe that allowed doctors to estimate dosage based on the amount of liquid observed through the glass. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1568 "2021-03-10T08:55:36Z")
Watching a behind the scenes thing about Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic, I learned that Phil Tippet had too many beers with his buddies for lunch and slurred the word “shoelaces.” That became Salacious as in Salacious B. Crumb, Jabba the Hutt’s right hand man. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1569 "2021-03-10T10:53:58Z")
The letter ‘a’ isn’t used at all in any of the numbers between one and one hundred. I know it’s not a deep and meaningful fact, but it keeps me entertained. Especially useful to wager with people that you can say a hundred words quickly without using ‘a’. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2021, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1570 "2021-03-10T11:43:57Z")
Technically, Mercury isn’t the closest planet to Earth. Neither is Venus nor Mars. Nor Luna, even though I still say that Luna should be counted as a planet. The actual planet that’s closest to Earth is Earth, of course ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1571 "2021-03-10T15:27:03Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > In 1844, Irish surgeon Francis Rynd invented what was arguably the world’s first hollow needle. Somebody else around here reads “Least I Could Do.” Howdy, Rayne-fan! ---
**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 10, 2021, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1572 "2021-03-10T16:22:55Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > The letter ‘a’ isn’t used at all in any of the numbers between one and one hundred. Considering 101 not “one hundred and one” but rather “one-hundred one” I would say the first one-thousand numbers 0 - 999 don’t contain an _a_. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1573 "2021-03-10T16:48:12Z")
“One hundred” can also be said as “a hundred”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1574 "2021-03-10T17:00:22Z")
those hundred ---
**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:** [March 10, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1575 "2021-03-10T17:56:21Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Considering 101 not “one hundred and one” but rather “one-hundred one” I would say the first one-thousand numbers 0 - 999 don’t contain an _a_ . My recollection is that rigorous grammar rules prohibit the use of “and” within the speaking of an integer; it’s reserved for designating the break point between the integer portion and fractional portion of a non-integer number. To also use “and” anywhere else would make its meaning ambiguous. So you would say “one hundred one and one-half”. You would not say “one hundred and one and one-half.” Likewise, you would say “one hundred one,” not “one hundred and one.” ---
**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 10, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1576 "2021-03-10T18:08:18Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Likewise, you would say “one hundred one,” not “one hundred and one.” Isn’t that what I said? ---
**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:** [March 10, 2021, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1577 "2021-03-10T18:24:05Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > The letter ‘a’ isn’t used at all in any of the numbers between one and one hundred. .Any of the **integers** between one and one hundred, right? Because… > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > My recollection is that rigorous grammar rules prohibit the use of “and” within the speaking of an integer; it’s reserved for designating the break point between the integer portion and fractional portion of a non-integer number. To also use “and” anywhere else would make its meaning ambiguous. > > So you would say “one hundred one and one-half”. You would not say “one hundred and one and one-half.” …one and one-half is one of the numbers between one and one hundred. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1578 "2021-03-10T18:59:12Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > .Any of the **integers** between one and one hundred, right? You have made the archetypal SD post. And it is of course completely accurate. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1579 "2021-03-10T19:00:20Z")
Sorry, didn’t mean to. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1580 "2021-03-10T19:13:11Z")
It’s all good. I have been chastened. Here’s another set of only vaguely interesting facts. There are now 1.83 billion websites on the Internet with about 200m of these presently active. There are currently about 55 billion pages indexed by Google, down from c.65 billion in 2020. I know, this is exciting stuff. Try to calm down everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1581 "2021-03-10T19:17:12Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > There are now 1.83 billion websites on the Internet with about 200m of these presently active. There are currently about 55 billion pages indexed by Google, down from c.65 billion in 2020. And yet, I still can’t find what I want… ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1582 "2021-03-10T19:18:18Z")
Sometimes, that means that what you want, doesn’t exist [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=78) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=80)