# 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:** 89
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1763 "2021-04-05T14:48:32Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > You could’ve avoided making the same mistake twice… No, he made the same mistake only once. First, he made the mistake. Then, he made the same mistake (once). You made what I call the Heraclitus fallacy. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1764 "2021-04-05T16:16:33Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > You made what I call the Heraclitus fallacy. That’s obscure. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1765 "2021-04-05T17:40:48Z")
I just found out that James Baskett was only forty-two years old when he played Uncle Remus in _Song of the South_. [![](https://images.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2005/362/1566_113592161831.jpg) ](https://images.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2005/362/1566_113592161831.jpg) It was his last role. He died two years later at the age of forty-four. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2021, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1766 "2021-04-05T18:28:25Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > > [@Melbourne](#): > > > > You could’ve avoided making the same mistake twice… > > No, he made the same mistake only once. First, he made the mistake. Then, he made the same mistake (once). > > You made what I call the Heraclitus fallacy. I’ve always referred to that as the George Carlin observation. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1767 "2021-04-05T20:33:01Z")
Well, if you take it literally, it’s in Spanish, a language not native to the Aztecs. But it originated as an Aztec food. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1768 "2021-04-05T21:13:49Z")
And for all his smiling demeanor, he was already ill with heart disease, which would ultimately take his life at an early age. ---
**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 5, 2021, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1769 "2021-04-05T21:39:19Z")
In North Carolina, stealing this stuff is a felony. > **[The ‘brown gold’ that falls from pine trees in North Carolina](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/03/31/pine-needle-mulch-north-carolina/)** > > The dropped needles of longleaf pine trees are so sought-after and in such high demand that a lucrative multi-million dollar business has grown up around raking, baling and selling them to landscapers and homeowners as mulch. Some even call it “brown... > A rash of pine-straw thefts more than 20 years ago led Wilson and other pine straw farmers to press for protection. Law enforcement didn’t take the thefts seriously, Wilson said. It was just pine needles. Theft of personal property valued at less than $1,000 was a misdemeanor. But the pine straw farmers eventually persuaded state legislators to make it a felony to steal any amount of pine straw. > > It might’ve helped that the pine is North Carolina’s official state tree. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2021, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1770 "2021-04-05T23:00:56Z")
Bare-knuckle boxing is less likely to cause death or serious injury than fighting with gloves. > Invisible versus visible harm > Really, this is a question of whether you think serious but invisible harm (brain damage) is better or worse than bruised and cut faces with blood everywhere. > > Society has already made that choice, and they prefer brain damage. Out of sight, out of mind. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1771 "2021-04-05T23:19:56Z")
The gloves are used to protect the hands. Society prefers brain damage to hand damage. Face damage … dueling scars were a mark of the German military caste, and they aren’t the only ones. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2021, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1772 "2021-04-05T23:34:15Z")
It was widely assumed Baskett would be at least nominated for an Oscar for “Song of the South.” When the voters didn’t nominate him, the Academy just gave him an Oscar anyway. Baskett is the last adult actor awarded an honorary Oscar for one specific performance. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2021, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1773 "2021-04-06T02:21:38Z")
Some rail crossings have traffic lights for the trains! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MWxivFwB0A4/maxresdefault.jpg "Weirdest Exempt Railroad Crossing Ever In Snow! Defect Detector Audio, Mason & Woodlawn Ohio Trains") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWxivFwB0A4) ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2021, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1774 "2021-04-06T02:36:50Z")
Pretty much all light rail/trolley crossings have lights for the train, though they’re called ‘signals’ [https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=light%20rail%20signal&qs=n&form=QBIR&sp=-1&pq=light%20rail%20signal&sc=8-17&cvid=4B0120DF069141659B6830D69906B028&first=1&tsc=ImageBasicHover](https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=light%20rail%20signal&qs=n&form=QBIR&sp=-1&pq=light%20rail%20signal&sc=8-17&cvid=4B0120DF069141659B6830D69906B028&first=1&tsc=ImageBasicHover) ---
**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:** [April 6, 2021, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1775 "2021-04-06T14:55:27Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Pretty much all light rail/trolley crossings have lights for the train, though they’re called ‘signals’ Did you watch the video? [That’s not your typical ‘signal’.](https://goo.gl/maps/CJVpwDZj8HrdJbnWA) ---
**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 6, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1776 "2021-04-06T19:22:36Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > And for all his smiling demeanor, he was already ill with heart disease, which would ultimately take his life at an early age. Diabetes actually… ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2021, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1777 "2021-04-07T00:27:12Z")
Wow, he died from diabetes at _42_? ---
**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 7, 2021, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1778 "2021-04-07T11:15:35Z")
> Since childhood, Connors had disliked his first name, Kevin, and he had sought another name. He tried using “Lefty” and “Stretch” before finally settling on “Chuck”.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Connors#cite_note-profile-3) The name derived from his time as a player on Seton Hall’s baseball team. He would repeatedly yell to the pitcher from his position on first base, “Chuck it to me, baby, chuck it to me!” The rest of his teammates and spectators at the university’s games soon caught on, and the nickname stuck.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Connors#cite_note-McCain_Ranch-4) And > In 1966, Connors played an off-field role by helping to end the celebrated holdout (see [reserve clause](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_clause)) by [Los Angeles Dodgers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Dodgers) pitchers [Don Drysdale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Drysdale) and [Sandy Koufax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Koufax) when he acted as an intermediary during negotiations between management and the players.[[14]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Connors#cite_note-14) Connors can be seen in the Associated Press photo with Drysdale, Koufax and Dodgers general manager [Buzzie Bavasi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzzie_Bavasi) announcing the pitchers’ new contracts.[[15]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Connors#cite_note-15) > **[Chuck Connors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Connors)** > > Kevin Joseph Aloysius Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played in both Major League Baseball (Brooklyn Dodgers 1949, Chicago Cubs, 1951) and the National Basketball Association (Boston Celtics 1946–48). With a 40-year film and television career, he is best known for his five-year role as Lucas McCain in the highly rated ... ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1779 "2021-04-08T13:52:46Z")
Francis Galton (the famous polymath, statistician and eugenicist) invented the dog whistle. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1780 "2021-04-09T13:50:30Z")
Prince Philip’s uncle Alexander died from an infection after he was bitten by a pet monkey. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1781 "2021-04-09T20:12:39Z")
Spherical metal tanks are manufactured by welding together a sort of low-polygon version of the tank, then filling with water and detonating a small explosive charge inside. Amazing to watch: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/96yhdnhPxAw/maxresdefault.jpg "Construction of spherical tanks by explosive method. Explosive Hydroforming.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96yhdnhPxAw) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674/1782 "2021-04-09T21:14:28Z")
Wouldn’t that weaken the welds? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=88) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-1/851674.md?page=90)