# Tell us an interesting random fact you stumbled across (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2024, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785 "2024-07-25T15:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 135
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2681 "2025-06-19T02:46:32Z")
Is a roundabout really a **cross** roads, though? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2682 "2025-06-19T03:14:58Z")
I would say it is. a crossroads is an intersection, where a traveler can choose any road leading from it, which is functionally identical to a roundabout. As to a venue for negotiating a soul-bound transaction, I would imagine that a roundabout would serve adequately, perhaps even better. Lyrically, the structure might require additional effort, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2683 "2025-06-19T03:30:06Z")
I think the physical cross shape is important in Christian tradition, though. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2025, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2684 "2025-06-19T06:36:39Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > You still get this effect on digital cameras and camera phones because the sensor scans down from top to bottom. I found this photo from 2014 which I took with a Galaxy S2, from a train speeding past a SoCal beach, probably around San Onofre. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54599207071_74e6ac1c83_b.jpg "Please don") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/78538399@N00/54599207071/) The train was headed north to L.A., so the lifeguard tower appears to be moving to the left. Because the distortion seems to be happening in both directions, here it looks like top half is scanned from bottom to top and the lower half from top to bottom. The effect is less pronounced in the top half, particularly where the platform railing is. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2685 "2025-06-19T10:10:48Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I think the physical cross shape is important in Christian tradition, though. Indeed, but can be combined with a circle/halo > **[Example of pre 1900 irish celtic cross with traditional celtic carving detail...](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/example-of-pre-1900-irish-celtic-cross-with-traditional-celtic-carving-detail-from-a-grave-in-the-famous-landmark-mill--26810560268544624/)** > > Ontdek (en bewaar!) je eigen pins op Pinterest. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2686 "2025-06-19T13:04:00Z")
Some years ago, I was looking at satellite view near BWI (Baltimore/Washington airport) where a jet approaching the airport was captured by the satellite camera. A zoom-in does not always match a farther-out view, but this one did: when zoomed in, the jet was there, but it was moving fast enough to be “out of register”. The camera recorded the colors in separate passes, so it had red, green and blue offsets front and back. It seems like satellite view gets cleaned up more these days. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2687 "2025-06-19T13:15:22Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Because the distortion seems to be happening in both directions, here it looks like top half is scanned from bottom to top and the lower half from top to bottom. I don’t think it is. I think the support beams on the bottom are just tilted. There are two beams leaning inwards to support the hut, and then there’s a third beam leaning outwards to support the stairs. Everything is tilted to the right from the motion, but it’s not noticeable for the support beams because their actual tilt is greater. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I think the physical cross shape is important in Christian tradition, though. I think that burying “unholy” people at a crossroads is a tradition that predated Christianity (of course, what precisely constitutes “unholy” has probably changed with time). ---
**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:** [June 19, 2025, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2688 "2025-06-19T13:55:02Z")
Criminals, especially highwaymen, were often hanged at crossroads as well. The body was left hanging as a warning to others, so a crossroads would get more traffic. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2689 "2025-06-19T15:16:09Z")
Did you learn that from this video (which has just appeared in my YT recommendations) … ? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/n7WW192WKKs/maxresdefault.jpg "This is On EVERY Map. But It Doesn’t Exist.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7WW192WKKs) (It’s about crossroad graves !) ---
**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:** [June 19, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2690 "2025-06-19T15:42:31Z")
Well, that was 13 minutes wasted. The title of the video is “This is on EVERY Map. But It Doesn’t Exist.”. But he says repeatedly that the graves he’s looking for aren’t on all maps, and tries to make that out as being mysterious. In fact, the video consists mostly of saying trivial bits of information, and then stating that that information is somehow mysterious. Near as I can tell, the sum total content of the video is “A few old maps label this particular spot as ‘Elkham’s Grave’, but we don’t know anything else about it”. Which is, well, not a mystery at all; it’s just one of the very many things we don’t know about the past. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2691 "2025-06-19T15:55:15Z")
Speaking of crossroads, the word “trivial” derives from a Latin word meaning “crossroad” , literally “place where three roads meet”. The sense was something out in the public, therefore commonplace or insignificant. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2692 "2025-06-19T17:21:03Z")
It’s slightly more complicated than that. “Tri” was the Latin word for “three” and “viae” was the Latin word for “roads”. A “triviae” was where three roads met. " Triviālis" became the Latin word for “appropriate to the street corner, commonplace, vulgar, or triple” In Medieval Latin, the word _trivia_ came to refer to the lower division of the Liberal Arts (grammar, rhetoric, and logic) as opposed to the quadrivia, the upper division of the Liberal Arts (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy). This was what was taught at universities. In 1918, it came to mean something like interesting small facts. In 1965, it came to mean what questions were asked about at what are now called trivia contests and on things like the television program _Jeopardy!_.. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2693 "2025-06-19T18:01:54Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > A “triviae” was where three roads met. Sort of. We’d say two roads. If you’re standing at a crossroads, our sense is that there are two roads: E–W crosses N–S. But if you’re a Roman walking up to the crossroads from the S, there are three: E, N, and W. But it refers to the same + shape. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2694 "2025-06-19T18:14:50Z")
Romans counted things weird. They used inclusive counting for dates, so they would say that March 13 was three days, not two, before the Ides of March (March 15). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2695 "2025-06-19T18:38:16Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > E–W crosses N–S The Romans did not consider that one road going east to west crossing another going north to south was a “triviae”. For them, a “triviae” was a place where three roads met. A “groma” was a place where one road crossed another road, so from that location you could go in four different directions. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2696 "2025-06-19T18:44:31Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > For them, a “triviae” was a place where three roads met. Since we’re in the “interesting fact” thread, I figure this is a good place to note the “meeting of three roads” word also gave this famous landmark its name. > **[Trevi Fountain](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevi_Fountain)** > > The Trevi Fountain (Italian: Fontana di Trevi) is an 18th-century fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762 and several others. Standing 26.3 metres (86 ft) high and 49.15 metres (161.3 ft) wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world. > The fountain, at the junction of three roads (tre vie), marks the terminal point of the "modern" Acqua Vergine—the... ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2025, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2697 "2025-06-19T19:37:14Z")
_“What is the name of one road meeting?”_ - Zen Buddhist koan ---
**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:** [June 19, 2025, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2698 "2025-06-19T23:42:53Z")
Yes it was indeed that video. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2025, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2699 "2025-06-20T13:26:17Z")
In 1967 the group Strawberry Alarm Clock hit #1 with a nonsensical song "Incense and Peppermints.’ However, the lead singer was [16-year-old “Greg Munford,”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Alarm_Clock) who was not even a member of the band. ---
**Author:** ![Cwturner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Cwturner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cwturner)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2025, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/2700 "2025-06-21T14:47:10Z")
I used to listen to Incense & Peppermints in the " Psychedelic Corner" of my bedroom when I was 12 or so. A friend with an older brother recommened both. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=134) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=136)