# 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:** 184
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3661 "2025-11-23T16:12:31Z")
Physics Nobel Prize winners Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg were in the same class of 1950 at the Bronx High School of Science. When they entered, future Physics Nobel Prize winners Melvin Schwartz and Leon Cooper were in upper classes. You can say, sure, but that’s the Bronx High School of Science, yet in the 75 years since it’s produced only two more Physics Nobelists. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3662 "2025-11-23T16:41:24Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Edmonton is centred by 100th Ave and 100th St. Edmonton is centered on 101 Ave (Jasper Ave) and 101 St Jasper is definitely the main Avenue, and 101 was originally named First St. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2025, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3663 "2025-11-23T17:01:58Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > (it seemed that almost every hotel I stayed in in western Europe was on “Rue de la Gare” or “Bahnhofstrasse”) 🙂 According to the following list, “Bahnhofstraße” is the fifth most common street name in Germany. “Hauptstraße”, the winner, of course just means “Main street”. But of course if you stay in an hotel, chances are good that it’ll be located near the station and thus on “Bahnhofstraße”. **Hauptstraße** (6.234) **Schulstraße** (4.947) **Gartenstraße** (4.697) **Dorfstraße** (4.529) **Bahnhofstraße** (4.341) **Bergstraße** (3.924) **Birkenweg** (3.121) **Lindenstraße** (2.968) **Kirchstraße** (2.726) **Waldstraße** (2.668) Source: > **[Straßennamen: Das sind die häufigsten und kuriosesten Straßen Deutschlands |...](https://www.meinauto.de/lp/ratgeber/strassennamen-das-sind-die-haeufigsten-und-kuriosesten-strassen-deutschlands)** > > Straßennamen sorgen für eine klare Identifikation. Bei über 400.000 Namen gibt es auch skurrile Beispiele. MeinAuto.de erklärt, wie Straßennamen entstehen, welche am häufigsten sind und welche Stadt darauf verzichtet. ▶ Jetzt lesen! ---
**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:** [November 23, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3664 "2025-11-23T17:02:27Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > What usually happens at an HOA (99.99%) is they share in paying for road maintenance, sewer and landscaping in the common area. Those crazy Karen stories are exceptional so they go viral. cf Man Bites Dog Journalism > **[Man bites dog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_bites_dog)** > > The phrase man bites dog is a shortened version of an aphorism in journalism that describes how an unusual, infrequent event (such as a man biting a dog) is more likely to be reported as news than an ordinary, everyday occurrence with similar consequences (such as a dog biting a man). > The phenomenon is also described in the journalistic saying, "You never read about a plane that did not crash." It can be expressed mathematically; a basic principle of information theory is that reports of unusual... j ---
**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:** [November 23, 2025, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3665 "2025-11-23T20:11:36Z")
What about Einbahnstraße? My dad told me that when he visited Germany, he saw streets named that all over the place. 😛 He said he was also impressed by the number of names like “Eisenhowerstraße” and “Rooseveltstraße”. Though I suppose that some "Ironcutter street"s might have predated WWII. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2025, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3666 "2025-11-23T20:22:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Though I suppose that some "Ironcutter street"s might have predated WWII. Definitely not, as it’s spelled “Eisenhauer” in German. And there are also “Kennedyallee” in Bonn and Frankfurt, and the “John-F-Kennedy-Platz” in Berlin. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3667 "2025-11-23T20:23:05Z")
Watching old TV shows while simultaneously reading the biographies of the performers on IMDB/Wikipedia/Google image search (as you do), I found this photo of Linda Lawson as “Miss Cue” publicizing atomic bomb test Operation Cue, in her salad days of Vegas showgirl before moving on to B-movies and anthology television. [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR2kLIDc_MOr7U-WxKxT_zE4wY-4pIMOpZbVgOyhfTJBQ&s=10) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR2kLIDc_MOr7U-WxKxT_zE4wY-4pIMOpZbVgOyhfTJBQ&s=10) Frankly, pretty lame, even by the standards of old sawdust-joint era Las Vegas. But it opened the door to delve deeper into the imagery of postwar apogee America, combining the specter of atomic holocaust, crass popular culture, and the early stages of the Sexual Revolution when it was concerned mainly to the gratification only of the male half of humanity. The [Mental Floss](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52631/4-atomic-themed-1950s-beauty-queens) website lists for different Atomic warfare “beauty queens,” but is sadly lacking in photos. [Snopes](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/miss-atomic-bomb-beauty-queen/) clarifies that there was no formal beauty contest, thus “beauty queen” is a misnomer. The most famous photo, outdoing Miss Cue’s by multiple megadeaths, was this more familiar shot: [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSd8-27hFWJZ18XyyWgjRJ2Zqqn3hLn7E8FGVHpbEFt0w&s=10) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSd8-27hFWJZ18XyyWgjRJ2Zqqn3hLn7E8FGVHpbEFt0w&s=10) More famous though it was, the identity of the model took [local historian Robert Friedrichs](https://atomicmuseum.vegas/unmasking-miss-atomic-bomb/) decades to discover [Anna Lee Mahoney (stage name Lee Merlin)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37138996/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_accord_1_cdt_t_1) had been the woman behind the cotton (or at least we hope it’s cotton, not asbestos nor fiberglass!) (On a personal note, as the grandchild of a showgirl/movie extra/magician’s assistant of that era, I certainly appreciate Mr. Friedrich’s tenacity. The nobodies of history led hard lives and left few clues, but for some of them the breadcrumbs are tantalizing nonetheless) One thing hasn’t changed, and perhaps holds even stronger today: hungry people with minimal contributory economic skills will always do weird things to momentarily grab the public’s attention. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3668 "2025-11-23T23:32:46Z")
I’m surprised (although I guess I shouldn’t be) to discover that several of Ursula K. Le Guin’s novels have been adapted as films, including _The Lather of Heaven_. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3669 "2025-11-23T23:34:50Z")
Is there a distinction between e.g. “Second” and “2nd”? ---
**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:** [November 23, 2025, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3670 "2025-11-23T23:42:35Z")
The linked page lumped those together. I assume that there’s also no distinction between “2nd street” and “2nd avenue”, or whatever, though some cities might have both of those as two separate roads. Another complication is that, in some cities, “E. 3rd St.” is the same road as "W. 3rd St. " (after it crosses Center Avenue or whatever), but in others, they’re different (both parallel to Center Street, three blocks away on either side). ---
**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:** [November 24, 2025, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3671 "2025-11-24T00:25:03Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > including _The Lather of Heaven_. I’m going to have to reread that book. I didn’t remember that it was about bathing. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2025, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3672 "2025-11-24T01:06:50Z")
There will be a primary name that local authorities will give it, which could go either way, and alternate names that the post office will also recognize as valid. Other examples are streets with ‘Mount,’ and ‘Saint’ in the names which could eitger be spelled out or abbreviated. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2025, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3673 "2025-11-24T01:29:15Z")
An interesting case in Cleveland is that there are two prominent roads called “West Boulevard” and “East Boulevard”. No native Clevelander would ever call those roads just “West” or “East”: They’re always named in full. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2025, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3674 "2025-11-24T01:35:56Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > he Lather of Heaven I meant _The Lathe of Heaven_, and can’t I ever avoid typing mistakes? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2025, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3675 "2025-11-24T02:09:52Z")
I thought maybe it was a porn movie about getting it on in the shower. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2025, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3676 "2025-11-24T02:29:28Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Is there a distinction between e.g. “Second” and “2nd”? I live on a 2nd Avenue, which is a whole one block long. At one end the street sign says “2nd Avenue” and on the other it says “Second Avenue.” So my town can’t even make up its own mind which way it should be. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2025, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3677 "2025-11-24T02:36:32Z")
Wolves are harvesting crab pots in Canada to eat the roe used as bait. We have land sea lions and now we have land sea wolves. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2025, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3678 "2025-11-24T02:47:13Z")
If you name your street **Hendrix** , hang the sign high on a streetlight pole, or expect to replace it regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2025, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3679 "2025-11-24T03:33:08Z")
**\*waving hands\*** Hey, how did I get overlooked? I wrote the definitive article on [Space Age Beauty Queens](https://www.flyingcarsandfoodpills.com/space-age-beauty-queens), with over two dozen photos interspersing 5000+ words. It starts with a titleless girl on a float bannered Nevada’s First Atomic Bomb in 1951, with the first named title being Miss Atomic Blast in 1952 (Candyce King). And ends with women tossing the Miss NASA beauty pageant out the window in 1973, with some amazingly libelous cartoons of their sexist bosses. If I say so myself, a must read. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2025, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/3680 "2025-11-24T15:02:38Z")
Manchester NH has a North Street, which for most of its length is just North Street, but the westernmost block is West North Street, which I’ve always found amusing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=183) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=185)