# 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:** 265
**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:** [August 17, 2026, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5281 "2026-08-17T15:20:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > [All the Anchovies - News from Wayno®](https://waynocartoons.substack.com/p/all-the-anchovies) Thanks for sharing, that’s funny… But, of course, my take away was this: > [@](#): > > According to Greek mythology, Atlas stands on “the Western edge of the Earth” (whatever that is) and holds up the heavens, **but he’s now commonly thought of as holding Earth itself.** When did that shift happen!? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5282 "2026-08-17T15:27:46Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > When did that shift happen!? My guess would be when people confused this depiction of a celestial globe on the shoulders of the famous Farnese Atlas > **[Farnese Atlas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farnese_Atlas)** > > The Farnese Atlas is a 2nd-century CE Roman marble sculpture of Atlas holding up a celestial globe. Probably a copy of an earlier work of the Hellenistic period, it is the oldest extant statue of Atlas, a Titan of Greek mythology who is represented in earlier Greek vase painting, and the oldest known representation of the celestial sphere and the classical constellations. The sculpture is currently located at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples in Italy. The statue is dated around CE 150... with a depiction of the terrestrial globe. That would probably be around the time the first terrestrial globes were made, that is around the time Columbus discovered America and the Behaim Globus was made: > **[Behaim Globe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaim_Globe)** > > The Behaim Globe, also known as the Erdapfel (German for 'earth apple'),\[a\] is a terrestrial globe 51 cm (20 in) in diameter, produced by Martin Behaim from 1490 to 1492. It is the oldest extant terrestrial globe, constructed of a laminated linen ball in two halves, reinforced with wood and overlaid with a map painted on gores by Georg Glockendon. These intricate details were based on navigational charts by Jorge de Aguiar, incorporating paper maps meticulously pasted onto a parchment layer en T... Or when those terrestrial globes became ubiquitous, some time later, and people forgot about the celestial globe because it is imaginary. The celestial globe, if anything, is the apparent globe as far as we can see where we are in the center, not a real globe Atlas can carry on his shoulders. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5283 "2026-08-17T16:12:26Z")
TWICE in one day I learned about the height of Stalin. I have to admit, I always thought of him as a tall, imposing figure, but two different sources told me that he was only 5"4". Actually, different sources put his height between 5"4" and 5’7". Harry Truman reportedly called him a “Little Squirt”. Truman himself stood 5’9", which makes me think the 5’4" height is probably closer to the truth. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5284 "2026-08-17T17:28:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > TWICE in one day I learned about the height of Stalin. I have to admit, I always thought of him as a tall, imposing figure, but two different sources told me that he was only 5"4" I just learned this a couple days ago, as well. One of your two sources must be the same as where I heard it. Hmmm…have you been watching episodes of _Mad Men_? I have. But it could have been something else. Oh, wait…the _Lexicon Valley_ podcast? ETA – duh! _Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me_. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2026, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5285 "2026-08-17T17:32:05Z")
I really never had thought about it before, but now I wonder about Hitler’s height. He couldn’t have been much taller than Stalin, figuring from photos and video footage. ETA: Goigle’s AI tells me that he was about 1.73 m, that’s significantly taller than Stalin, about my own height. This surprises me, he looked smaller. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5286 "2026-08-17T18:16:21Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > ETA – duh! _Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me_. That’s one of them. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2026, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5287 "2026-08-17T18:37:31Z")
You told them! They just told you not to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5288 "2026-08-17T20:48:55Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > he was about 1.73 m, that’s significantly taller than Stalin, And taller than **[Mussolini](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8qo-uiAq58)** too! (27 second link to YouTube, and I bet you know which movie I am linking to) > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > taller than Stalin, figuring from photos There is no proof that Stalin and Hitler ever met, although they both lived in Vienna in 1913 close by the same park. No photo shows them together. Tito and Trotzky also lived in Vienna in 1913 (**[link](https://literaturoutdoors.com/2024/02/12/cafe-untergang-stalin-hitler-trotzki-tito-1913-in-wien-gunther-haller-molden-verlag/)** in German). Those met Stalin, oh boy, and how! But there is no document showing any of them three ever met Hitler in person. They may have crossed each other in the street or in the park though. Unknowingly, 1913. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2026, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5289 "2026-08-17T20:56:58Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > There is no proof that Stalin and Hitler ever met, although they both lived in Vienna in 1913 close by the same park. No photo shows them together. Well, I didn’t mean that Hitler looked a similar height as Stalin by direct comparison, but I just always thought that Hitler didn’t look very tall in every photo and video I’ve seen him in. Maybe pictures from 1945 when he already had Parkinson’s and a very bent back is what I remember the most. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5290 "2026-08-17T21:04:57Z")
I only wanted to point out that they lived in the same city at the same time and link to Chaplin, of course. Your recollection of Hitler as a small man is probably right. The picture I have foremost in my mind is this: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/96/Meeting_at_Hendaye_%28en.wiki%29.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/96/Meeting_at_Hendaye_%28en.wiki%29.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) Franco was a small man, most sources say 1.60 m or 5’ 3" or 4". Hitler looks just two or three inches taller, at the most. No idea whether tall man shoes were a thing back then. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2026, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5291 "2026-08-17T21:31:14Z")
Hitler just had the bigger hat. Of course he had. ETA: and I only just noticed your allusion to a certain film depicting, well, Hinkel and “Mussolini” (I don’t remember his spoofed name). I know the film… ---
**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:** [August 17, 2026, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5292 "2026-08-17T21:41:13Z")
Stalin was somewhere between 5 ft 4 in to 5 ft 6 in (163–168 cm). Hitler was somewhere between ft 8 in to 5 ft 9 in (173–175 cm). Mussolini was approximately 5 feet 6.5 inches (1.69 meters) tall. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2026, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5293 "2026-08-17T21:45:09Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > “Mussolini” (I don’t remember his spoofed name) Benzino Napaloni ---
**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:** [August 17, 2026, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5294 "2026-08-17T22:03:00Z")
Ah, thanks, that’s a great name. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5295 "2026-08-17T22:39:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You told them! They just told you not to do that. Heh! Took me a minute. At first I thought one of us was in mod-trouble. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5296 "2026-08-17T22:48:09Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Franco was a small man, most sources say 1.60 m or 5’ 3" or 4". Hitler looks just two or three inches taller, at the most. Franco and Hitler cordially despised each other. Hitler tried to get Franco to let the German army through to attack Gibraltar, and Franco (cleverly) never said outright No. Franco just kept demanding more and more stuff, more concessions, more aid, etc, until Hitler had a headache and gave up. Hitler was quoted as saying after their October 1940 meeting at Hendaye that he would rather have three or four teeth pulled out than go through another conversation with him. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5297 "2026-08-18T01:30:07Z")
> I’m also hoping there are no Portuguese speakers on the board or both \*\*Pardel-Lux\*\* and me are going to have an appointment in the Pit shortly. Not great, but there are some remnants of what my grandparents (I didn’t call them vuvo or vovo) spoke and two years’ worth in high school that are still rattling around in my otherwise crowded head… ---
**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:** [August 19, 2026, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5298 "2026-08-19T15:45:11Z")
Miami just hit it’s all-time high temperature yesterday: > **** > 100 degrees Fahrenheit ---
**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:** [August 19, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5299 "2026-08-19T21:54:13Z")
Wait, what? That can’t be right. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5300 "2026-08-19T21:58:29Z")
I’m surprised, too, but it’s true. “The Atlantic Ocean and regular sea breezes usually act as a natural air conditioner to keep Miami below the triple-digit mark. [[1](https://www.newsweek.com/miami-hits-100f-for-first-time-since-1942-amid-florida-heat-dome-12340691), [2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Miami)]” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=264) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=266)