# 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:** 268
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5341 "2026-08-23T19:29:40Z")
What if it was toxic chemicals or rattlesnakes? If they ordinarily wouldn’t have accepted it, they could have tossed it. Dick move by the prankster either way. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5342 "2026-08-23T19:31:14Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > When prepaid envelopes came with donation requests from politicians that my uncle didn’t like, he claimed to have attached the prepaid stamp to bricks. Not sure if that was actually possible. Yeah that didn’t work either. Those first class envelopes were for first class mail that fit inside, not taped to a package ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5343 "2026-08-23T19:41:08Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Those first class envelopes were for first class mail that fit inside, not taped to a package Right, but stuffed with a bunch of blank paper scrawled with “Clean For Gene!” they still had a postage-due on their end. Most campaign mail is probably “Please affix proper postage” on it for this reason. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2026, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5344 "2026-08-23T19:46:32Z")
That was the correct way to deal with it and was what I would do. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5345 "2026-08-23T20:29:07Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > … When prepaid envelopes came with donation requests from politicians that my uncle didn’t like, he claimed to have attached the prepaid stamp to bricks. Not sure if that was actually possible. [The Master Speaks](https://www.straightdope.com/21341734/can-i-mail-a-brick-back-to-a-junk-mail-firm-using-the-business-reply-envelope). ---
**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 23, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5346 "2026-08-23T20:36:13Z")
As I had occasion to remark in another thread, in addition to dimension and weight limits on first class envelopes the envelope has to meet pliability guidelines to be machine-feedable.If it’s too stiff it has to be special handled as an oversize card and must have postage for such. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2026, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5347 "2026-08-23T23:53:49Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > [The Master Speaks](https://www.straightdope.com/21341734/can-i-mail-a-brick-back-to-a-junk-mail-firm-using-the-business-reply-envelope). Thank you! Since The Master Spoke in 1984 and my uncle spoke in the sixties, this narrows the possibilities significantly. Of course, the fact the my uncle loved trying to instigate things with my father also narrows the possibilities. Dad mostly deliberately ignored him. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5348 "2026-08-24T01:24:38Z")
that’s typical St Louis summer weather ---
**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:** [August 31, 2026, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5349 "2026-08-31T19:24:58Z")
One of the lesser known actors with the name “Sinatra” was [Richard Sinatra](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0801541), a cousin of some sort to Frank and family. His wife was actress [Linda Marsh](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0550604/), who was probably the breadwinner, and after his death would go on to be a producer on the TV program “The Facts of Life.” ---
**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:** [September 1, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5350 "2026-09-01T12:28:40Z")
Gene Roddenberry’s only ‘appearance’ in “Star Trek” was in “Who Mourns for Adonais?” The giant glowing green hand that grabbed the Enterprise belonged to Gene. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2026, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5351 "2026-09-06T01:45:34Z")
It’s generally known that California almost always supported the Republican presidential candidate until fairly late in the last century. But what I didn’t know was that as of a 1960 encyclopedia article, there were more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state. I think one possible factor might be that Nixon and Reagan were both active there in their pre-political careers, and Nixon was born there. Being a favorite son, as they used to say, probably carried a lot of weight. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5352 "2026-09-06T17:55:40Z")
Doda Dome in Yosemite National Park which features such rock climbing routes as ‘Tittily Winks” and “Bust it Out” is named after famed San Francisco stripper Carol Doda. [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTN-Y-7TlVar8gDFiQ_ULZ2sIEpIUMRF7vEOus31dQccJqrv68uznlL9NU&s) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTN-Y-7TlVar8gDFiQ_ULZ2sIEpIUMRF7vEOus31dQccJqrv68uznlL9NU&s) [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRSPIpsoLkWf5aIi4QY5zppl0C_MCYv7PJdXiFcKfdgRw&s=10) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRSPIpsoLkWf5aIi4QY5zppl0C_MCYv7PJdXiFcKfdgRw&s=10) ---
**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:** [September 6, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5353 "2026-09-06T17:59:33Z")
Why is she posing in front of what appears to be a research submarine? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5354 "2026-09-06T18:03:05Z")
Strippers can have other interests. I figured a picture of her “at work” might get me in hot water. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2026, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5355 "2026-09-06T20:14:40Z")
She was working on developing an improved version of the Mae West life jacket. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2026, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5356 "2026-09-06T20:30:49Z")
There’s also Dolly the sheep that was cloned from a mammary gland cell. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5357 "2026-09-06T21:39:13Z")
Apparently “escalate” comes from “escalator” and not the other way around. > **[Escalate - Etymology, Origin & Meaning](https://www.etymonline.com/word/escalate)** > > "to use an escalator," back-formation from escalator, replacing earlier verb escalade… See origin and meaning of escalate. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5358 "2026-09-07T18:49:09Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Why is she posing in front of what appears to be a research submarine? Neutral buoyancy calibration & testing. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5359 "2026-09-07T19:16:02Z")
Cute, but it looks like someone stretched the image horizontally for exaggeration. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5360 "2026-09-07T20:18:21Z")
Her (silicone enhanced) bust was measured at 44", so not much exaggeration necessary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=267) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=269)