# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 282
**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:** [October 24, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5622 "2026-10-24T22:43:59Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > the Voyageur 1 spacecraft (launched 49 years ago) Damn I’m feeling old. I remember that. Vaguely. Alois Alzheimer may have something to do with the vagueness. I still remember his first name. That is a wee tiny bit reassuring. Ach… ---
**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:** [October 24, 2026, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5623 "2026-10-24T22:50:24Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Alois Alzheimer may have something to do with the vagueness. > I still remember his first name. That is a wee tiny bit reassuring. Ach… If it comforts you, I never knew his first name until your post. ETA: and I hope to never forget it (I had to add this 😉) ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5624 "2026-10-25T01:54:26Z")
TIL that today (10/24/26) is a Pythagorean triple day. 10^2 + 24^2 = 26^2. (100 + 576 = 676) ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5625 "2026-10-25T02:44:33Z")
The shortest length, hah! I want to know what the shortest width is. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5626 "2026-10-25T02:58:34Z")
I think you’re out of your depth. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2026, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5627 "2026-10-25T21:59:38Z")
On February 4, 2013, women in Paris were allowed to wear trousers for the first time in over 200 years. Of course, French lawmakers were pragmatic about enforcing the law, which dates from November 17, 1800 > According to the law, women needed to have the permission of local police if they wanted to “dress like a man” and wear trousers… > > …It was modified in 1892 and 1909 to allow women to wear trousers if they were “holding a bicycle handlebar or the reins of a horse”. I regret to have to inform you that Mrs T has broken this law on numerous occasions. (Along with quite a few million other women.) > **[Paris women finally allowed to wear trousers](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-21329269)** > > The French government overturns a 200-year-old ban on women wearing trousers in the capital, Paris, dating from November 1800. 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:** [October 25, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5628 "2026-10-25T22:12:47Z")
I wonder if any local police ever posted a blanket “All women in this jurisdiction hereby have permission to wear trousers”? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5629 "2026-10-25T23:02:26Z")
> **[Why Washing Machines Took Decades to Catch On - JSTOR Daily](https://daily.jstor.org/why-washing-machines-took-decades-to-catch-on/)** > > Early electric laundry appliances promised to make housework easier. But convincing American households to buy them was another matter. Surprising. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2026, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5630 "2026-10-25T23:16:42Z")
Huh, that doesn’t match my understanding of the history. From what I’d heard, the big appeal of FDR’s rural electrification campaign was that it enabled people to use labor-saving devices like washing machines, and the electric washing machine became a symbol of him and his policies to his fans. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5631 "2026-10-26T01:40:22Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > On February 4, 2013, women in Paris were allowed to wear trousers for the first time in over 200 years. > > Of course, French lawmakers were pragmatic about enforcing the law, which dates from November 17, 1800 Artist Rosa Bonheur was granted the right to wear trousers in the 1850s, arguing that her subjects were often [farm animals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ploughing_in_the_Nivernais), so she couldn’t wear a dress in barns and [animal enclosures](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Horse_Fair). ---
**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:** [October 26, 2026, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5632 "2026-10-26T13:09:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > FDR’s rural electrification campaign Looking at the dates in the wikiarticle about the **[rural electrification act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_Electrification_Act)** and when the washing machine finally gained wide acceptance (after WWII, as per the article linked) I don’t see much of a contradiction: > Speaker of the House [Sam Rayburn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Rayburn "Sam Rayburn") was a major proponent of the REA, which he helped pass in 1936 as Chairman of the [House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_Energy_and_Commerce "United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce"). Rayburn stated in 1959 that ninety percent of farm homes in the U.S. were electrified, compared to three percent in the early 1930s. The racism aspect in the article was unexpected to me, but upon reflection: of course. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2026, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5633 "2026-10-26T15:45:22Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > The racism aspect in the article Where was this? ---
**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:** [October 26, 2026, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5634 "2026-10-26T15:57:43Z")
We are talking about the JSTOR article linked to by **PastTense** five posts ago? The one that goes: > Those who could passed the task on to domestic workers or commercial laundries. In the American South, in particular, racial and social dynamics were a high wall for the washing machine industry. > > “Even working-class white women outsourced washing to black laundresses, reflecting both the low cost of black female labor and the social convention, established in the slavery era, that heavy manual labor was below the dignity of white southern women.” > > Laundry, in short, was not (white) women’s work; even with a machine it wouldn’t be ladylike. Maytag, the industry leader, simply gave up selling in the South for the first half of the 1930s. The industry even tried “overtly racist arguments to deter southern white families from using black laundresses.” Does that not describe racism? Or did I misunderstand your question? I have the impression you may not have read the article, because it goes on. I am not quoting more, I would have to quote practically every sentence and that goes against fair use, but it is a very clear description of racism throughout, the author even uses the word repeatedly. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5635 "2026-10-26T16:33:34Z")
A similar situation could be found in cities with large Chinatowns. Chinese men were also limited to occupations that white male workers found unsuitable. Laundries had low start-up costs and could be made profitable by long hours of hard work. One difference was that Southern black women usually ran their hand laundries, but the Chinese Exclusion Act barred women for many years so Chinese laundries normally were run by men, even though they also considered it demeaning women’s work. Men running Chinese laundries became a cliche and a racist trope. I assume most of us graybeards remember these Calgon “ancient Chinese secret” ads that ran into the 80s. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1fBDaJi0TbI/hqdefault.jpg "Calgon - "Ancient Chinese Secret, Huh?" (Commercial, 1982)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fBDaJi0TbI) ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2026, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5636 "2026-10-26T16:52:59Z")
The last one of this century. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2026, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5637 "2026-10-26T17:31:18Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > did I misunderstand your question? I thought you were referring to the Wikipedia article on rural electrification. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2026, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5638 "2026-10-26T17:36:10Z")
I see how the mistake came about. No, I did not claim that wikipedia article was racist. And the JSTOR article was not racist either, it just showed the racism in the South that was a hindrance to the widespread use of washing machines between 1930 and 1950. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/5639 "2026-10-27T16:41:02Z")
The Elwood City in the “Arthur” franchise and the Ellwood City Donnie Iris grew up in are the same Ellwood City. How do I know? I’m from Ellwood myself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=281)