# 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:** 61
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1201 "2024-12-24T15:39:10Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Leeds: Town Hall > > [File:Leeds Town Hall (geograph 5671640).jpg - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leeds_Town_Hall_(geograph_5671640).jpg) damn - painful to watch - that Leeds town hall looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since the 1950ies smog orgies in the UK … or is that “heritage” by now … ---
**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:** [December 24, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1202 "2024-12-24T15:39:58Z")
Of course, he’s not sure that it’s the optimal route, because that’s just the Traveling Salesman Problem, which is well-known to be inherently difficult. An algorithm for finding the absolute most efficient route, guaranteed, scales worse than exponentially with the number of sites to be visited, and with 48 sites, would take longer than the lifetime of the Universe to calculate. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1203 "2024-12-24T15:48:14Z")
That is quite a horrible picture of Leeds Town Hall. It’s old and rain/pollution-stained but it’s not _that_ bad. > **[Leeds Town Hall (Leeds) - Visitor Information & Reviews - WhichMuseum](https://whichmuseum.com/museum/leeds-town-hall-4260)** > > Leeds Town Hall is a museum in Leeds. View visitor information, information about the collection and read reviews. Lovely on the inside, btw. Many years ago I did a concert in there. And apparently undergoing a renovation right now. ---
**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:** [December 24, 2024, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1204 "2024-12-24T15:58:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Of course, he’s not sure that it’s the optimal route, Because I have no life, I used that route plan a road trip with Google Maps, starting at my home and first visiting my state capitol in Topeka. Each day other than the first and last days (except one\*) begins and ends in a capitol city. I could do it in 18 lonnnnnng days, driving anywhere from 500 to 800+ miles each day. \*Phoenix to Austin is over 1,000 miles, too long for this old man. ---
**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:** [December 24, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1205 "2024-12-24T17:11:16Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The second lowest capitol is a tie, at 21’, between two states, but the one that suprised me was Sacramento, though it really should not have, as that state has some really low spots During construction, the capitol building flooded. The ground around the building was raised six feet, so that the basement level began six feet deeper. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1206 "2024-12-24T19:46:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It’s unique in the sense that it’s obviously not. But which is the most unique? (Ducks and runs.) ---
**Author:** ![Awb78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@Awb78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Awb78)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1207 "2024-12-24T21:17:43Z")
Here’ s a fun fact about #3, Minnesota. On the Capitol, there is a sculpture of horses and a chariot. Whoever did it made sure to include the horse’s ballsacks. Pretty hilarious to a 6th-graders on a field trip 🤣 ---
**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:** [December 24, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1208 "2024-12-24T22:19:48Z")
In Madrid there is the saying that someone has “más cojones” than Espartero’s horse. I guess cojones is clear (PM me if not), but who is Espartero, and what about his horse? He was a general and he got a monument riding on a horse, like generals do. And this horse, which you can still admire in Madrid at the confluence of Calle de Alcalá and Calle O’Donnell, right on the border of the Salamanca and Retiro districts, has… well, judge for yourself: [![](https://static1.larioja.com/www/multimedia/202007/07/media/cortadas/caballo-espartero-fama-knS-U110722363297ZpH-624x380@La%20Rioja.jpg) ](https://static1.larioja.com/www/multimedia/202007/07/media/cortadas/caballo-espartero-fama-knS-U110722363297ZpH-624x380@La%20Rioja.jpg) Those cojones not only made it into Madrid’s popular culture, they also have their own wikipage, and it has been translated into English. Yup, **[here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_General_Espartero_(Madrid))**. Something about his horse must have been peculiar, because the same saying is known in Logroño, in La Rioja, many hundred kilometers away, where he also has an equestrial monument. Those testicles must have some deeper meaning. ---
**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:** [December 24, 2024, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1209 "2024-12-24T22:34:23Z")
Blucifer (the mustang on display entering Denver International Airport) is contraversial over the size of his testicles. Also he has killed two people. TIL that Michael Douglas’ Oscar for _Wall Street_ was his second one. He also got one as a producer when _One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest_ won Best Picture. ---
**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:** [December 24, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1210 "2024-12-24T22:36:35Z")
A 1980s rite of passage for San Francisco Giant rookies at their first game in Chicago was to stealthily paint the bronze scrotum of General Sheridan’s stallion in bright orange. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1211 "2024-12-24T22:37:27Z")
Canada’s provincial and territorial legislative buildings (few have domes): [Legislative buildings of Canada - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_buildings_of_Canada) ---
**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:** [December 24, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1212 "2024-12-24T22:55:50Z")
I see a dome on all the older ones, though, which is basically the same as the U.S. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2024, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1213 "2024-12-25T05:11:00Z")
I have seen and touched the “Davinci” horse at Meijer Gardens. [![](https://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/da-vinci-horse-sculpture-in-frederick-meijer-gardens-and-sculpture-park-in-grand-rapids-michigan-ruth-hager.jpg) ](https://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/da-vinci-horse-sculpture-in-frederick-meijer-gardens-and-sculpture-park-in-grand-rapids-michigan-ruth-hager.jpg) It is quite impressive to see and stand under (about 6’ under the chest). And, of course, well-endowed. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1214 "2024-12-25T14:03:06Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Davinci” horse at Meijer Gardens Quite a bit more than six feet, unless these people are much shorter than average. [https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/proxy/nclqykqPfBWfhiNQj4E44l6KsMOMQEfcNREkzn\_ORSwtJfw2zKwD1VRd3nyq\_MoxtL5zcxAgdkDFzprR4ydh\_6x87GNHiy6lorHDaVbFPanZm3-eMU-C](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/proxy/nclqykqPfBWfhiNQj4E44l6KsMOMQEfcNREkzn_ORSwtJfw2zKwD1VRd3nyq_MoxtL5zcxAgdkDFzprR4ydh_6x87GNHiy6lorHDaVbFPanZm3-eMU-C) ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1215 "2024-12-25T18:09:08Z")
Allegedly - in 1951 Meredith Wilson wrote “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” in his hotel room while in Yarmouth NS (Canada). His hotel happened to be the “Grand Hotel” (as in “There’s a tree in the Grand Hotel”), and a large park across the street (“One in the park as well”). Nearby there was a Woolworth’s or Kresge’s (or something similar)(“Take a look at the 5 and 10”). The hotel opened on July 2, 1894, and was demolished in 1966. It was replaced by a new structure at the same location within a year - now called the “Rodd Grand Yarmouth Hotel”. A photo and commentary of the old hotel: [The orginal Yarmouth Grand Hotel | Yarmouth Museum](https://www.yarmouthcountymuseum.ca/product-page/the-orginal-yarmouth-grand-hotel) ---
**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:** [December 26, 2024, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1216 "2024-12-26T04:15:03Z")
“Jingle Bells” was probably written for a minstrel show; there were similar minstrel songs around the same time that were based on the song “The Merry Sleigh Ride!" > **[“The story I must tell”: “Jingle Bells” in the Minstrel Repertoire | Theatre...](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/theatre-survey/article/story-i-must-tell-jingle-bells-in-the-minstrel-repertoire/D42C78950A58BDB88290954F73B195B2)** > > “The story I must tell”: “Jingle Bells” in the Minstrel Repertoire - Volume 58 Issue 3 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1217 "2024-12-26T05:30:09Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Blucifer (the mustang on display entering Denver International Airport) is contraversial over the size of his testicles. Also he has killed two people. Part of it fell on the sculptor and killed him. Who else was killed by it? ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1218 "2024-12-26T13:51:46Z")
From the wikipedia article - > [@](#): > > In September 2020, a man was seen at the base of the sculpture shooting up at it. He later shot into traffic and then shot himself. He died later at a hospital. No one else was harmed.[[26]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mustang#cite_note-26) ---
**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:** [December 26, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1219 "2024-12-26T14:27:34Z")
Exactly. He was talking to Blucifer who convinced him to shoot himself. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1220 "2024-12-26T16:05:54Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Blucifer (the mustang on display entering Denver International Airport) is contraversial over the size of his testicles. Is there no controversy regarding his lovingly rendered anus? [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/QMVkuZF.jpeg "Blucifers overly detailed butt") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/blucifers-overly-detailed-KsyvWrW) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=60) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=62)