# 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:** 65
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2025, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1281 "2025-01-08T23:05:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The town is sometimes called “the richest hill on Earth”, because the total value of the ores that came from there (mostly copper) is more than from anywhere else. You can at least partially blame Thomas Edison and Samuel Morse for that, according to [this](https://www.ulmaforge.com/en/new/history-and-uses-of-copper/#:~:text=It%20also%20played%20a%20key%20role%20in,in%20the%20development%20of%20electricity%20and%20telecommunications.). The proliferation of telegraph lines and electric cables apparently dramatically drove up the demand for copper in the late 1800s. Where there’s lots of money to be made, someone will figure out a way to make it. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2025, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1282 "2025-01-09T00:25:26Z")
Today I learned about the mystery involving a certain wych elm in England. It’s an interesting unsolved mystery, and the addition of spooky graffiti adds to the charm. > **[Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_put_Bella_in_the_Wych_Elm%3F)** > > "Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?" is the final form of a series of graffiti connected with the discovery in 1943 of the remains of a murdered woman inside a wych elm on the outskirts of Hagley in Worcestershire. The body has remained unidentified and the case unsolved since then, prompting many media articles and films, as well as dramas, an opera and a musical. > On 18 April 1943, four local boys (Robert Hart, Thomas Willetts, Bob Farmer and Fred Payne) were poaching or bird–nesting\[n 1\] in Ha... ---
**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:** [January 9, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1283 "2025-01-09T02:44:10Z")
TIL about the (literal) killer 85 foot tall Santa that terrorized Dallas in 1953. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/S1KOO9BmWVo/hqdefault.jpg "The Porter Chevrolet Santa Disaster") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1KOO9BmWVo) ---
**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:** [January 9, 2025, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1284 "2025-01-09T10:26:56Z")
Well, apart from the fact that the Santa had nothing to do with the death of a guy who was hanging from a crane without any safety equipment and had a cardiac rupture while up there. The giant Santa is a fascinating bit of promotional excess and worth knowing about just for that, to be fair, but from the description I was expecting them to [have had to call out Paul Anka or something](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlKao_Pox5A). ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1285 "2025-01-10T15:09:43Z")
Today I discovered [there is a law that prohibits the construction tall buildings in Washington D.C.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Height_of_Buildings_Act_of_1910) And then I thought to myself, “Wow, come to think of it, I’ve never seen a skyscraper in D.C.” ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1286 "2025-01-10T16:35:04Z")
They didn’t want taller buildings that would dwarf the Washington Monument and the Capitol. They were also concerned about fighting high-rise fires at the time the law was enacted. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1287 "2025-01-10T19:34:57Z")
The sum from 1 to n of the factorials (i.e. 1! + 2! + 3! + … n!) is only a perfect square if n = 1 or n = 3. The proof is left as an exercise for the reader. 🙂 ---
**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:** [January 10, 2025, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1288 "2025-01-10T20:07:19Z")
Hint: Perfect squares must end with 0, 1, 4, 5, 6 or 9. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1289 "2025-01-10T20:21:34Z")
I was told there would be no math. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1290 "2025-01-10T20:56:59Z")
The sum of k! for k = 1 to 0 is 0, which is a perfect square. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1291 "2025-01-10T21:01:53Z")
No, it is a perfect circle. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1292 "2025-01-10T21:15:10Z")
1n 1799, George Washington’s distillery at Mount Vernon produced over 11,000 gallons of whiskey, making it the largest distillery in America at that time. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2025, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1293 "2025-01-12T03:11:12Z")
The giant foot from the opening credits of Monty Python’s Flying Circus came from a painting in London’s National Gallery called Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time ---
**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:** [January 12, 2025, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1294 "2025-01-12T03:45:47Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > In 1799, George Washington’s distillery at Mount Vernon produced over 11,000 gallons of whiskey, making it the largest distillery in America at that time I presume he diligently paid the full federal excise tax at the time. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2025, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1295 "2025-01-12T03:59:46Z")
Which was one of Michael Palin’s favourite artworks, he told us in a public discussion in that gallery about 6 or so years ago. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2025, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1296 "2025-01-12T05:17:27Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Today I discovered [there is a law that prohibits the construction tall buildings in Washington D.C.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Height_of_Buildings_Act_of_1910) Portland Oregon has an ordinance restricting the height of buildings, but they have a catch. There are at least two skyscrapers that well-exceed the height restriction, but they get around it by borrowing airspace from the adjacent block. Hence, you can build a 40 story tower, but you have to have a spot next to it that has a very short structure. This prevents the downtown area from becoming canyons through behemoths. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2025, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1297 "2025-01-12T07:59:54Z")
The origin of the name Ampersand (for this symbol: &) I heard this one on the excellent History Of English Podcast by one Kevin Stroud. Although he’s not a linguist by profession (he’s an attorney), the content of his podcast seems to be valid and well researched. [Etymology Online](https://www.etymonline.com/word/ampersand#etymonline_v_11010) bears this out, albeit with a slight difference or two. Kevin Stroud’s explanation: Long ago, when you recited the alphabet, you were expected to say ‘&’ (“ampersand”) at the end. We’re talking like 200 years ago, when the symbol was used more widely in writing generally. The name was originally “per se and”, meaning the symbol as just a symbol without its meaning. So you’d finish up by saying “…X, Y, Z, and per se ‘and’”\*\*, and that last bit eventually got contracted to “Ampersand”. By the same token, people sometimes said “A per se” or “I per se” to emphasize that they were referring to the _letter_ and not the indefinite article or first person singular nominative pronoun. Etymology Online’s explanation: Almost the same as above, except it states that “per se I” and “per se A” denoted the words rather than the letters. ISTM that Keven Stroud’s explanation makes more sense, but who am I to judge? I’m not a professional linguist either. But I do recall once reading a nursery rhyme once about a pie and how all the letters of the alphabet wanted it, ate it, longed for it, or whatever, and ampersand was included at the end. _X, Y, Z, and Ampersand/ All wished for a piece in hand._ In a way, the whole “and per se and” etymology sounds as fake as the “pluck you” folk etymology, but it makes a lot more sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2025, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1298 "2025-01-12T11:20:40Z")
As a matter of fact, he did. > Washington did, in fact, pay his excise taxes on the production of these vast amounts of whiskey: the Mount Vernon farm ledger for 1799 records that Washington paid $332.64 in annual taxes on his distillery. > **[Whiskey Production](https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/whiskey-production)** > > In the late 1790s, Julian Niemcewicz, a Polish visitor to Mount Vernon, noted the presence of what he? ---
**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:** [January 12, 2025, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1299 "2025-01-12T12:32:30Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > The giant foot from the opening credits of Monty Python’s Flying Circus came from a painting in London’s National Gallery called Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time And the image of God in _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ is of famously-beardy English cricketer W.G. Grace. > **[W. G. Grace](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Grace#/media/File%3AWG_Grace_c1902.jpg)** > > William Gilbert Grace MRCS LRCP (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 44 seasons from 1865 to 1908. Test cricket originated during his career, and he represented England in 22 matches from 1880 to 1899. In domestic cricket, he was mostly associated with Gloucestershire, the Gentlemen, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), an... ---
**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:** [January 12, 2025, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1300 "2025-01-12T12:58:49Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Portland Oregon has an ordinance restricting the height of buildings, but they have a catch. There are at least two skyscrapers that well-exceed the height restriction, but they get around it by borrowing airspace from the adjacent block. Hence, you can build a 40 story tower, but you have to have a spot next to it that has a very short structure. This prevents the downtown area from becoming canyons through behemoths. somewhat reminds me of Lima, Perú … if you are the owner of the last floor, you are allowed to keep adding floors … (certain limits prob. apply) a randomn drop in google maps [![](https://i.postimg.cc/SNcS5ng0/image.png) ](https://i.postimg.cc/SNcS5ng0/image.png) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=64) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=66)