# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/121 "2024-08-09T08:27:25Z")
The world record for shearing sheep has just been won - at 517 sheep in 9 hours > **[‘I feel like I’ve been run over by a tank’: Scottish woman breaks world...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/08/i-feel-like-ive-been-run-over-by-a-tank-scottish-woman-breaks-world-sheep-shearing-record)** > > Una Cameron has sheared 517 sheep in a feat of athletic endurance to rival those of any Team GB Olympian ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/122 "2024-08-09T12:02:26Z")
Amtrak is set to establish the first new service east of New Orleans. Rather than extending the old Sunset Limited line, this is is a brand new line servicing Mobile and points between. [![](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5302778ee4b07a6f640874ef/1610682076361-0DKK2QXS7C5O0QMZ8UXC/New-Orleans-to-Mobile_cropped.jpg?format=2500w) ](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5302778ee4b07a6f640874ef/1610682076361-0DKK2QXS7C5O0QMZ8UXC/New-Orleans-to-Mobile_cropped.jpg?format=2500w) > **[Amtrak train from NOLA to Mobile finally gets approved. What's next and when...](https://www.nola.com/news/business/amrtak-train-new-orleans-mobile-gulf-coast/article_898511f8-5415-11ef-b23e-0bc4525cffd3.html)** > > It’s been previewed and promised for years and now, finally, Amtrak passenger trains are ready to roll across the Mississippi Gulf Coast, from New Orleans to Mobile. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/123 "2024-08-09T13:32:07Z")
> [@Kamala Harris's choice of Tim Walz as VP](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/299): > > > [@Kamala Harris's choice of Tim Walz as VP](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/296): > > > > …in a town less than ten minutes from where I currently live. … > > In Luxembourg, isn’t everything 10 minutes or less from everything else? 😉 > [@Kamala Harris's choice of Tim Walz as VP](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harriss-choice-of-tim-walz-as-vp/1005352/300): > > Har har. We’re the size of Rhode Island, so allow an hour tops. Rhode Island has an area of 1,034 sq mi, and Luxembourg, 999 sq mi, which is remarkably similar in size. It looks like crossing the state (Pascoag to Little Compton) is about 56 mi and typically 1h5m to 1h20m, while crossing the country (Weiswampach to Rumelange) is about 59 mi and typically 1h5m to 1h15m. Excellent comparison! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/124 "2024-08-09T13:46:43Z")
Funnily enough, you chose “the hard way” to cross the country, north to south. From east to west, the expressways are much more robust, with only a bit of a detour-loop as the A6 rings around Luxembourg City in the middle. So by contrast with your north-south route, if you start in Grevenmacher on the eastern border (with Germany) and head west, you’ll reach the IKEA just across the Belgian border in less than 40 minutes. > **[Grevenmacher to IKEA](https://maps.app.goo.gl/2m1UDbwWAs7tZqaZ7)** > > Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/125 "2024-08-09T13:50:58Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > that is, the ingredients for 11 tons of bronze, enough to equip a small army. The message is, “Don’t be afraid of bronze!” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nyu4u3VZYaQ/maxresdefault.jpg "That Mitchell & Webb Look - Bronze Orientation") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyu4u3VZYaQ) ---
**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 9, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/126 "2024-08-09T13:59:59Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > C. That the lead is shielding the detector from cosmic rays and neutrinos. > > Wait, what? Neutrinos? I don’t think so. Yeah, even a decent channel like SciShow needs better fact checkers. Yeah, bad fact checkers. The detector is for neutrinos. It’s deep enough underground that cosmic rays aren’t an issue there, but radiation from the surrounding earth could be. The relevance of cosmic rays is that the lead was mostly shielded from cosmic rays all this time by the water. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/127 "2024-08-09T14:19:03Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > this is is a brand new line servicing Mobile and points between. My mistake; it’s actually a third attempt at establishing the [Gulf Coast Limited.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Coast_Limited) The previous two didn’t last long. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2024, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/128 "2024-08-09T15:07:34Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Funnily enough, you chose “the hard way” to cross the country, north to south. Yes, I was trying to bolster the claim that Luxembourg (and Rhode Island) are not as small as most Americans think. But there are faster ways to cross them, for those so inclined. 😃 ---
**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 9, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/129 "2024-08-09T15:19:32Z")
Why do they make fun of Luxembourg being small when there’s Liechtenstein? ---
**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:** [August 9, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/130 "2024-08-09T15:32:19Z")
Andorra? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/131 "2024-08-09T16:10:33Z")
San Marino? ---
**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 9, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/132 "2024-08-09T16:14:52Z")
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta? ---
**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:** [August 9, 2024, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/133 "2024-08-09T20:26:51Z")
Monaco? Vatican City? I mention these just so that I can point out that I have been to Monaco, Vatican City, San Marino _and_ Andorra. And Malta, but that’s relatively huge. j. ETA - I just checked. Andorra is bigger than Malta. Ooops ---
**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 9, 2024, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/134 "2024-08-09T20:28:48Z")
So I deduce that you have never been to Liechtenstein? Never mind, I have never been to San Marino. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/135 "2024-08-09T20:35:16Z")
In Valetta, Malta, there is an estabishment called The Pub, which has its walls heavily adorned with Oliver Reed mementos, being the place where he fell off the barstool upon bendering himself literally to death. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/136 "2024-08-09T20:35:57Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > So I deduce that you have never been to Liechtenstein? Never mind, I have never been to San Marino. No, never been to Liechtenstein. But here’s a _slightly_ interesting fact about San Marino. I went there on business - the manufacturer we were visiting had a main factory in San Marino (established there for tax reasons) and a second factory about five km away in Italy. If you worked in the Italian factory you got paid more, because you had to pay Italian taxes. j . ---
**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:** [August 9, 2024, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/137 "2024-08-09T20:40:39Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > No, never been to Liechtenstein But I kinda like the music. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2024, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/138 "2024-08-09T20:52:36Z")
Speaking of music, I just this minute read a brilliant story about the Stones on tour and the late great Charlie Watts. > One anecdote relates that in the mid-1980s, an intoxicated Jagger phoned Watts’s hotel room in the middle of the night, asking, “Where’s my drummer?” Watts reportedly got up, shaved, dressed in a suit, put on a tie and freshly shined shoes, descended the stairs, and punched Jagger in the face, saying: “Never call me your drummer again. You’re _my_ fucking _singer_ !” From: [Charlie Watts - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Watts#Touring_and_band_relationships) j ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/139 "2024-08-09T21:04:13Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > No, never been to Liechtenstein. Nor me. But did I read somewhere that one of its principal products is false teeth? ---
**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:** [August 10, 2024, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/140 "2024-08-10T13:13:05Z")
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller wanted to include the bizarre parody “Italian Spiderman” as a character in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, but Marvel’s lawyers wouldn’t let them. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Zen_zRmbKaM/hqdefault.jpg "Italian Spiderman (Full Movie)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zen_zRmbKaM) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=8)