# 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:** 84
**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:** [February 20, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1661 "2025-02-20T23:41:43Z")
That’s interesting! First time I have been in the Cwilio Wicipedia too! 🙂 Basque is still different. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1662 "2025-02-20T23:51:45Z")
George in Welsh is Sior. damn ninjas. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2025, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1663 "2025-02-21T00:11:40Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > It’s a rare thing to find one these days - I _almost_ miss them. Well, that depends on how good your aim is. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1664 "2025-02-21T00:47:18Z")
“Love is In the Air,” that 1977 disco pop hit by John Paul Young, was co-composed by the brother of two members of AC/DC. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1665 "2025-02-21T03:17:59Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Was this a thing at the time, or was he breaking new ground? In 1910, Alexander Scriabin published _[Prometheus: The Poem of Fire](https://youtu.be/V3B7uQ5K0IU?si=thCsG2cx23jvLPA-)_, for piano, orchestra, and color organ, which projected colored lights when a musical score was played on the keyboard. “A symphony of sound counterpointed by a symphony of light.” The technology for synesthetic performance wasn’t exactly capable of realizing Scriabin’s vision yet. Psychedelic light shows to rock music concerts became widespread in the 1960s. But Scriabin was the first to dream it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1666 "2025-02-21T13:35:29Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > In 1910, Alexander Scriabin published _[Prometheus: The Poem of Fire](https://youtu.be/V3B7uQ5K0IU?si=thCsG2cx23jvLPA-)_, for piano, orchestra, and color organ, which projected colored lights when a musical score was played on the keyboard. Thank you! I’ve never heard of this before, and intend to look into it. Apparently William Moritz of CalArts researched this heavily. Back in 1906, to publicize the newly-formed General Electric company and to campaign for its bid to run the electric lights concessions at World’s Fairs, Walter Darcy Ryan invented what he called the _Scintillator_ – it was basically a fog machine and a bank of searchlights mounted on universal joint swivels with a collection of waterproofed colored gel filters. Six men controlled the searchlights, and were themselves directed by a “conductor” who used hand signals and whistles to run them through a series of routines. The colored searchlight beams passing through the fog created streams of color and riss-crossing patterns that could intersect to form mixtures or produce plaid-like patterns, or duplicate the flags of nations participating in the expositions. They would also use effects like spiralling fog machines or little charges set t go off in the clouds. They originally put on an exhibition at Bass Point in Nahant on July 12, 1906, intending run it for a week. People began chartering boats to anchor in Broad Sound to watch the show, and it went on for over a month. The people at the newly-opened Wonderland Amusement Park on the other side of Broad Sound were furious – no one was paying attention to them and their own searchlights. They waged war on the Scintillator, trying to drown out their beams with their own searchlights, but it didn’t work. Finally, they did the only reasonable thing – they bought the Sc intillator. Well, at least they rented it for the rest of the summer, moving it across to Revere so that it would lead people to Wonderland, and extending the summer season Wonderland would be open by another couple of weeks. Ultimately, the Scintillator didn’t help GE get the contract at the next World’s Fair, although it did get other gigs. But GE did get the contract for the Panama-Pacidic Exposition at San Francisco in 1915, and they brought along 40-searchlight Scintillator that required an entire locomotive engine to provide steam for. The Scintillator’s movements were coordinated eventually with music, a sort of inevitable result, so Ryan had stumbled onto the same sort of thing as the Color Organ. Ryan essentially invented the Light Show. > **[Highlights of 1906 — Mr. Thompson’s Wild Ride and the Ryan Scintillator](https://lost-wonderland.com/highlights-of-1906-mr-thompsons-wild-ride-and-the-ryan-scintillator/)** > > Floyd C. Thompson’s Wild Ride Floyd C. Thompson, who threw himself completely into building and promoting Wonderland, tried to do all he could for the sake of publicity. Whether because of a … > **[1915 Panama American Exposition, San Francisco – The Ryan Electric Color...](https://vampiremaman.com/2022/04/19/1915-panama-american-exposition-in-san-francisco-was-the-ryan-electric-color-scintillator-display/)** > > One of the most amazing displays at the 1915 Panama American International Exposition in San Francisco was the Ryan Electric Color Scintillator Display. Electricity had been around for a bit but TH… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1667 "2025-02-21T14:48:55Z")
I would love to have seen it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1668 "2025-02-21T15:52:15Z")
Me, too. I’m sure the pictures don’t do it justice. ---
**Author:** ![Chuck2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Chuck2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chuck2)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1669 "2025-02-21T15:56:02Z")
So, when is the first year of a presidential election that Barron will be 35? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1670 "2025-02-21T16:32:27Z")
Moderating: > [@Chuck2](#): > > So, when is the first year of a presidential election that Barron will be 35? This is not the thread for that kind of political jab. It’s for interesting things that have happened, not political speculation. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1671 "2025-02-21T16:41:48Z")
Celebrity plastic surgeon Terry Dubrow’s older brother was Kevin Dubrow, lead vocalist of the pop metal band Quiet Riot. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1672 "2025-02-21T17:18:50Z")
The “Titanic” carried only about half the number of passengers for which it had the capacity to hold. The tragedy could have been a lot worse. The first three ports the “Titanic” sailed to/from were Southamption (UK) - departure in the afternoon; Cherbourg (France) - arrival/departure the same evening; Queenstown (Ireland) the following morning. 24 passengers travelled only between these three ports - all left the ship in Cherbourg or Queenstown. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1673 "2025-02-21T21:39:06Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > The “Titanic” carried only about half the number of passengers for which it had the capacity to hold. The tragedy could have been a lot worse. How did that work - were there lots of empty cabins, single rooms instead of doubles, empty bunks in steerage? ---
**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:** [February 21, 2025, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1674 "2025-02-21T22:00:19Z")
Did steerage even have bunks? ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1675 "2025-02-22T00:40:19Z")
Yes, steerage in the Titanic had bunks. “Third-class on board _Titanic_ was noticeably more comfortable than what was offered on many of her competitors, though third-class passengers were granted the smallest proportion of space on board and very few facilities. The [White Star Line](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Star_Line) had earned a reputation for providing notably good service in third-class, which was becoming an increasingly profitable share of the transatlantic passenger service. Technically “steerage”, the term for low-paying immigrant passengers housed in open-plan dormitories, does not apply to the _Titanic’s_ third-class passengers, all of whom were housed in private cabins of no more than 10 people.” Pictures at the link: [Second- and third-class facilities on the Titanic - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-_and_third-class_facilities_on_the_Titanic) And here’s a picture of the Third Class menu, with substantial meals including ham and eggs for breakfast, roast beef for lunch and cold meat and cheese for high tea. [Gruel - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruel#Variations) ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1676 "2025-02-22T02:28:50Z")
I’d been under the impression that steerage was literally a bare hold, like livestock would be transported in. People as live cargo rather than passengers. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1677 "2025-02-22T02:51:20Z")
That’s slave ships that you’re thinking of. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1678 "2025-02-22T04:49:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That’s slave ships that you’re thinking of… Steerage only lacked the shackles in many cases. Third class on the Titanic could only be called steerage euphemistically, but other steamers of the time had accommodations no better than that afforded livestock. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1679 "2025-02-22T06:27:06Z")
The Potato famine-era “death ships” and the ships that brought the Chinese coolies to North America had a higher fatality rate than African slave ships. It all boils down to economics ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785/1680 "2025-02-22T12:54:51Z")
Why “Titanic” was only half full: [TitanicMaidenVoyageHalfFull.pdf](https://markchirnside.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/TitanicMaidenVoyageHalfFull.pdf) 3,547 – the maximum capacity of [the RMS Titanic](https://titanicfacts.net/titanic-ship/) when fully loaded with passengers and crew. 2,222 – the total number of people on board (passengers and [crew](https://titanicfacts.net/titanic-crew/)). 2,566 – the number of passengers Titanic was capable of carrying 1,317 – the approximate number of passengers actually on board. 49% – the percentage of passenger places that went unused (the loss of life could have been far great still). 20 – the number of people said to have cancelled their plans to sail aboard Titanic after dreaming that she would sink. Number per class, and links to passenger lists for each: 324 – the number of [first class passengers](https://titanicfacts.net/first-class-passengers/) on board. 284 – the number of [second class passengers](https://titanicfacts.net/second-class-passengers/). 709 – the number of [third class passengers](https://titanicfacts.net/third-class-passengers/). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=83) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-an-interesting-random-fact-you-stumbled-across-part-2/1004785.md?page=85)