# Things that are much smaller than you always thought **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 28, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430 "2018-08-28T20:57:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/81 "2018-08-31T14:48:02Z")
TV/movie/music/news celebrities. Media makes them seem majestic and bigger than life. Most are shorter, lighter, and weaker than me. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/82 "2018-08-31T15:57:49Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Danny Devito. I saw him in The Bellagio in Vegas back in 2004. He was so short he seemed almost as wide as he was tall. Even for a short guy he looked shorter than he looked in any of his movies. I saw him about ten years ago at “Tales of the Cocktail” and if I had to guess, he’s about 5 feet tall at the most. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/83 "2018-08-31T17:29:56Z")
Mission Control Houston for the Apollo Moon landings. I thought it would be huge. Instead, it is a medium sized conference room. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/84 "2018-08-31T18:31:12Z")
> [@j666](#): > > That’s because the battle was fought on Breeds’ Hill. > Don’t bother asking. Yes, but the monument is in the correct location. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/85 "2018-08-31T18:46:14Z")
I saw figure skater and olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi and she is tiny, maybe 5 feet 100 lbs. She’s small even for a skater. Her husband is 6-2 , 215 . I guess opposites attract. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/86 "2018-08-31T19:40:21Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Mission Control Houston for the Apollo Moon landings. I thought it would be huge. Instead, it is a medium sized conference room. The same is true of the control room of the (former) NORAD headquarters control room underneath Cheyenne Mountain. It isn’t the giant war room you see on the movies, it is basically the size of a large classroom except taller. In the 90’s I took a tour of the mountain and they let us sit in a conference room overlooking the control room. This picture shows the view from that room: [https://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/cmc-CMDCTR-4.jpg](https://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/cmc-CMDCTR-4.jpg) Also the Statue of Liberty. As a kid I thought it was the size of a skyscraper and the head was a big room you could walk around in, with normal full-size windows making up the crown. It turned out the head just has a little platform only a few people can fit on, and the windows are tiny little portholes. [Inside the Statue of Liberty’s Head](https://youtu.be/L6yLEzsonb0?t=2m3s) ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/87 "2018-08-31T21:52:49Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Cape Hatteras lighthouse even though it is 193 ft tall. It looks bigger in pictures. Try climbing it sometime. You’ll quickly be disabused of the notion that it’s in any way “small”. ---
**Author:** ![James\_in\_Toronto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@James\_in\_Toronto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_in_Toronto)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/88 "2018-08-31T21:56:19Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > [Dealey Plaza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dealey_Plaza), where the assassination of President Kennedy took place. I had seen it in countless photos and television news stories. When I first drove into it, I was shocked at how close together everything was. The distance from the 6th floor window to the car’s position… Oswald was between 60 and 90 yards from Kennedy when the shooting took place. Not very far at all. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/89 "2018-08-31T22:18:17Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/90 "2018-08-31T23:11:40Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > NM It may not have many people, but it’s not small. There are hundreds of miles of desert south of Albuquerque. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/91 "2018-08-31T23:19:20Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > … > Also the Statue of Liberty. As a kid I thought it was the size of a skyscraper and the head was a big room you could walk around in, with normal full-size windows making up the crown. It turned out the head just has a little platform only a few people can fit on, and the windows are tiny little portholes. > > [Inside the Statue of Liberty’s Head](https://youtu.be/L6yLEzsonb0?t=2m3s) Exactly what I was going to post. Standing on the platform, I reached out my arms and touched opposite sides of the head. Not at the farthest apart, but still, being short I never imagined I could do that. Other than that, things that are always smaller than I thought include just about every public bathroom stall I have ever used outside of the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, FL. ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/92 "2018-09-01T05:51:00Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > Stonehenge. It would fit in my yard with room to spare. Then you have one \*\*\*\*\* huge yard! Just the Standing-Stones center is some 320ft x 400ft The whole complex is about 8 square miles. ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/93 "2018-09-01T06:06:26Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > Exactly what I was going to post. Standing on the platform, I reached out my arms and touched opposite sides of the head. Not at the farthest apart, but still, being short I never imagined I could do that. Dude, cut out the fisherman’s tales. . The head is 10 feet across at the temples. > **[The bronze face of the Statue of Liberty uncrated awaiting installation in...](https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-bronze-face-of-the-statue-of-liberty-uncrated-awaiting-installation-57933046.html)** > > Download this stock image: The bronze face of the Statue of Liberty uncrated awaiting installation in 1885 on Liberty Island, NY. The dark color is the result of oxidation of the copper material, which turned deeper brown, black, and eventually the... [http://www.libertystatepark.org/statueofliberty/sol12.shtml](http://www.libertystatepark.org/statueofliberty/sol12.shtml) . No human in recorded history has ever had an arm span that wide. . So either you are lying, or you define “opposite sides of the head” as “one hand left of the center-line, and one hand on the right” ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/94 "2018-09-01T06:42:49Z")
> [@PAjoe](#): > > The Mercury space capsule. Not for the claustrophobic. Also the Gemini capsule. There was one in Huntsville which you could climb in, and it was quite a tight fit, though I’m taller than astronauts are allowed. I’m a claustrophile so I enjoyed it. And ditto to **Shagnasty** about Mission Control. I can only guess they use fish eye lenses for news broadcasts. The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. I know it says little, but it was smaller than I expected. It appears to be the one tourist attraction there that everyone sees and then goes meh about. Also in Copenhagen, Tivoli Gardens is the smallest amusement park I’ve ever been to. We had a free pass with a transit pass book, but it was a big disappointment. We walked through and left immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/95 "2018-09-01T06:55:03Z")
I went to a first & middle school on the same site for my whole childhood, age 4-17. I went back as an adult for the first time in my late 30s and it was astonishing how this place with so many memories was about half the size that I remembered. It was bizarre, it felt just like walking through a scale model. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/96 "2018-09-01T07:34:19Z")
When I was a kid the garden got [tomato hornworms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manduca_quinquemaculata). At some point they stopped coming, and I didn’t see any for years. I finally saw one and it seemed tiny compared to my memory. About 4 inches, but seemed yuuuge. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/97 "2018-09-01T12:54:05Z")
> [@PAjoe](#): > > The Mercury space capsule. Not for the claustrophobic. Dam if that’s not the truth - Put every piece of stereo equipment you’ve every owned into a VW Bug, and as an afterthought make room for yourself (does not apply to Millennials, GenX, ect.) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/98 "2018-09-01T13:00:52Z")
For that matter, the [cockpit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Dynamics_F-111_Aardvark#/media/File:General_Dynamics_F-111A_cockpit_061003-F-1234S-015.jpg) of a F-111 Aardvark looks pretty like a pretty tight fit. I have a cousin that flew them. Made a few trips across the Atlantic in it. It is pretty freaking fast though - "Maximum speed: Mach 2.5 (1,650 mph, 2,655 km/h) at altitude; Mach 1.2 (915 mph, 1,473 km/h) at sea level ---
**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:** [September 1, 2018, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/99 "2018-09-01T13:11:12Z")
Haven’t been to Stonehenge but have been to the replica at [Maryhill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryhill_Stonehenge), WA. I’d say it’s a pretty impressive size. (Quite impressive if you know that it was originally built as a WWI memorial for a sparsely populated county.) You can see it easily from the opposite bank of the Columbia on I-84 in Oregon. Anyway. There’s this Hindu temple (mandir) that’s the largest in the SE US. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAPS_Shri_Swaminarayan_Mandir_Atlanta) says it’s the largest of its kind outside of India. It looks pretty impressive from the outside. We took a tour in March. The main area in the center is quite small. It’s sort of divvied up by pillars and side galleries, but the core part is about the size of a hospital chapel type thing. Norman churches had bigger naves. The rules on building one of these basically forces this kind of limit. (Plus all the huge stone carvings came from India. There’s a limit as to the size of the center cap stone of a ceiling you can make and ship to the other side of the world.) A ton of impressive carvings and art work but size-wise not so much. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430/100 "2018-09-01T17:10:57Z")
> [@MarvinKitFox](#): > > Then you have one \*\*\*\*\* huge yard! > Just the Standing-Stones center is some 320ft x 400ft > > The whole complex is about 8 square miles. The lots where I live start at a little over an acre and go up to about 10 acres. Mine is average for our area. That circle would fit just fine. All the empty pasture around the stones is part of what made them seem underwhelming. That doesn’t typically get included in photos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-much-smaller-than-you-always-thought/820430.md?page=6)