# Unbelievable facts that turn out to be true. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648 "2010-02-27T14:47:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/101 "2010-03-14T08:44:29Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Why unbelievable? > The war in Laos went on for twice as long. > And the US government had decided that the public was unwilling to accept soldier casualties, so they tried to win it with aerial bombing instead of infantry. But Laos is a small country. I crossed it on a bus in about three hours going between Thailand and Vietnam. I think it’s about 1000 km from north to south, but on average about 200km wide. I just checked the surface area of Laos, about 240.000 square kilometers. With that in mind, if you draw a grid 10 meters square across the whole country on average a bomb and fraction was dropped in every single square. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/102 "2010-03-14T12:05:08Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > With that in mind, if you draw a grid 10 meters square across the whole country on average a bomb and fraction was dropped in every single square. I think you are out by a factor, using 10 meter squares you would have 10,000 squares per square km and the US only dropped a thousand and a fraction bombs per square km. The thing that most surprised me was that I never knew we where at war with Laos. Stupidly at war with North Vietnam yes, but Laos??? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/103 "2010-03-14T12:34:45Z")
Cleve Francis, one of the few black country music singers even to make it as far as getting a few singles or albums on the country charts, has a second job. He’s a cardiologist: > **[Cleve Francis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleve_Francis)** > > Cleveland Francis (born April 22, 1945) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and cardiologist. Active since the late 1960s, Francis has recorded a total of nine albums, including three for Liberty Records. He has charted four times on Billboard Hot Country Songs, most successfully with "You Do My Heart Good" in 1992. > Francis began his music career as a folk and blues singer and songwriter in the late 1960s while still a graduate student at the College of William & Mary, where he gr... Yeah, I was reminded of it because of the article in _The Washington Post_ today, but I had read about it years ago. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/104 "2010-03-14T13:54:14Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Cats will not face the setting Sun. > > Hens’ eggs that are laid in the dark have white yolks. > > Ferris wheels were originally invented as elevators. > > Angelica Huston was born in Orlando, FL, and Tony Orlando was born in Houston, TX. > [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I don’t believe this one at all. I don’t believe any of them. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/105 "2010-03-14T14:45:30Z")
They have to drive into Ohio? They don’t have a bridge into Michigan? 😕 I know the Mackinac Bridge is in that area. > [@](#): > > The few Michigan residents that live on the small peninsula must travel south into Ohio on a 10 minute drive before going north to get back to the rest of Michigan. > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Michigan’s “Lost Peninsula” is rather interesting. According to [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_County,_Michigan), ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/106 "2010-03-14T14:56:14Z")
Recently learned the Outerbridge Crossing, one of the Bridges from New Jersey to Staten Island is named after a man. [Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenius_Harvey_Outerbridge). This was a shock to me. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/107 "2010-03-14T14:58:27Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > The thing that most surprised me was that I never knew we where at war with Laos. Stupidly at war with North Vietnam yes, but Laos??? I don’t recall Congress declaring war on either Vietnam or Laos. Or Panama, Grenada, or even Iraq, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/108 "2010-03-14T15:10:46Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Recently learned the Outerbridge Crossing, one of the Bridges from New Jersey to Staten Island is named after a man. [Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenius_Harvey_Outerbridge). This was a shock to me. This is doubly interesting, since it is the outermost bridge crossing in NYC. The Holland Tunnel has nothing to do with the dutch; it was named after [Clifford Milburn Holland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Milburn_Holland), the first chief engineer on the project. (There’s a bust of him on the left side of the entrance on the New York side) ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/109 "2010-03-14T16:10:28Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Angelica Huston was born in Orlando, FL, and Tony Orlando was born in Houston, TX. According to Wikipedia, Angelica Huston was born in Santa Monica, California. Unfortunately, St. Monica was born in Algeria instead of Houston. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/110 "2010-03-14T17:11:30Z")
And if you want to cross the Potomac, there’s a [Nice Bridge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_Harry_W._Nice_Memorial_Bridge) you can use. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/111 "2010-03-14T17:13:24Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > According to Wikipedia, Angelica Huston was born in Santa Monica, California. > > Unfortunately, St. Monica was born in Algeria instead of Houston. St. Augustine, of course, is reputedly the oldest city in the U.S. It figures that St. Augustine is on the opposite side of the U.S. from his mother, Santa Monica. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/112 "2010-03-14T18:04:13Z")
I am probably a direct decendant of [Charlemagne](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne), and some of the atoms in my body were probably once part of William Shakespeare. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/113 "2010-03-14T18:31:27Z")
This is one that I read here on SDMB a couple of years ago, and if indeed true it blows me away. 16 year olds are legally allowed to work as fully nude strippers in Rhode Island, though they can’t work past midnight on a school night. With the various child-porn laws and child labor laws, not to mention liquor laws, I find this almost impossible to believe, but some poster (dont remember the poster’s name, or where they lived) swore it is currently the law in Rhode Island. Frankly, I am doubtful that it would be legal in Bangkok or Amsterdam, let alone somewhere in the USA, with the hyper-sensitivity we seem to have regarding anything sexual and children under the age of 18… Anyone know the Straight Dope? If true, are Rhode Island strip bars chock full of guys from all over the world who crave 16 year old girls? ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/114 "2010-03-14T18:56:03Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > We had an “unbelievable facts” thread which you could basically copy and paste into this thread. My favorite was: The vast majority of South America is east of Miami. In Panama you can have the Atlantic on your west, and the Pacific on your east. - Oddly, yours, _ **Og** _ ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/115 "2010-03-14T19:19:03Z")
> [@Kyrie\_Eleison](#): > > Take a piece of string. Wrap it around a basketball. Increase the length of the string enough to wrap around the basketball at a height of 1 in. above its surface. This will require an additional 6.28 in. of string. > > Take a piece of string. Wrap it around Earth. Increase the length of the string enough to wrap around the planet at a height of 1 in. above its surface. This will require the same additional 6.28 in. of string. > > Simple geometry. Still kinda mind boggling. That reminds me of something that is about physics, not math, but seems eerie to me in a similar way. Picture the largest ship in the word, floating freely in a super-sized “swimming pool” that has been constructed for just that purpose. (It is not only long and wide enough, it is more than deep enough for however low the keel would end up below the surface of the water.) Now, nobody’s mind is boggled so far. The bouyancy principle is that the ship descends no further than the point at which the weight of displaced water equals the total craft weight. And I doubt that anyone performing this thought experiment won’t see that this could be in a large-enough and deep-enough pool as in the ocean. Now imagine that someone fashions a metal structure under the ship, matching it’s shape except for an avoiding distance of one inch. The structure goes at least as far up as the water surface. The structure is then firmly braced against the bootom of the pool. The water is drained from the pool. Oddly, the ship still is buoyed up by the inch of water all around the bottom. The principles of hydraulics require this! _ **- Oddly enough Og** _ ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/116 "2010-03-14T19:45:21Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > The U.S. state closest to Africa is Maine. Why is this one unbelievable? ---
**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:** [March 14, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/117 "2010-03-14T21:44:09Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Did any of them [i.e, John Tyler’s great grandsons] ever work with Kevin Bacon? No, but one of them sang back up for the Monkees… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/118 "2010-03-14T21:57:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Ferris wheels were originally invented as elevators. No, George Ferris built the first Ferris Wheel as a midway ride for the Chicago world’s fair (aka the World’s Columbian Exposition) in 1893. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/119 "2010-03-14T22:03:03Z")
> [@](#): > > The U.S. state closest to Africa is Maine. > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Why is this one unbelievable? Because most of us Americans think of Maine as “way up North,” and Africa as South and West. We would guess Florida would be much closer. Not once has someone guessed it when I asked it as a trivia question. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648/120 "2010-03-14T22:06:18Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > I am probably a direct decendant of [Charlemagne](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne), and some of the atoms in my body were probably once part of William Shakespeare. You didn’t say, but I’m guessing this applies to more people than not, and therefore “probably” you. Right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unbelievable-facts-that-turn-out-to-be-true/530648.md?page=7)