Tell us a strange fact about your hometown

[Goliath]

My hometown is the oldest in the province: St. Albert, Alberta, founded 1861.

-Most cream soda is red instead of gold.

Interesting. That's true up here as well. Have your soft-drink bottlers been taken over by Canadians?

I hope not, for your sake. Canadian cream soda is crap. And I say that as a patriotic Canadian.

 

[C.E. Evans]

My hometown is the oldest in the province: St. Albert, Alberta, founded 1861.

-Most cream soda is red instead of gold.

Interesting. That's true up here as well. Have your soft-drink bottlers been taken over by Canadians?

I hope not, for your sake. Canadian cream soda is crap. And I say that as a patriotic Canadian.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a connection due to the color, but most of the producers of cream soda in St. Louis are locally-based and have been for generations with red as the color of choice. I do think we use a different formula/recipe than most, though, because--aside from the color--I can tell when a cream soda is from "out of town" by the taste.

 

[Tan Ru]

Not my home town, but my father was born and grew up on Beaver Island, once home to a Mormon kingdom. The Mormon presence on the island ended when the Mormons were forcibly evicted from their home by mobs, consisting mainly of Irish fishermen.

Wow, Beaver Island.

I haven't been there in years!

Surprisingly, it is not really a great place to pick-up hot chicks.

 

[Starbreaker]

Two huge trials:

Alvin Ridley
Tonya Craft

On March 14, 2002, a sudden heavy fog played havoc with morning traffic and contributed to one of the worst traffic pileups in history; 125 vehicles crashed on Interstate 75 South and 4 people died.

 

[ares93]

Södertälje, Sweden. also known as Little Baghdad.

over 60% of the inhabitants are iraqi
more iraqi's settled in södertälje after the war than USA and Canada combined.
we are the center for swedens the black market weapon business.
they recently found four american anti tank rocket lauchers (SRAW) in a container from the states.
the södertälje police have been declared the most violent in sweden. (can confirm that from experience)
and i've been offered to buy a gun on several occasions. illegal i might add.
good enough?

in case you wonder. my signature is targeted at the södertälje police force.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

There are numerous books about reported hauntings in San Antonio and its surrounding area. It is reputed to be among the most haunted cities in the world. I think only New Orleans has a greater shear volume of ghost stories (or perhaps people who tell and/or believe such stories).

 

[Kestra]

Since the seances would be held quite often, they specified that the house should have no square corners in it. They explained that spirits have a tendency to get stuck in these corners, which could have dire results.

*takes notes furiously*

Um, you should also take note of something I neglected to mention. The husband (of the pair who lived there) was found dead in a corner, I think. So maybe they needed a better technique.

 

[Mr. B]

According to Buddy Stall's French Quarter Montage, New Orleans was the first American city with a department store. D.H. Holmes was founded by Daniel Henry Holmes in 1842. In 1989 it was sold to Dillard's.

Daniel Holmes was a man ahead of his time. He was the first to hire female retail clerks and the first to sell ready-to-wear ladies' clothes. One of his popular innovations that spread from coast to coast began in 1845. During the Mexican war, many Army officers wives' felt as if they were in heaven whenever they shopped in Holmes' department store. The only problem was that the road to the barracks was dark and lonely. The ladies, in carrying their purchases back to the barracks, feared robbers. Mr. Holmes, upon learning of this, began a new service to his customers-free home delivery. This service proved to be so popular is was copied by stores throughout the country

 

[NickInABox]

Our mayor has been around for 30 years, and she's in her late 80s now. And doesn't anticipate leaving any time soon.

 

[nevermore]

It's illegal to take a lion to the movies in Baltimore.

 

[Mary Ann]

The city of Montreal is not only a island, but a hill (Mont Real). My school was at the top of Atwater Avenue and during the winter when the roads were icy the bus sometimes couldn't make it up the hill fully-loaded, and bus driver would tell the kids from my school to get off the bus and walk the rest of the way. It wasn't far, but the sidewalks were no safer than the roads. Man, I hated those Montreal winters!

 

[Birdog]

My county is the poorest in the state both by per capita wages and tax dollars. It was also the leading producer of mint oil in the world for many years. I don't know if we still hold that title.

 

[Shaytan]

The WWI peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire was signed in my birthtown.
There is also a "secret" agreement signed by Israel, France and the UK there. It started the Suez crisis.
And finally, it's the home of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.

 

[Canadave]

Our mayor has been around for 30 years, and she's in her late 80s now. And doesn't anticipate leaving any time soon.

Ahh, a Mississaugan?

As for my hometown, (Peterborough, Ontario) it holds a few bizarre world records. First, it's home to the world's tallest hydraulic liftlock, at 20 metres:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v35/mennnc1701/1720103B4920peterborough20lift-lock.jpg

And, it just so happens that said lift lock is the world's largest unreinforced concrete structure; which is to say there is no rebar cast inside the concrete to give it extra strength.

And, by complete co-incidence, one of the city's major river crossings, the Hunter Street Bridge...

... is the world's longest unreinforced concrete arch, at about 71 metres.

And finally, it was the first city in Canada to have electric streetlights, due to a major General Electric plant being located in the town, and thus has the nickname "The Electric City."

You may now go about your lives duly enriched in this knowledge.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

My place of birth has a crater on Mars, 28km in diameter, named after it. No doubt named as such because of the remarkable similarity between the two.

 

[JiNX-01]

Oswego, NY: Arthur Godfrey was a native son and his mother was buried in a local cemetery. He ended up having to move her to get away from the gawkers when he came to town visit her grave.

Philadelphia has a series of blocks called the Italian Market. Naturally, is ran by mexicans.

I don't mind. they're very friendly. : )

OK, so far this is my favorite.

Also in Oswego, there is a law on the books that requires you toss out an anchor when parking on Water Street. And no, I'm not talking about boats.

It's illegal to take a lion to the movies in Baltimore.

OK. You really need to elaborate on this one.

 

[gturner]

My birthplace was a crater. It's three miles in diameter.

 

[Kibbin]

First town in the world to have electric street lights, apparantly.

It's Blackpool btw, named after a sewage pipe that ran through a peat bog and then out to sea.

 

[Canadave]

Oswego, NY: Arthur Godfrey was a native son and his mother was buried in a local cemetery. He ended up having to move her to get away from the gawkers when he came to town visit her grave.

Hey, my slo-pitch team is named after the Oswego Starchboxes, the worst baseball team in Western New York during the 1886 season.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I have finished reading the book and I was shocked to learn about how absolutely horrible the injuries of some of the survivors and some of the dead were. I guess, before reading the book, I sort of thought the dead were just smothered/drowned in the molasses.

Yeah, it's really one of the most sadly bizarre events ever. Did you enjoy the book? It's coming in my next Amazon order, so I haven't read it yet.

It's illegal to take a lion to the movies in Baltimore.

Even if it's an MGM production?