Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2022 September 15

= September 15 =

IPO Date for the Standard Oil Company of New York (SOCONY)?
Hi guys! I'd like to know if someone can find the year, or date, of the Initial Public Offering for the Standard Oil Company of New York, the company that would later rename itself to Mobil and merge with Exxon in 1999. InvadingInvader (talk) 04:31, 15 September 2022 (UTC)
 * SOCONY was formed in 1882 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Standard Oil Trust (technically the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey), see . It was spun-off as an independent company in 1911 following the breakup of Standard Oil.  If there were an IPO, it would have happened in 1911.  I'm not exactly sure how the ownership of the 34 various spinouts of Standard Oil was established.  It is a publicly traded company today, but I don't know how shares were distributed initially in 1911.  -- Jayron 32 16:27, 15 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Alright thanks! InvadingInvader (talk) 00:29, 17 September 2022 (UTC)

Russian federal subjects
There are some federal subjects in Russia where ethnic Russians are minority, like Ingushetia where ethnic Russians make only 0,8% of population. But are there any federal subjects in Russia where native Russian speakers are minority? 40bus (talk) 07:06, 15 September 2022 (UTC)
 * I expect that more than 75% of Tuvans are native Tuvan speakers. Since they comprise more than 80% of the population of Tuva, this would imply that native Russian speakers form less than 40% of the population. The number of native Tuvan speakers was estimated in 2012 to be 240,000, of which the vast majority are Tuvans, while the population of Tuva was estimated in 2018 to be 321,722. --Lambiam 10:56, 15 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Several of the North Caucasus republics do not have a majority of native Russian speakers; many use Russian as a second language or lingua franca. See This map for the majority languages spoken in some of those areas. -- Jayron 32 12:19, 15 September 2022 (UTC)


 * The article Ethnic groups in Russia states that there are some 193 ethnicities in Russia. It also contains a long list, specifying language families, main areas and census data to 2010.  There is also a number of maps, indicating the distribution of such groups.  --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 15:13, 15 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Language can be a component of ethnicity, but it doesn't have to be. The OP specifically asked for native language speakers, rather than ethnic groups.  For example, one can be ethnically Chechen, but speak Russian natively.  There is often going to be a strong correlation between ethnicity and language use, but not always.  -- Jayron 32 15:17, 15 September 2022 (UTC)

Wood Road in LA
I have a photo that is identified as being in downtown Los Angeles in 1989. In the photo, the road appears to be made of railroad ties. Is there (or was there) a road in Los Angeles that was made of railroad ties? 97.82.165.112 (talk) 20:21, 15 September 2022 (UTC)


 * Roads paved with wooden blocks were certainly a thing in US cities before asphalt surfacing arrived in the 1920s. This article has some details, but no luck in finding anything about LA. Alansplodge (talk) 20:54, 15 September 2022 (UTC)


 * There are remnants of the Old Plank Road in California, but not in downtown Los Angeles; it was part of the road from Yuma, AZ to San Diego, CA. 136.56.52.157 (talk) 21:56, 15 September 2022 (UTC) -- Edit: more info here:, including "A plank-road craze began in the U.S. in 1846."


 * The US had many miles of plank roads at one point. While parts of the Old Plank Road in California has been preserved as a sort of memorial to one specific plank road, there very well may have been one in LA; it may also have not drawn enough attention to still be documented today.  There are some places in the Metro LA area where you can still drive on wood; I'm pretty sure there are parts of the Santa Monica Pier where you can drive.  This image shows such on the right.  -- Jayron 32 12:31, 16 September 2022 (UTC)


 * I had the photo scanned and blown up. There is half a street sign that shows "ower St" on one part and what looks very much like the top of a 5 and TH on the other. I'm now trying to find intersections of streets ending in 5th and streets ending in ower that might currently be wood or look like they were wood 30 years ago. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 14:17, 16 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Solved. The people in the photo are standing on stairs next to Flower St near the 5th and Flower intersection. Flower St right there is clearly all wood. Looking at Google Maps, it is currently half cement and half under construction. I think the "n" that is visible on the building is the end of The Westin, which fits that area. Now, I can search the area for "The nunnery", which is the main goal. I was originally asked if I could find the nunnery near where the nuns in the photo were standing. The note says "Fig House Sisters, LA 1989". I previously worked out that LA was Lost Angeles. Finally, I can get to work on figuring out what the "Fig House" is. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 14:51, 16 September 2022 (UTC)
 * It is currently being used as a function venue, weddings and bar mitzvahs and that sort of thing. Not sure if that is what it was used for in 1989.  Perhaps back then it was part of the convent/nunnery.  -- Jayron 32 16:26, 16 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Now that I've narrowed it down, I've found current convents, called them, and found that the Figueroa convent (the Fig House) closed in 1989, was torn down, and built into apartments. It is assumed that the photo I was asked to research is a photo of the last sisters at the convent around when it was sold. I think I have enough info to wrap this up. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 16:52, 16 September 2022 (UTC)
 * For the curious, possibly named after don Juan de Figueroa, a 16th century Spanish judge who founded a Franciscan convent in Valladolid. Alansplodge (talk) 14:08, 17 September 2022 (UTC)