Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
All of David Letterman's suits are custom made; there are no creases in his suit
trousers.
Cranberry Jell-O is the only flavor that contains real fruit flavoring.
Fewer than half of the 16,200 major league baseball players have ever hit a home
run.
If the entire population of earth was reduced to exactly 100 people, 51% would be
female, 49% male; 50% of the world's currency would be held by 6 people, one
person would be nearly dead, one nearly born.
Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England, but only in tropical fish stores.
The ant, when intoxicated, will always fall over to its right side.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has issued six driver's licenses to six
different people named Jesus Christ.
Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike each year than all the Nike factory
workers in Malaysia combined.
People in China and Japan die disproportionately on the 4th of each month because
the words death and four sound alike, and they are represented by the same symbol.
Dogs have two sets of teeth, just like humans. They first have 30 "puppy" teeth, then
42 adult teeth.
In 1950, President Harry Truman threw out the first ball twice at the opening day
Washington DC baseball game; once right handed and once left handed.
A Swiss ski resort announced it would combat global warming by wrapping its
mountain glaciers in aluminum foil to keep them from melting.
The chameleon has a tongue that is one and a half times the length of his body.
In 1920, Babe Ruth broke the single season home run record, with 29. The same
year, he became the first major leaguer to hit 30 home runs. The same year, he
became the first major leaguer to hit 40 home runs. The same year, he became the
first major leaguer to hit 50 home runs.
A Nigerian woman was caught entering the UK with 104 kg of snails in her baggage.
Profanity is typically cut from in-flight movies to make them suitable for general
audiences. Fox Searchlight Pictures has substituted "Ashcroft" for "A**hole" in the
movie Sideways when dubbed for Aerolineas Argentinas flights.
Sports Illustrated magazine allows subscribers to opt out of receiving the famous
swimsuit issue each year. Fewer than 1% choose this option.
There is a company that will (for $14,000) take your ashes, compress them into a
synthetic diamond to be set in jewelry for a loved one.
The RIAA sued an 83 year old woman for downloading music illegally, even though a
copy of her death certificate was sent to the RIAA a week before it filed the suit.
Two 1903 paintings recently sold at auction for $590,000 - the paintings were in the
famous "Dogs Playing Poker" series.
Russian scientists have developed a new drug that prolongs drunkenness and
enhances intoxication.
Romanian firefighters could not get their trucks close enough to a burning building,
so they put out the fire by throwing snowballs at it.
A perfect SAT score is 1600 combined. Bill Gates scored 1590 on his SAT. Paul Allen,
Bill's partner in Microsoft, scored a perfect 1600. Bill Cosby scored less than 500
combined.
Motorists traveling outside Salem, Oregon saw one of the "litter cleanup" signs
crediting the American Nazi party. Marion County officials had no choice but to let
that group into the adopt-a-road program. The $500 per sign was picked up by
Oregon taxpayers. The Ku Klux Klan is also involved in the adopt-a-road program in
the state of Arkansas.
Spam filters that catch the word "cialis" will not allow many work-related e-mails
through because that word is embedded inside the word "specialist".
McDonald's restaurants will buy 54,000,000 pounds of fresh apples this year. Two
years ago, McDonald's purchased 0 pounds of apples. This is attributed to the shift to
more healthy menu options (the Apple Pie, which has been at McDonald's for years
uses processed Apple Pie Filling).
The biggest dog on record was an Old English Mastiff that weighed 343 pounds. He
was 8 feet, 3 inches from nose to tail.
Mailmen in Russia now carry revolvers after a recent decision by the government.
There are over 87,000 Americans on waiting lists for organ transplants.
American made parts account for only 1% of the Chrysler Crossfire. 96% of the Ford
F-150 Heritage Truck is American.
A Dutch court ruled that a bank robber could deduct the 2,000 Euros he paid for his
pistol from the 6,600 Euros he has to return to the bank he robbed.
Only 6% of the autographs in circulation from members of the Beatles are estimated
to be real.
The time spent deleting SPAM costs United States businesses $21.6 billion annually.
60.7 percent of eligible voters participated in the 2004 presidential election, the
highest percentage in 36 years. However, more than 78 million did not vote. This
means President Bush won re-election by receiving votes from less than 31% of all
eligible voters in the United States.
John Quincy Adams, sixth president of the United States, loved to skinny dip in the
Potomac River.
41% of Chinese people eat at least once a week at a fast food restaurant. 35% of
Americans do.
A Wisconsin forklift operator for a Miller beer distributor was fired when a picture was
published in a newspaper showing him drinking a Bud Light.
So many Americans decided not to get a flu shot in winter 2004/2005 that there is
now a surplus of flu immunizations; if more people don't get flu shots soon, there will
be thousands of doses that will go to waste.
G-rated family films earn far more money than any other rating. Yet only 3% of
Hollywood's output is G-rated.
Richard Hatch, winner of the first "Survivor" reality series, has been charged with tax
evasion for failing to report his $1,000,000 prize.
The entire fleet of Unicoi County Tennessee's salt trucks was rendered out of
commission in one accident. All three trucks were badly damaged when one of them
began skidding down a road, causing a chain reaction accident. Officials blamed road
conditions.
More people study English in China than speak it in the United States of America (300
million).
Fast food provider Hardee's has recently introduced the Monster Thickburger. It has
1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat.
More than 2,500 left-handed people are killed each year from using products that are
made for right-handed people.
For every person on earth, there are an estimated 200 million insects.
1.5 million Americans are charged with drunk driving each year.
A Georgia company will mix your loved one's ashes with cement and drop it into the
ocean to form an artificial reef.
The Washington Times newspaper is owned by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
The busiest shopping hour of the holiday season is between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm on
Christmas Eve.
In 2002, women earned 742,000 bachelor's degrees. Men earned only 550,000
during the same year. The difference is growing so large that many colleges now
practice (quietly) affirmative action for male applicants.
Most of the deck chairs on the Queen Mary 2 have had to be replaced because
overweight Americans were breaking them.
The day after President George W. Bush was reelected, Canada's main immigration
website had 115,000 visitors. Before Bush's re-election, this site averaged about
20,000 visitors each day.
Only 30% of stolen artwork worth more than $1,000,000 each is recovered.
The typical American child receives 70 new toys a year, most of them during the
holiday season.
90% of Canada's 31,000,000 citizens live within 100 miles of the U.S. border.
Costco is the largest wine retailer in the United States. Annual wine sales are about
$700 million.
The worst air polluter in the entire state of Washington is Mount St. Helens.
There are less than 100 surviving American World War I veterans.
Actor Bruce Willis has filed a lawsuit against the movie studio that produced his film
"Tears of the Sun", alleging he was struck in the forehead by a fake bullet. Since
2002 (when the movie was in production), the lawsuit claims he has endured
"extreme mental, physical, and emotional pain and suffering".
A ten year old mattress weighs double what it did when it was new, because of the
-ahem- debris which is absorbed through the years. That debris includes dust mites
(their droppings and their decaying bodies), mold, millions of dead skin cells,
dandruff, animal and human hair, secretions, excretions, lint, pollen, dust, soil, sand
and a lot of perspiration, of which the average person loses a quart per day. Good
night!
About 20% of gift cards never are redeemed at the full value of the card.
John Kerry's hometown newspaper, the Lowell Sun, endorsed George W. Bush for
president. Bush's hometown newspaper, the Lone Star Iconoclast, endorsed John
Kerry for president.
Only 939 of the 1,400,000 high school seniors who took the SAT in 2004 got a perfect
score of 1600. Two of them are twin brothers Dillon and Jesse Smith from Long Island,
NY.
Billboard magazine has recently launched a top 20 chart of cell phone ringtones.
The US Army is handing out $2,500 to Fallujah residents whose property was
destroyed by US planes and artillery.
George W. Bush, who presents himself as a man of faith, rarely goes to church. Yet
he received votes from nearly two out of three voters who attend church at least
once a week.
In 2015, it is estimated that half the federal budget will be spent on programs for the
elderly.
Dolly Parton is planning on having breast reduction surgery soon to relieve the pain
on her back.
The Chicago Cubs are suing former Hartford Courant newspaper carrier Mark Guthrie
to get back $301,000 in pay that was intended to go to a Cubs pitcher with the same
name. The Tribune Company owns both the Hartford Courant and the Chicago Cubs.
In February 2004, a Disney World employee was killed when he fell from a parade
float and was trapped between two float sections. OSHA termed this a serious
workplace violation, but Disney was fined only $6,300.
Even today, 90% of the continental United States is still open space or farmland.
The second Saturday in September is usually a popular time for weddings. Not in
2004, as most couples did not want their anniversaries on September 11.
Mel Gibson has personally earned almost $400,000,000 from his movie "The Passion
of the Christ".
Austin High School in Texas has removed candy from its vending machines. Now
some enterprising students are earning $200 per week dealing in black market
candy.
In 2004, Virgin Atlantic Airlines introduced a double bed for first class passengers
who fly together.
The world's largest book, "Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey" is in a Chicago public library.
The book measures 5 feet tall by 7 feet wide when open. It weighs 133 pounds.
If the recent U.S. election was held in Canada, John Kerry would have beaten George
Bush in a landslide - 64% to 19%.
55% of Americans claim they would continue working even if they received a
$10,000,000 lottery prize.
The company that manufactures the greatest number of women's dresses each year
is Mattel. Barbie's got to wear something.
All radios in North Korea have been rigged so listeners can only receive a North
Korean government station. The United States recently announced plans to smuggle
$2,000,000 worth of small radios into the country so North Koreans can get a taste of
(what their government calls) "rotten imperialist reactionary culture".
La Paz, Bolivia is the world's most fireproof city. At 12,000 feet about sea level, the
amount of oxygen in the air barely supports a flame.
The estates of 22 dead celebrities earned over $5 million in 2004. These celebrities
include Elvis Presley, Dr. Seuss, Charles Schulz, J.R.R. Tolkien and John Lennon.
Each year, more people are killed by teddy bears than by grizzly bears.
If you disassembled the Great Pyramid of Cheops, you would get enough stones to
encircle the earth with a brick wall twenty inches high.
Nearly one third of New York City public school teachers send their own children to
private schools.
The New York City Police Department has a $3.3 billion annual budget, larger than all
but 19 of the world's armies.
CBS's fine for Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" in the 2004 Super Bowl show
was $550,000. This could be paid with only 7.5 seconds of commercial time during
the same Super Bowl telecast.
Al Gore's roommate in college (Harvard, class of 1969) was Tommy Lee Jones.
In her later years, Florence Nightingale kept a pet owl in her pocket.
The New York Jets were unable to find hotel rooms for a game in Indianapolis recently
because they had all been booked up by people attending Gencon, a gaming
convention.
China is the world's largest market for BMW's top of the line 760Li. This car sells for
$200,000 in China - more than almost all people in China make in a lifetime.
A chef's hat is shaped the way it is for a reason: its shape allows air to circulate
around the scalp, keeping the head cool in a hot kitchen.
Life expectancy for Russian men has actually gone down over the past 40 years. A
Russian male born today can expect to live an average 58 years.
Each year, sixteen million gallons of oil run off pavement into streams, rivers and
eventually oceans in the United States. This is more oil than was spilled by the Exxon
Valdez.
In 1985, the most popular waist size for men's pants was 32. In 2003, it's 36.
Solid structures (parking lots, roads, buildings) in the United States cover an area the
size of Ohio.
A Brussels Airlines flight to Vienna was aborted because the pilot was attacked in the
cockpit. The attacker was a passenger's cat, who got out of its travel bag.
At General Motors, the cost of health care for employees now exceeds the cost of
steel.
There is a regulation size half-court where employees can play basketball inside the
Matterhorn at Disneyland.
One of pitcher Nolan Ryan's jockstraps recently sold at auction for $25,000.
A woman was chewing what was left of her chocolate bar when she entered a Metro
station in Washington DC. She was arrested and handcuffed; eating is prohibited in
Metro stations.
The New York City subway system, in an effort to raise revenue, is considering selling
sponsorships of individual stations to corporations. Riders could soon be getting off at
Nike Grand Central Station or Sony Times Square.
The Nike swoosh was designed by a Portland State University student, and purchased
by Nike for $35.
Gillette spent $1,000,000 to place razor samples in the welcome bags handed out at
the Democratic National Convention, only to have them confiscated as they were
considered a threat. This caused huge delays at all security checkpoints.
Quebec City, Canada, has about as much street crime as Disney World.
Jim Carrey voted in 2004 at the Beverly Hills City Hall. He had an assistant wait in line
for him, however.
As part of a charity event, 500 cats were spayed and neutered in the cafeteria of an
elementary school. School was cancelled for days and $10,000 was spent on cleaning
and sterilizing the room.
The United States has five percent of the world's population, but twenty-five percent
of the world's prison population.
The largest McDonald's is in Beijing, China - measuring 28,000 square feet. It has
twenty nine cash registers.
A house in Baghdad worth $15,000 before the Iraq war now sells for $120,000 to
$150,000.
There are between 5,000 and 7,000 tigers kept as pets in the United States.
The fertility rate in states that voted for George Bush is 12% higher than states that
favored John Kerry.
The chicken is one of the few things that man eats before it's born and after it's dead.
The number of US college students studying Latin is three times the number studying
Arabic.
In 2004, one in six girls in the United States enter puberty at age 8. A hundred years
ago, only one in a hundred entered puberty that early.
Some dogs can predict when a child will have an epileptic seizure, and even protect
the child from injury. They're not trained to do this, they simply learn to respond after
observing at least one attack.
The remains of 125 people will be launched into space where they will orbit the Earth
for centuries.
So far, Congress has authorized $152,600,000,000 for the Iraq war. This is enough to
build over 17,500 elementary schools.
Americans take an average of just ten days per year vacation. In France, the law
guarantees everyone five weeks of vacation, and most full-time workers get two full
months vacation.
The IRS admits that one in five people who call their help line get the wrong answer
to their question.
20% of Americans think that the sun orbits around the Earth.
Van Halen singer David Lee Roth trained to be an EMT in New York City, and planned
to be certified by November 2004.
The thong accounts for 25% of the United States women's underwear market.
On average, 40% of all hotel rooms in the United States remain empty every night.
When you hear a bullwhip snap, it's because the tip is traveling faster than the speed
of sound.
There is a new television show on a British cable called "Watching Paint Dry". Viewers
watch in real-time. Gloss, semi-gloss, matte, satin, you name it. Then viewers vote
out their least favorite.
The largest ocean liners pay a $250,000 toll for each trip through the Panama Canal.
The canal generates fully one-third of Panama's entire economy.
French author Michel Thaler published a 233 page novel which has no verbs.
The spring thaw finally allows cemeteries in Alaska to start digging graves for those
who died during the winter.
When Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen turn 18 in mid-2004, they will take official control
of a company worth more than the gross national product of Mongolia. Their earnings
in 2003 topped $1 billion.
Orthodox rabbis warned that New York City drinking water might not be kosher; it
contains harmless micro-organisms that are technically shellfish.
David Bowie thinks he is being stalked by someone who is dressed like a giant pink
rabbit. Bowie has noticed the fan at several recent concerts, but he became alarmed
when he got on a plane and the bunny was on board.
A party boat filled with 60 men and women capsized in Texas after all the passengers
rushed to one side as the boat passed a nude beach.
In 1997, a woman in Bradenton, Florida lost her cat. In 2004, she got a call from the
local animal shelter. The cat turned up wandering the streets in San Francisco,
California. The cat's identity was proven with a microchip that had been implanted
prior to 1997.
Almost 20% of the billions of dollars American taxpayers are spending to rebuild Iraq
are lost to theft, kickbacks and corruption.
The treasury department has more than twenty people assigned to catching people
who violate the trade and tourism embargo with Cuba. In contrast, it has only four
employees assigned to track the assets of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.
There are 40,000 New York City cab drivers, who collectively drive more than a
million miles each day.
An estimated 800,000 senior citizens voluntarily give up their driving privileges each
year. The average age at which they surrender the wheel is 85.
More than 8,100 US troops are still listed as missing in action from the Korean war.
Oslo, Norway is the world's most expensive city. A gallon on gas costs almost $5, and
it costs $1.32 to use the public restrooms.
Villanova University's commencement speaker this year is the actor who plays Big
Bird.
In 1965, auditions were held for the "Monkees" TV show. Some of the people who
responded (but were not hired) were Stephen Stills, Harry Nilsson, Paul Williams and
Charles Manson.
71% of office workers stopped on the street for a survey agreed to give up their
computer passwords in exchange for a chocolate bar.
George W. Bush and John Kerry are 16th cousins, three times removed.
If current trends continue, Medicare costs will absorb 51% of all income tax revenues
by 2042.
The prison system is the largest supplier of mental health services in America, with
250,000 Americans with mental illness living there.
Newest trend in the Netherlands: Tiny jewels implanted directly into the eye.
Researchers have found that doctors who spend at least three hours a week playing
video games make about 37% fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery than surgeons
who didn't play video games.
Before he had his own show, Jerry Seinfeld appeared on three episodes of the TV
show "Benson" as the governor's speechwriter.
Hostess Twinkies were originally filled with banana filling. The filling was changed
during World War II when the United States experienced a banana shortage.
World War II veterans are now dying at the rate of about 1,100 each day.
A deployed air bag adds as much as $2,000 to the cost of repairing a vehicle. That's
enough for insurance companies to often declare the car "totaled".
For the first time in history, the number of people on the planet aged 60 or over will
soon surpass those under 5.
A British gymnast survived a fall from a fourth story window because he went into a
somersault and came down on two feet.
One out of five people in the world (1.1 billion people) live on less than $1 per day.
The Swedish pop group ABBA recently turned down an offer of $2 billion to reunite.
The New Yorker magazine now has more subscribers in California than New York.
Five years ago, 60% of all retail purchases were made with cash or check. Now it's
50%. By 2010, 39% of purchases will be made by cash or check.
Legislators in Santa Fe, New Mexico, are considering a law that would require pets to
wear seat belts when traveling in a car.
Life Savers got their shape by a malfunctioning machine, which mistakenly punched
a hole in the center of each candy.
SUV sales are up 18% in the first quarter of 2004 vs. the same period of 2003, even
though gas prices are skyrocketing. Consumer surveys show that gas prices would
have to hit $3.75 per gallon before there will be any real impact on SUV sales.
There are 150,000,000 cell phones in use in the United States, more than one per
every two human beings in the country.
The average child recognizes over 200 company logos by the time he enters first
grade.
Amusement park attendance goes up after a fatal accident. It seems many people
want to ride upon the same ride that killed someone.
Jeffrey and Sheryl McGowen in Houston turned to vitro fertilization. Two eggs were
implanted in Sheryl's womb, and both of them split. Sheryl gave birth to two sets of
identical twins at once.
For every ton of fish that is caught in all the oceans on our planet, there are three
tons of garbage dumped into the oceans.
June Foray did the voice for Rocky the Flying Squirrel and the Chatty Cathy dolls.
Japanese and Chinese people die on the fourth of the month more often than any
other dates. The reason may be that they are "scared to death" by the number four.
The words four and death sound alike in both Chinese and Japanese.
People with initials that spell out GOD or ACE are likely to live longer than people
whose initials spell out words like APE, PIG, or RAT.
More people in the United States die during the first week of the month than during
the last, an increase that may be a result of the abuse of substances purchased with
benefit checks that come at the beginning of each month.
In the film Forrest Gump, all the still photos show Forrest with his eyes closed.
There are an average of 18,000,000 items for sale at any time on EBay.
The New York Times reports that in February 2004, 62% of all e-mail was spam.
A Massachusetts surgeon left a patient with an open incision for 35 minutes while he
went to deposit a check.
In 1991, the average bra size in the United States was 34B. Today it's 36C.
U.K. telecom provider Telewest Broadband is testing a device that hooks to your PC
and wafts a scent when certain e-mails arrive.
The average North Korean 7-year-old is almost three inches shorter than the average
South Korean 7-year-old.
In 1993, David McLean developed lung cancer. He died on October 12, 1995.
McLean's death made him the second Marlboro Man to die of lung cancer. Another
actor, Wayne McLaren, died in 1992 at the age of 51 from lung cancer.
There is a bar in London that sells vaporized vodka, which is inhaled instead of
sipped.
According to market research firm NPD Fashionworld, fifty percent of all lingerie
purchases are returned to the store.
The first FAX machine was patented in 1843, 33 years before Alexander Graham Bell
demonstrated the telephone.
72% of Americans sign their pets' names on greeting cards they send out.
In an effort to encourage the use of nuclear energy, the United States lent highly
enriched uranium to countries all over the world between 1950 and 1988. Enough
weapons-grade material to make 1,000 nuclear bombs has still not been returned by
such countries as Pakistan, Iran, Israel and South Africa.
Homing pigeons use roads where possible to help find their way home. In fact, some
pigeons followed roads so closely that they actually flew around traffic circles before
choosing the exit that led them home.
Every year, 2700 surgical patients go home from the hospital with metal tools,
sponges, and other objects left inside them. In 2000, 57 people died as a result of
these mistakes.
A snowflake can take up to a hour to fall from the cloud to the surface of the Earth.
Only 5 percent of the ocean floor has been mapped in as much detail as the surface
of Mars.
The only people whose likenesses adorn Pez dispensers are Betsy Ross and Paul
Revere.
In a nod to astronauts, Texas is the only state that permits residents to cast absentee
ballots from space.
Eleven top executives of the Direct Marketing Association (the telemarketers' group
that is trying to kill the federal "Do Not Call" list) have registered for the list
themselves.
An iceberg the size of Long Island, New York, has broken off Antarctica and has
blocked sea lanes used by both ships and penguins.
As of January 2004, the United States economy now borrows $1,500,000,000 each
day from foreign investors.
A Costa Rican worker who makes baseballs earns about $2,750 annually. The
average American pro baseball player earns $2,377,000 per year.
Former keyboard player for Jethro Tull David Palmer is now a woman named Dee
Palmer. He waited until his wife died before going through with his longtime desire
for a sex change.
During Bill Clinton's entire eight year presidency, he only sent two e-mails. One was
to John Glenn when he was aboard the space shuttle, and the other was a test of the
e-mail system.
The Mars Rover "Spirit" is powered by six small motors the size of "C" batteries. It has
a top speed of 0.1 mph.
Zeppo Marx (the unfunny one of the Marx Brothers) had a patent for a wristwatch
with a heart monitor.
The entire town of Capena, Italy (including children as young as 2 years old) lights up
cigarettes each year in honor of St. Anthony's Day. This tradition is centuries old.
The Amish a diet high in meat, dairy, refined sugars and calories. Yet obesity is
virtually unknown among them. The difference is since they have no TVs, cars or
powered machines, they spend their time in manual labor.
Microsoft threatened 17 year old Mike Rowe with a lawsuit after the young man
launched a website named MikeRoweSoft.com.
As of January 1, 2004, the population of the United States increases by one person
every 12 seconds. There is a birth every eight seconds, an immigrant is added every
25 seconds, but a death every 13 seconds.
Astronauts cannot burp in space. There is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in
their stomachs.
There has been no mail delivery in Canada on Saturday for the last thirty five years.
The weight of air in a milk glass is about the same as the weight of an aspirin tablet.
The world's smallest winged insect is the Tanzanian parasitic wasp. It's smaller than
the eye of a housefly.
The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.
If you have three quarters, four dimes and four cents, you have $1.19. But you
cannot make exact change for a dollar.
There are more plastic flamingoes in the United States than real ones.
The chance that you will die on the way to buy your lottery ticket is greater than the
chance of you winning the big prize in most lotteries.
The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for blood plasma.
The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.
Toto was paid $125 per week while filming the "Wizard of Oz".
To help reduce budget deficits, several states have begun reducing the amount of
food served to prison inmates. In Texas, the number of daily calories served to
prisoners was cut by 300, saving the state $6,000,000 per year.
The only member of the band ZZ Top without a beard has the last name Beard.
Pope John Paul II is the world's Scrabble champion in the over-70 category.
Wearing headphones for an hour increases the bacteria in your ear 700 times.
In 1993, the board of governors at Carl Karcher Enterprises voted (5 to 2) to fire Carl
Karcher. Carl Karcher is the founder of Carls Jr. restaurants.
The little hole in the sink that lets the water drain out, instead of flowing over the
side, is called a "porcelator."
The wingspan of a Boeing 747 jet is longer than the Wright Brothers' first flight.
Over 8 years, this happened 284 times: "Cosmo" Kramer went through Jerry
Seinfeld's apartment door.
The cruise liner Queen Elizabeth 2 moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel fuel
that it burns.
There are more 100 dollar bills in Russia currently than there are in the United
States.
Burt Reynolds was originally cast to be Han Solo in the first Star Wars film. He
dropped out before filming.
There are only three types of snakes on the island of Tasmania and all three are
deadly poisonous.
It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version
of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is "shake"
and the 46th word from the last word is "spear".
The strength of early lasers was measured in Gillettes, the number of blue razor
blades a given beam could puncture.
The drive-through line on opening day at the McDonald's restaurant in Kuwait City,
Kuwait was at times seven miles long.
Point Roberts in Washington State is cut off from the rest of the state by British
Columbia, Canada. If you wish to travel from Point Roberts to the rest of the state or
vice versa, you must pass through Canada, including both Canadian and U.S.
customs.
The Pentagon in Washington, D. C. has five sides, five stories, and five acres in the
middle.
Sylvia Miles had the shortest performance ever nominated for an Oscar with
"Midnight Cowboy." Her entire role lasted only six minutes.
Newborn babies are given to the wrong mother in the hospital 12 times a day
worldwide.
Each year, over 1,000,000 people fail to itemize out the mortgage interest deduction
on their income taxes. Last year, this amounted to $473,000,000 in taxes.
In 1998, more fast-food employees were murdered on the job than police officers.
The lead singer of The Knack, famous for "My Sharona," and Jack Kevorkian's lead
defense attorney are brothers, Doug & Jeffrey Feiger.
Two very popular and common objects have the same function, but one has
thousands of moving parts, while the other has absolutely no moving parts - an
hourglass and a sundial.
One out of three employees who received a promotion use a coffee mug with the
company logo on it.
If you know a millionaire who happens to be married, what is the most likely
profession of his wife? She's probably a teacher.
The two-foot long bird called a Kea that lives in New Zealand likes to eat the strips of
rubber around car windows.
Mark Twain was born on a day in 1835 when Halley's Comet came into view. When
he died in 1910, Halley's Comet was in view again.
The Weddell seal can travel underwater for seven miles without surfacing for air.
In 1963, baseball pitcher Gaylord Perry remarked, "They'll put a man on the moon
before I hit a home run." On July 20, 1969, a few hours after Neil Armstrong set foot
on the moon, Gaylord Perry hit his first (and only) home run.
The longest words in the English language with only one syllable are the nine-letter
"screeched" and "strengths".
A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.
A strand from the web of a golden spider is as strong as a steel wire of the same size.
A toothpick is the object most often choked on by Americans.
About a third of all Americans flush the toilet while they're still sitting on it.
The microwave oven was invented by mistake when an engineer testing a magnetron
tube noticed that the radiation from it melted the chocolate bar he had in his pocket.
Only 14% of Americans say they've skinny dipped with the opposite sex.
What separates "60 Minutes" on CBS from every other TV show? No theme song or
music.
Most boat owners name their boats. The most popular boat name requested is
Obsession.
An average American will spend an average of 6 months during his lifetime waiting at
red lights.
The Olympic flag's colors are always red, black, blue, green and yellow rings on a
field of white. This is because at least one of those colors appears on the flag of every
nation on the planet.
In a recent survey, Americans revealed that banana was their favorite smell.
In all three Godfather films, when you see oranges, there is a death (or a very close
call) coming up soon.
The arteries and veins surrounding the brain stem called the "circle of Willis" looks
like a stick person with a large head.
Brushing your teeth regularly has been shown to prevent heart disease.
If you were to spell out numbers, you would you have to go until 1,000 until you
would find the letter "A".
Bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers were all invented
by women.
There are more collect calls on Father's Day than any other day of the year.
40% of all people who come to a party in your home snoop in your medicine cabinet.
85% of the guys who cheat on their wives die while having sex.
Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.
Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than for the US Treasury.
American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad
served first class.
Percentage of American men who say they would marry the same woman if they had
it to do all over again: 80
Percentage of American women who say they would marry the same man: 50
Percentage of men who say they are happier after their divorce or separation: 58
An eagle can kill a young deer and fly away with it.
February 1865 was the only month in recorded history that didn't have a full moon.
Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.
When George Lucas was mixing the American Graffiti soundtrack, he numbered the
reels of film starting with an R and numbered the dialog starting with a D. Sound
designer Walter Murch asked George for Reel 2, Dialog 2 by saying "R2D2". George
liked the way that sounded so much he integrated that into another project he was
working on.
Iceland consumes more Coca-Cola per capita than any other nation.
A mole can dig a tunnel 300 feet long in just one night.
A hippo can open its mouth wide enough to fit a 4 foot tall child inside.
A quarter has 119 grooves on its edge, a dime has one less groove.
Until 1796, there was a state in the United States called Franklin. Today it is known
as Tennessee.
The flashing warning light on the cylindrical Capitol Records tower spells out
HOLLYWOOD in Morse code.
Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.
The average American will eat about 11.9 pounds of cereal per year.
You're born with 300 bones, but when you get to be an adult, you only have 206.
During your lifetime, you'll eat about 60,000 pounds of food. That's the weight of
about 6 elephants.
Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they can't find any food.
In space, astronauts cannot cry, because there is no gravity, so the tears can't flow.
About 3000 years ago, most Egyptians died by the time they were 30.
Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, every time you breathe.
In the White House, there are 13,092 knives, forks and spoons.
Recycling one glass jar saves enough energy to watch TV for 3 hours.
Owls are the only birds who can see the color blue.
A company in Taiwan makes dinnerware out of wheat, so you can eat your plate.
The penguin is the only bird who can swim, but not fly.
Q is the only letter in the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any of the
United States.
Babe Ruth wore a cabbage leaf under is cap to keep him cool. He changed it every 2
innings.
Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
The pitches that Babe Ruth hit for his last-ever homerun and that Joe DiMaggio hit for
his first-ever homerun where thrown by the same man.
The praying mantis is the only insect that can turn its head.
Dogs and cats consume almost $7 billion worth of pet food a year.
The Pentagon has twice as many restrooms as necessary. When it was built,
segregation was still in place in Virginia, so separate restrooms for blacks and whites
were required by law.
Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.