by: Angela and Maria  
         When your friend loses her house it's a recession.
          When you lose your house it's a depression....

452 FUN FACTOIDS:

1. Adolf Hitler was Time's Man of the Year for 1938.

2. A violin actually contains 70 separate pieces of wood.

3. It took approximately 2.5 million blocks to build the Pyramid of Giza, which is one of the Great Pyramids.

4. The Sea of Tranquility on the moon is deeper than the highest mountain on Earth.

5. The first household refrigerator cost about $16,000, in today's money.

6. A famous bullfighter, Lagarijo, killed 4,867 bulls in the 19th century.

7. The largest pig on record was a Poland-China hog named Big Bill, who weighed 2,552 lbs.

8. Carolyn Shoemaker, famous astronomer, has discovered 32 comets and approximately 300 asteroids.

9. By recycling just one glass bottle, the amount of energy that is being saved is enough to light a 100 watt bulb for four hours.

10. In the United States, the first cookbook was published in 1796 and it contained a recipe for watermelon

11. In a lifetime, the average driver will honk 15,250 times.

12. Buckingham Palace has over six hundred rooms.

13. Niagara Falls actually stopped flowing in 1848 for about 20 hours because there was ice that was blocking the Niagara River.

14. Fossilized bird droppings are one of the chief exports of Nauru, an island nation in the Western Pacific.

15. The colors yellow, red, and orange are used in fast food restaurants because those are the colors that stimulate hunger.

16. Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, but he declined.

17. A penguin swims at a speed of approximately 15 miles per hour.

18. A baby octopus is about the size of a flea when it is born.

19. If all the salt were to be extracted from the Earth's oceans, you would have enough salt to cover all of the continents five feet deep.

20. The country of Andorra has a zero percent   unemployment rate.

21. All the Krispy Kreme donut stores collectively could make a doughnut stack as high as the Empire State Building in only 2 minutes.

22. In 1685, New France used playing cards as currency because of the shortage of coins.

23. In North America there are approximately 618 roller coasters.

24. If someone was to fly once around the surface of the moon, it would be equal to a round trip from New York to London.

25. Soldier’s disease is a term for morphine addiction. The Civil War produced over 400,000 morphine addicts.

26. According to Scientists, vampire bat saliva is the best known medicine for keeping blood from clotting.

27. The coliseum in Rome was used regularly for about 400 years.

28. Vincent Van Gogh's "Portrait of Dr. Gachet is the most expensive painting sold at an auction. It was purchased for $85.2 million dollars.

29. There are about 125 million multiples (twins, triplets, etc.) worldwide. Page 4

Page 4 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 55 5:55 AM 30. One tree can filter up to sixty pounds of pollutants from the air each year.

31. A squash ball moving at 150 kilometers per hour has the same impact of a .22 bullet.

32. Your brain is 80% water.

33. Poll results: Nachos is the food most craved by mothers-to-be.

34. The parents of Albert Einstein were worried that he was mentally slow because it took him a long time to learn how to speak.

35. The amount of aluminum that Americans throw out in three months is enough to rebuild all American commercial planes.

36. During World War II, condoms were used to cover rifle barrels from being damaged by salt water as the soldiers swam to shore.

37. O.J. Simpson had a severe case of rickets and wore leg braces when he was a child.

38. The material to build the Taj Mahal was brought in from various parts of India by a fleet of 1000 elephants.

39. Gardening is said to be one of the best exercises for maintaining healthy bones.  The best time for a person to buy shoes is in the afternoon. This is because the foot tends to swell a bit around this time.

41. Daytime dramas are called Soap Operas because they were originally used to advertise soap powder. In America in the early days of TV, advertisers would write stories around the use of their soap powder.

42. The revenue that is generated from gambling is more than the revenue that comes from movies, cruise ships, recorded music, theme parks, and spectator sports combined.

43. Angel Falls in Venezuela is the world's highest waterfall, at 979 meters. This waterfall is sixteen times the height of Niagara Falls.

44. There are mirrors on the moon. Astronauts left them so that laser beams could be bounced off of them from Earth. These beams help give us the distance to the moon, give or take a few meters.

45. There are six million parts in the Boeing 747-400.

46. At just four years old Mozart was able to learn a piece of music in half an hour.

47. Bamboo plants can grow up to 36 inches in a day.

48. Abraham Lincoln's mother died when she drank the milk of a cow that grazed on poisonous snakeroot.

49. A galactic year is 250 million Earth-years. This is the time it takes for our solar system to make one revolution around the Milky Way Galaxy.

50. Leather skin does not have any smell. The leather smell that you sense is actually derived from the materials used in the tanning process.

51. In a year, an average person makes 1,140 phone calls.

52. The largest ketchup bottle is a 170 feet (52 m) tall water tower.

53. A Russian man who wore a beard during the time of Peter the Great had to pay a special tax.

54. Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido, once pinned an opponent using only a single finger.

55. Every three seconds a baby is born somewhere in the world.

56. The University of Plymouth was the first university to offer a degree in surfing.

57. In only eight minutes, the Space Shuttle can accelerate to a speed of 27,000 kilometers per hour.

58. There are more than 40 million Americans that have "chronic halitosis," which is bad breath that never goes away.

59. It takes about 570 gallons of paint to cover the outside of the current U.S. President's home, the White House.

60. Honolulu, Hawaii boasts the only royal palace in the United States of America.

61. Central air conditioners use 98% more energy than ceiling fans.

62. In 1989, twenty-three people were hired in Jacksonville Florida just to flush toilets so the pipes would not freeze.

63. By weight, the sun is 70% hydrogen, 28% helium, 1.5% carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, and 0.5% all other elements.

64. In the 1985 Boise, Idaho mayoral election, there were four write-in votes for Mr. Potato Head.

65. One of the steepest main streets in Canada is located in Saint John, New Brunswick. Over a distance of two blocks the street rises about 80 feet.

66. A Singapore singing group by the name of "The Oriental Singers," sang non-stop for 74 hours and five minutes.

67. By law, information collected in a U.S. census must  remain confidential for seventy-two years.

68. Hockey pucks were originally made from frozen cow dung.

69. Squids move through the ocean using a jet of water forced out of the body by a siphon.

70. African Baobab tree's circumference can reach 180 feet. If the trunk is hollow, 20 people would be able to fit inside of it.

71. Enough paper is recycled in the USA every day, that a 15 mile long train of boxcars could be filled up with paper.

72. Someone gets divorced every ten to thirteen seconds.

73. People in France own more pets in the world per person than any other country.

74. There are dolphins that live in the Amazon River that are the color pink.

75. The projection light used for IMAX theaters can be seen from space.

76. An orca whale can hold its breath for up to 15 minutes.

77. The Flintstones cartoon was the first thirty-minute cartoon to be aired during prime time.

78. The largest number of children born to one woman, who was a Russian peasant, is 69.

79. It has been suggested that shepherds are responsible for inventing the game golf. It is said that they used to use their staffs to hit the stones.

80. Every day, over five billion gallons of water are flushed down toilets in the United States.

81. There are about 6,800 languages in the world.

82. In 1998, a law passed in the U.S. state of Virginia allows drivers to keep their road kill, as long as they report it within 12 hours.

83. Bill Bowerman, founder of the shoe company Nike, got his first shoe idea after staring at a waffle iron. This gave him the idea of using squared spikes to make the shoes lighter.

84. Every day, the Hubble telescope transmits enough data to fit 10,000 standard computer disks.

85. During the 60's, the women's liberation movement denounced bras as a symbol of servitude and encouraged bra burning rallies.

86. Many years ago, a fish was caught that was 33 inches long and seemed to be heavier than it should. When they cut the fish, fishermen found a full of bottle of ale inside it.Page 10

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87. A one kilogram packet of sugar will have about 5 million grains of sugar.

88. In 1819, the USA purchased Florida from Spain for the cancellation of a $5 million debt.

89. Alaska is the western-most AND eastern-most state of the United States. Its islands stretch so far they actually cross the 180th meridian - the global dividing line between "east" and "west".

90. The three wealthiest families in the world have more assets than the combined wealth of the forty-eight poorest nations.

91. In a year, the average person walks four miles to make his or her bed.

92. A leech has 32 brains.

93. The longest Hollywood kiss was from the 1941 film, "You're in the Army Now." It lasted for three minutes and three seconds.

94. The longest engagement lasted 67 years, and the couple ended up marrying when they were 82 years old.

95. The range of a medieval long-bow is 220 yards.

96. Charlie Chaplin once lost a contest for a Charlie Chaplin look a like.

97. John F. Kennedy's rocking chair was auctioned off for $453,500.

98. According to studies, an average roll of toilet paper lasts about five days in the bathroom.

99. Creator Ian Fleming's fictional character James Bond made his debut in the 1952 novel "Casino Royale."

100. On May 9, 1999 approximately 600,000 gallons of whiskey flowed into the Kentucky River during a fire at Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg.

101. A honey bee strokes its wings about 11,500 times a minute.

102. Minimum wage was 0.25 per hour when it was first enacted in 1938.

103. Studies show that couples that smoke during the time of conception have a higher chance of having a girl compared to couples that do not smoke.

104. In a lifetime, an average man will shave 20,000 times.

105. Bo Jackson set a Monday Night Football record by rushing for 222 yards in one game against the Seattle Seahawks, including a 91-yard TD run.

106. The Population of the world can live within the state boundaries of Texas. Page 12

Page 12 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 55 5:55 AM 107. Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.

108. 9 out of 10 people believe Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. This isn’t true; Joseph Swan did.

109. The town of Los Angeles, California, was originally named El Pueblo la Nuestra Senora de Reina de los Angeles de la Porciuncula.

110. Washington State has the longest single beach in the United States. Long Beach, WA. Washington State has the longest single beach in the United States. Long Beach, WA.

111. The largest living thing on the face of the Earth is a mushroom underground in Oregon, it measures three and a half miles in diameter.

112. A German World War II submarine was sunk due to malfunction of the toilet.

113. Abe Lincoln bought 50 cents worth of cocaine in 1860.

114. The average American consumes 1.2 pounds of spider eggs a year and eat 2.5 pounds of insect parts a year.

115. The number of people alive on earth right now is higher than the number of all the people that have died. Ever. Page 13

Page 13 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 55 5:55 AM 116. A cubic yard of air weighs about 2 pounds at sea level.

117. Water expands 9% when it is frozen.

118. If someone was to fly once around the surface of the moon, it would be equal to a round trip from New York to London.

119. The average day is actually 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds. We have a leap year every four years to make up for this shortfall.

120. Davao City, located at the Southern state of Philippines, is the largest city in the world in terms of area.

121. The Canadian province of New Brunswick had a bloodless war with the US state of Maine in 1839.

122. In Afghanistan, only 25% of the total population has access to clean water.

123. The USA Forest Service has built more than 360,000 miles of various kinds of roads in national forests -- or eight (8) times the entire length of the U.S. interstate highway system.

124. A pig’s orgasm lasts up to 30 minutes.

125. The loudest insect in the world is the male cicadas, which are like crickets. When they rub their abdomens, the sound made can be heard from 1300 feet. Page 14

Page 14 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 55 5:55 AM 126. Every U.S. bill regardless of denomination costs just 4 cents to make.

127. There is a substance in the skin of the African clawed frog that helps in fighting infection.

128. Before air conditioning was invented, white cotton slipcovers were put on furniture to keep the air cool.

129. The three wealthiest families in the world have more assets than the combined wealth of the forty-eight poorest nations.

130. The three wealthiest families in the world have more assets than the combined wealth of the forty-eight poorest nations.

131. The oldest roller coaster in the world is the Leap-The- Dips roller coaster located in Lakemont Park in Pennsylvania. The roller coaster was built in 1902.

132. The largest diamond found in the United States was a 40.23 carat white diamond. It was found in 1924 and nicknamed the "Uncle Sam."

133. The largest shopping mall in the world is the West Edmonton Mall located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

134. American actor Jack Nicholson, and American singer Bobby Darrin were raised believing their grandmothers were their mothers and their mothers were their older sisters. Page 15

Page 15 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 55 5:55 AM 135. Bill Gates began programming computers at age 13.

136. The Bible was written by over 40 authors over a period of 1500 years.

137. Actor Richard Gere was considered to play the role of John McClane in the movie Die Hard. Bruce Willis played the part instead.

138. Australia has had stamps that actually look like gems. In 1995 and 1996 they used a special technology to make the stamps look like diamonds and opals.

139. Director George Lucas had trouble originally getting funding for Star Wars because most studios thought most people wouldn't bother seeing it.

140. Orville Wright, a pilot, was involved in the first aircraft accident. His passenger, a Frenchman, was killed.

141. The United States produces enough plastic film annually to cover the entire state of Texas.

142. The Great Comet of 1843 had a tail that was over 300 kilometers long.

143. In Israel, religious law forbids picking your nose on Sabbath.

144. The largest diamond that was ever found was 3106 carats. Page 16

Page 16 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 55 5:55 AM 145. Due to the deforestation of the forests in North China, over one million tons of sands blows into Beijing from the Gobi desert. It sometimes causes the sky to turn yellow.

146. A leopard's vision is so good it can practically see in the dark.

147. A lion's roar is so loud that it can be heard five kilometers away.

148. Centuries ago in India, a person could get their nose chopped off for breaking the law.

149. Less than one quarter of the people in the world are vegetarians.

150. Bernd Eilts, a German artist, turns dried cow manure into wall clocks and small sculptures. He is now expanding his business to include cow dung wrist watches.

151. The small intestine in the human body is about 2 inches around, and 22 feet long.

152. A piece of French toast that was partially eaten by Justin Timberlake sold on eBay.

153. Male goats will pee on each other in order to attract mates.

154. The word "Oral-B" is a combination of oral hygiene and the letter B, which stands for the word "better." Page 17

Page 17 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 55 5:55 AM 155. There is now an ATM at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, which has a winter population of two hundred people.

156. The "Mexican Hat Dance" is the official dance of Mexico.

157. Singer Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State anthem.

158. An airplane mechanic invented Slinky while he was playing with engine parts and realized the possible secondary use for the springs.

159. American President Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) used to like Vaseline being rubbed on his head while he ate breakfast in bed.

160. Every single hamster in the United States today comes from a single litter captured in Syria in 1930.

161. The smallest man ever was Gul Mohammed (1957-1997) of India, who measured 1 feet, 10 inches.

162. The Christmas season begins after sunset on December 24th and lasts until January 5th. This is also known as the Twelve Days of Christmas.

163. One billion seconds is about 32 years.

164. On April 4, 1974, John Massis of Belgium pulled two New York Long Island railroad passenger cars totaling 80 Page 18

Page 18 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 55 5:55 AM tons with a thick rope, with a small bit attached, using only his teeth.

165. Instead of a Birthday Cake, many Russian children are given a Birthday Pie.

166. In the movie "Babe", the piglet was played by over 30 different piglets they outgrew the part so quickly during the production of the film.

167. The size of a red blood cell is 708 microns. This is equivalent to one millionth of a meter.

168. Bats can detect food up to 18 feet away and what type of insect the food may be using their sense of echolocation.

169. In 1685, New France used playing cards as currency because of the shortage of coins.

170. Tiger Woods is the first athlete to has been named "Sportsman of the Year" by magazine Sports Illustrated two times.

171. The music for "The Star Spangled Banner" comes from a British drinking song named "Anacreon."

172. Hershey's has the capacity to wrap up to 1,300 Hershey's kisses every minute.

173. There are five million scent receptors located in a human beings nose.Page 19

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174. The artist Michelangelo's full name in Italian is Michaelangelo di Lodovico di Lionardo di Buonarroto Simoni.

175. The oldest documented footwear found was an 8,000 year-old sandal found in a cave located in Missouri, USA.

176. When the Pez mint dispenser was first introduced it was meant to replace the activity of smoking.

177. About 500,000 kids in the US live in same sex households.

178. When a polar bear cub is born, it can not see or hear. It takes approximately a month for the cub to start to see and hear.

179. Over 170,000 Indians from 210 tribes live in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest.

180. In 2002, the most popular boat name in the U.S. was Liberty.

181. When a woman is pregnant, her senses are all heightened.

182. Elvis Presley had a twin brother named Jesse Garon Presley who died at birth.

183. The most recycled product in the world is the automobile. Page 20

Page 20 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 55 5:55 AM 184. Queen Elizabeth II was Time Magazine's "Man of The Year" in 1952.

185. Mexico City boasts the world's largest taxi fleet with over sixty thousand taxis running every day.

186. Microsoft made $16,005 in revenue in its first year of operation.

187. There are approximately 100 million acts of sexual intercourse each day.

188. India has the most post offices in the world.

189. Karate actually originated in India, but was developed further in China.

190. In November 1999, two women were killed by a lightning bolt. The under wire located in their bras acted as an electrical conductors, and when the lightning bolt hit the bra they left burn marks on their chest.

191. In India, a 9-year-old girl was "married" to a stray dog, which tribal custom requires in order to protect a child whose first tooth appears on the upper gum.

192. Thirteen percent of the human population resides in deserts.

193. The world record for rocking non-stop in a rocking chair is 480 hours held by Dennis Easterling, of Atlanta, Georgia.Page 21

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194. The average four year-old child asks over four hundred questions a day.

195. The Welwitschia plant can live up to 1,000 years.

196. Over 175 million cubic yards of earth was removed for the creation of the Panama Canal.

197. Sales of antacids increase by as much as 20% the day after the Super bowl.

198. The USS Abraham Lincoln has five gymnasiums on the ship and a basketball league with 22 teams.

199. The University of Plymouth was the first university to offer a degree in surfing.

200. A rocket-like device can be traced back to Ancient Greece when a flying steam-powered pigeon was built out of wood.

201. Studies indicate that surgeons who listen to music while they operate improve in their performance.

202. Before 1883, the three-cent U.S. stamp was also used for advertising. The advertisement was located on the back of the stamp for various products.

203. 75% of all raisins eaten by people in the United States are eaten at breakfast.

204. During the 1600's, boys and girls in England wore Page 22

Page 22 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 55 5:55 AM dresses until they were about seven years old.

205. In 1998, a law passed in the U.S. state of Virginia allows drivers to keep their road kill, as long as they report it within 12 hours.

206. Steve Fletcher holds the record for the largest gum wrapper collection. His collection has 5300 gum wrappers from all across the world.

207. Theodore Roosevelt's mother and first wife died on the same day in 1884.

208. Serving ice cream on cherry pie was once illegal in Kansas.

209. The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."

210. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple.

211. "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".

212. Almonds are members of the peach family.

213. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

214. Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable. Page 23

Page 23 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 55 5:55 AM 215. There are only four words in the English language which end in "-dous" tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

216. Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula" and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size, "L.A."

217. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

218. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

219. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

220. In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.

221. Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

222. The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "It’s a Wonderful Life".

223. A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

224. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

225. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

226. The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.Page 24

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227. John Lennon's first girlfriend was named Thelma Pickles.

228. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.

229. Gloucestershire airport in England used to blast Tina Turner songs on its runways to scare birds away.

230. The name Santa Claus came from Saint Nicholas who was a bishop in the town of Myra, and was known to be very nice to children.

231. In New York City there are 6,374.6 miles of streets.

232. Back in 1919, the Russian transplant pioneer Serge Voronoff made headlines by grafting monkey testicles onto human males.

233. A British term for slot machine is "fruit machine" or "one-armed bandit".

234. Scientists have determined that having guilty feelings may actually damage your immune system.

235. A person uses approximately fifty-seven sheets of toilet paper each day.

236. In an average lifetime, a person will spend 4 years traveling in an automobile and six months waiting at a red light.

237. Popped popcorn should be stored in the freezer or Page 25

Page 25 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 55 5:55 AM refrigerator as this way it can stay crunchy for up to three weeks.

238. The first modern toothbrush was invented in China. Its bristles came from hogs hair or the mane of a horse that were then put into ivory handles.

239. Americans did not commonly use forks until after the Civil War.

240. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis invented a special diaper for babies; that has a pocket.

241. An artificial Christmas tree last up to six years in a home.

242. In 1747, the first American mention of the Christmas tree occurred. However, it was a not a tree but instead a pyramid made out of wood and decorated with apples and evergreen boughs.

243. India has a Bill of Rights for cows.

244. Five thousandths of a millimeter is the tolerance of accuracy at the LEGO mould factories.

245. A headache and inflammatory pain can be reduced by eating 20 tart cherries.

246. Kermit the frog delivered the commencement address at Southampton College located in the state of New York in 1996.Page 26

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247. Close to fifty percent of the bacteria in the mouth lives on the surface of our tongue.

248. The first restaurant to open in Hollywood was the Musso & Frank Grill in 1919.

249. The citrus soda "7 UP" was created in 1929. The original name of the popular drink was "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda", but it got changed to "7 UP."

250. Over 175 million cubic yards of earth was removed for the creation of the Panama Canal.

251. Bill Bowerman, the co-founder of the shoe company Nike, got his first shoe idea after staring at a waffle iron. This gave him the idea of using squared spikes to make the shoes lighter.

252. 41% of women apply body or hand moisturizer a minimum three times a day.

253. Canadians Scott Abbott and Chris Haney invented Trivial Pursuit. They were planning on playing Scrabble and realized that some of the pieces were missing so they came up with the idea of making their own game; Trivial Pursuit.

254. The Great Pyramids used to be as white as snow because they were encased in a bright limestone that has worn off over the years.

255. Majority of brides plan their wedding for approximately Page 27

Page 27 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM 7 to 12 months.

256. An adult lion's roar is so loud; it can be heard up to five miles away.

257. According to studies, men prefer to have white bedrooms and women prefer to have blue bedrooms.

258. Singer Paula Abdul used to be a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers.

259. A language becomes extinct in this world every two weeks.

260. A Canadian Tour company offers a two-day course in igloo building.

261. The first product that the toy company Mattel came out with was picture frames.

262. African Baobab tree's circumference can reach 180 feet. If the trunk is hollow, 20 people would be able to fit inside of it.

263. In China, people eat a bar of chocolate for every 1,000 chocolate bars eaten by the British.

264. Babies' eyes do not produce tears until the baby is approximately six to eight weeks old.

265. The Ice Man, found in the Italian Alps, is now thought to have been murdered. Scientists found an arrowhead Page 28

Page 28 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM stuck in the man's back. He is now known as the oldest murder victim on record.

266. Scientists at the Texas A&M University's Institute for Biosciences and Technology are working on ways to grow vaccines inside of bananas.

267. 4% of an apple is made up of minerals and vitamins, and over 80% is made up of water.

268. Instead of a birthday cake, many children in Russia are given a birthday pie.

269. There is a species of bird, Antpitta avis canis Ridgley, which barks like a dog.

270. A man named Charles Osborne had the hiccups for approximately sixty-nine years.

271. Albert Einstein was cremated and his ashes were spread over a river located in New Jersey.

272. U-Haul is the world's largest advertiser in the Yellow Pages.

273. In one gram of soil, about ten million bacteria live in it.

274. Arabic numerals were not invented by Arabs, but were invented in India by the Hindus.

275. China is the world's oldest known continuous civilization. Page 29

Page 29 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM 276. The first subway system in America was built in Boston, Massachusetts in 1897.

277. The slowest growing finger nail is on the thumb nail and the fastest growing is the finger nail on the middle finger.

278. The hog-nosed skunk can spray up to fifteen feet with incredible accuracy.

279. In 1992, the Antarctic Ozone hole was larger than the continent of North America.

280. An olive tree can live up to 1500 years.

281. An acre of trees can remove about 13 tons of dust and gases every year from the surrounding environment.

282. Bugs Bunny was originally called "Happy Rabbit."

283. Construction on the White House began in October of 1792.

284. In 1983, a Japanese artist, Tadahiko Ogawa, made a copy of the Mona Lisa completely out of ordinary toast.

285. A mole can dig a tunnel three hundred feet long in a single night.

286. Romans used to believe that walnuts could cure head ailments during the Renaissance, since their shape was similar to that of a brain. Page 30

Page 30 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM 287. The first lighthouse was in Alexandria in 290 B.C.

288. According to psychologists, the shoe and the foot are the most common sources of sexual fetishism in Western society.

289. The word Spain means "the land of rabbits."

290. Istanbul, Turkey is the only city in the world located on two continents.

291. Corned beef got its name because this beef was preserved with pellets of salt that were the size of corn kernels, which was also referred to as "corns" of salt.

292. The first company to mass produce teddy bears was the Ideal Toy Company.

293. Less than 1% of the women in the world will ever be able to wear a diamond that is the size of a carat or more.

294. Maine is the toothpick capital of the world.

295. It takes about three hours for food to be broken down in the human stomach.

296. If you were standing on Mercury, the Sun would appear 2.5 times larger than it appears from Earth.

297. Leather skin does not have any smell. The leather smell that you sense is actually derived from the materials used in the tanning process. Page 31

Page 31 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM 298. The turkey was once nominated to be the official bird of the United States.

299. Even though a red rose looks the same, there are over 900 different types of red roses.

300. The sound made by the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe is so loud that it can be heard 40 miles away.

301. In some parts of the Atacama Desert it has never rained.

302. An ear trumpet was used before the hearing aid was invented by people who had difficulty hearing.

303. The company Chanel claims that every 30 seconds, somewhere in the world, a bottle of Chanel No 5 is sold.

304. The Taj Mahal was once scheduled to be torn down in the 1830's.

305. The word alligator comes from El Lagarto which is Spanish for The Lizard.

306. The most senior crayon maker Emerson Moser retired after making 1.4 billion crayons for Crayola. It was then that he revealed that he was actually colorblind.

307. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb was afraid of the dark.

308. After the U.S Civil War, about 33%-50% of all U.S. Page 32

Page 32 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM paper currency in circulation was counterfeit.

309. A flea can jump 150 times its size. That is the same as a person able to jump up 1,000 feet in the air.

310. At lift off, US space shuttles weight about 4.5 million pounds.

311. Wal-Mart sells more apparel a year than all the other competing department stores combined.

312. Approximately 25,000 workers died during the building of the Panama Canal and approximately 20,000 of them contracted malaria and yellow fever.

313. It was during World War II that clothes with elastic waists were introduced. This is because the metal used in zippers was badly needed for the war.

314. A can of Pepsi has 41 grams of sugar. This amount to about seven teaspoons of sugar.

315. The 1960 Summer Olympics were the first Olympics to be aired on television by CBS.

316. 3% of pet owners give Valentine's gifts to their pets on Valentine's Day.

317. Althaiophobia is the fear of marshmallows.

318. The Nile River is 6,690 kilometers long.

319. A group of people that are hired to clap at a Page 33

Page 33 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM performance are called a claque.

320. A South African monkey was once awarded a medal and promoted to the rank of corporal during World War I.

321. St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was not Irish.

322. France is known as the perfume capital of the world.

323. In Alabama, it is against the law to wear a fake mustache that could cause laughter in the church.

324. 44% of kids watch television before they go to sleep.

325. Blood is such a good stain that Native Americans used it for paint.

326. When the Statue of Liberty was moved from France to the United States, 214 crates were used to transport it. The Statue was also reduced to 350 pieces.

327. Actor Michael Keaton was originally named Michael Douglas.

328. Marilyn Monroe had six toes.

329. The artist Vincent Van Gogh sliced part of his ear off in madness.

330. The largest volcano known is on Mars: Olympus Mons, 370 miles wide and 79,000 feet high, is almost three times higher than Mount Everest. Page 34

Page 34 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM 331. The average day is actually 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds. We have a leap year every four years to make up for this shortfall.

332. The most popular ethnic food in the United States is Italian food.

333. The longest recorded swim was 2938 km down the Mississippi River in 1930. The swimmer spend 742 hours in the water.

334. One average, men spend 60 hours a year shaving.

335. The peregrine falcon can spot its prey from more than 8 km away.

336. The chocolate chip cookie was invented in 1933.

337. Bill Russell was the first black head coach of a major league pro sports team.

338. Canada is an Indian word meaning "Village."

339. The deepest point on the Earth's surface is in the Pacific Ocean located in the Marianas Trench. This point is called the "Challenger Deep" and is 35,818 feet deep.

340. The country of Fiji is made up of 332 islands.

341. The longest recorded duration of a total solar eclipse was 7.5 minutes.

342. 215 jeans can be made with one bale of cotton.Page 35

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343. The world's largest church is located in Yamoussoukro, which is the capital of Cote d'Ivoire, Africa.

344. The act of sneezing is referred to as sternutation.

345. Consuming chocolate was once considered a sin during the 16th and 17th century.

346. 850 peanuts are needed to make an 18 oz. jar of peanut butter.

347. The lining of a person's stomach is replaced every 36 hours.

348. Budweiser beer is named after a town in Czechoslovakia.

349. The largest school in the world is City Montessori School in India and has over 25,000 students in grade levels ranging from kindergarten to college.

350. Uranus has 27 moons.

351. The largest LEGO castle that was ever built was built with 400,000 LEGO bricks and was 4.45 m x 5.22 m.

352. St. Paul, Minnesota was originally called Pigs Eye after a man named Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant who set up the first business there.

353. In only eight minutes, the Space Shuttle can accelerate to a speed of 27,000 kilometers per hour.Page 36

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354. In the Netherlands, there are special traffic lanes for bicycles. There are approximately 17,000 KMS of cycle lanes with special bicycle traffic lights.

355. Nintendo was first established in 1889 and they started out making special playing cards.

356. In 1982, Larry Walters tied 24 weather balloons to his lawn chair in Los Angeles and climbed to an altitude of 16,000 feet.

357. In China, pancakes are generally served as side dishes. They are stuffed with meat, bean sprouts, and other vegetables.

358. Americans on average use about 580 pounds of paper per year per person.

359. The word "America" comes from the European explorer "Amerigo Vespucci.

360. At the equator the Earth spins at about 1,038 miles per hour.

361. Ancient Egyptians kissed with their noses instead of with their lips.

362. In a five card poker game there are 2,598,960 possible hands.

363. The CIA has made a disk camera that is as big as a Page 37

Page 37 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM quarter. This gadget can take many pictures at a time when the disk is opened.

364. One billion pounds of pasta would need approximately 2,021,452,000 gallons of water to cook it. This is equivalent to 75,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.

365. In 1958, the United States Coast Guard off western Greenland measured the tallest known iceberg at five hundred and fifty feet.

366. In Albania, nodding your head means "no" and shaking your head means "yes."

367. There are approximately 75,000,000 horses in the world.

368. A vulture will never attack a human or animal that is moving.

369. Almonds are the oldest, most widely cultivated and extensively used nuts in the world.

370. After spending hours working at a computer display, look at a blank piece of white paper. It will probably appear pink.

371. Adult Northwestern American Grizzly Bears can bite through steel as thick as one half inch.

372. According to Playboy, more women talk dirty during sex than men.Page 38

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373. An ant's sense of smell is as good as a Dog's.

374. Americans eat more bananas than any other fruit: a total of 11 billion a year.

375. An eagle can kill a young deer and fly away with it.

376. An elephant's trunk contains more than 50,000 muscles.

377. The adult electric eel can produce a five hundred volt shock, which is enough to stun a horse.

378. An eyelash lives about 5 months.

379. A whale's penis is called a dork.

380. Americans, on average, eat 18 acres of pizza in one day.

381. Americans drink over a billion pounds of coffee every year and around five million bottles of soda.

382. An Octopus has 3 hearts!

383. An ear of corn always has an even number of rows because of the genetic formula which divides the cells.

384. The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. has the world's largest collection of comic books with over 5,000 titles and 100,000 issues. Page 39

Page 39 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM 385. An average adult produces about half a liter of flatulent gas per day, resulting in an average of about fourteen occurrences of flatulence a day.

386. The average American drinks 400 glasses of milk in a year.

387. The McDonald's in New Delhi, India makes their burgers with mutton as many Hindus do not eat beef.

388. All polar bears are left-handed.

389. The Hawaiian alphabet only has 12 letters.

390. Benjamin Franklin invented the rocking chair.

391. Russian I.M. Chisov survived a 21,980ft plunge out of a plane with no parachute. He landed on the steep side of a snow-covered mountain with only a fractured pelvis and slight concussion.

392. Al Capone's business card said he was a furniture dealer.

393. The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones.

394. One of the terms of Wayne Gretzky's final contract with the New York Rangers was two tickets for every event at New York's Madison Square Garden.

395. The word Karate means, "Empty hand." Page 40

Page 40 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM 396. Since the United Nations was founded in 1945, there have been 140 wars.

397. The sex of a baby crocodile is determined by the temperature in the nest and how deeply the eggs are buried.

398. A man filed a lawsuit against his doctor because he survived longer than what the doctor had predicted.

399. At 120 miles per hour, a Formula One car generates so much down force that it can drive upside down on the roof of a tunnel.

400. Almost 425,000 hotdogs and buns, 160,000 hamburgers and cheeseburgers were served at Woodstock '99.

401. The most valuable painting made by a female artist is "In the Box," painted by Mary Cassatt. It was sold for $3.67 million at Christie's in New York City.

402. On average, Americans move to a new place eleven times in their lifetime.

403. Just by recycling one aluminum can, enough energy would be saved to have a TV run for three hours.

404. Abdul Kassam Ismael, Grand Vizier of Persia in the tenth century, carried his library with him wherever he went. Four hundred camels carried the 117,000 volumes.

405. During the Gold Rush in 1849, some people paid as Page 41

Page 41 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM much as $100 for a simple glass of water.

406. In ancient Greece, throwing an apple to a girl was a way to propose for marriage. If the girl caught it, that would mean she accepts.

407. The dromedary camel can drink as much as 100 liters of water in just 10 minutes.

408. The Shroud of Turin is the single most studied artifact in human history.

409. More than half the time spent in United States courts is cases that involve automobiles.

410. Some of the titles that were considered for the hit T.V. show "Friends" were Six of One, Across the Hall, and Insomnia Cafe.

411. Iguanas can recognize their human handlers and greet them differently, compared with strangers.

412. If all the Oreo cookies ever sold were stacked on top of one another, they would be as high as 13.3 million Sears Towers.

413. Clarence Crane the inventor of "Crane's Peppermint Life Savers" sold his rights to the popular candy for less than three thousand dollars.

414. Pretzel snacks have been around for over 1300 years. A European monk invented the snack using used leftover Page 42

Page 42 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM bread dough.

415. The average adult has approximately six pounds of skin.

416. The pound key (#) on the keyboard is called an octothorpe.

417. Kite flying is a professional sport in Thailand.

418. Adolf Hitler wanted to be an architect, but he failed the entrance exam at the architectural school in Vienna.

419. Each year the Pentagon estimates their computer network is hacked about 250,000 times annually.

420. From 1939 to 1942, there was an undersea post office in the Bahamas.

421. 7-Eleven is the largest retail chain in the world.

422. The first commercial microwave oven was called the "1161 Radarange" and was the size of a refrigerator.

423. The term "mayday" used for signaling for help (after SOS) comes from the French "M'aidez" which is pronounced "MAYDAY" and means, "Help Me."

424. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class.

425. Each day the sun causes about one trillion tons of water to evaporate.Page 43

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426. Airports that are at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density.

427. Frank Wathernam was the last prisoner to leave Alcatraz prison on March 21, 1963.

428. The Great Comet of 1843 had a tail that was over 300 kilometers long.

429. An average home creates more pollution than does the average car.

430. An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet.

431. Before soccer referees started using whistles in 1878, they used to rely on waving a handkerchief.

432. The state that has the most diners in the world is New Jersey, which is referred to as the "Diner Capital of the World."

433. The Titanic's whistles could be heard from 11 miles away.

434. In Singapore, it is illegal to sell or own chewing gum.

435. Teflon is the most slipperiest substance in the world.

436. Former U.S. president Ronald Reagan worked as a lifeguard in his youth at a beach near Dixon, Illinois and saved over 77 lives.Page 44

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437. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the man who designed the Eiffel Tower, also designed the inner structure of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

438. Actor Bruce Willis's real name is Walter.

439. The Bank of America was originally called the Bank of Italy until the founder, Amedeo Giannini, changed the name in 1930.

440. Another word for hiccups is "singultus."

441. There is a certain species of kangaroo that is only 2.5 centimeters long when it is born.

442. Research indicates that people prefer the color blue for their casual clothing.

443. In only eight minutes, the Space Shuttle can accelerate to a speed of 27,000 kilometers per hour.

444. The six official languages of the United Nations are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

445. According to research, the most productive workday is Tuesday and the least productive is Friday.

446. 18% of an Americans income is spent on transportation.

447. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin's mother's maiden name was "Moon." Buzz was the second man to step onto the Moon in Page 45

Page 45 of 49 Untitled 24 2006 8 12 21 56 5:56 AM 1969.

448. Amazingly, goalies in the National Hockey League played without masks until the year 1959.

449. The 1912, a wrestling match in Stockholm between Finn Alfred Asikainen and Russian Martin Klein lasted more than 11 hours. Klein eventually won, but was too tired to participate in the championship match.

450. More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.

451. The most overdue book in the world was borrowed from Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, England and was returned 288 years later.

452. The largest bill U.S. bill made is for $100,000.<span style="font-size:19px;font-family:Time