Fun Facts

The Gulf Stream could carry a message in a bottle at an average of 4 miles per hour.

The flushing toilet was invented in 1596, not by Thomas Crapper as most people think, but by Sir John Harington.

Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been struck by lighting.

The Earth experiences 50,000 earthquakes each year.

On average, a 4-year-old child asks 437 questions a day.

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

Every drop of seawater contains approximately 1 billion gold atoms.

Roman Emperor Caligula made his horse a senator.

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

Tremendous erosion at the base of Niagara Falls (USA) undermines the shale cliffs and as a result the falls have receded approximately 7 miles over the last 10,000 years.

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."

Maine is the toothpick capital of the world.

During World War II, a German U-boat was sunk by a truck. The U-boat in question attacked a convoy in the Atlantic and then rose to see the effect. The merchant ship it sank had material strapped to its deck including a fleet of trucks, one of which was thrown in the air by the explosion, landing on the U-boat and breaking its back.

The tentacles of the giant Arctic jellyfish can reach 120 feet (36.6 meters) in length.

Mexico and Iceland have the highest per capita consumption of Coca-Cola.

22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong bank accounts in the next hour.

The tip of a 1/3 inch long hour-hand on a wristwatch travels at 0.00000275 mph.

The average CEO's salary in the US is 475 times greater than the average worker's salary. In Japan, it is 11 times greater; in France, 15 times; in Canada, 20; in South Africa, 21, and in Britain, 22.

The number of cars on the planet is increasing three times faster than the population growth.

Alaska could hold the 21 smallest States.

The main library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

The only letter not appearing on the Periodic Table is the letter iJi.

Toilet paper was invented in 1857.

Up to 25% of hospital keyboards carry the MRSA infection.

Abe Lincoln bought 50 cents worth of cocaine in 1860.

The average person will spend two weeks over their lifetime waiting for the traffic light to change.

Swimming pools in Phoenix, Arizona, pick up 20 pounds of dust a year.

If you can see a rainbow you must have your back to the sun.

You share your birthday with at least 9 million other people in the world.

South Africa has the highest number of AIDS deaths per year, with an estimated 370,000 dying in 2003 alone.

Dry cereal for breakfast was invented by John Henry Kellogg at the turn of the century.

Jupiter, the fifth planet from the sun, is the largest planet in the solar system, twice as big as all the other planets combined.

The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

Dogs and cats consume over $11 billion worth of pet food a year!

Human jaw muscles can generate a force of 200 pounds (90.8 kilograms) on the molars.

If you can see a rainbow you must have your back to the sun.

In 32 years there are about 1 billion seconds!

There are over 58 million dogs in the US.

The first video aired on MTV was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles in 1981.

It is estimated that at any one time, 0.7% of the world's population are drunk.

A lump of pure gold the size of a matchbook can be flattened into a sheet the size of a tennis court.

Clocks made before 1687 had only one hand, and hour hand.

The national orchestra of Monaco (a nation in Europe) has more individuals than its army.

Every day is about 55 billionths of a second longer than the day before it.

Dogs and cats consume over $11 billion worth of pet food a year!

Between 1990 and 2005, only one CEO received more than $1 billion in total compensation -- Citigroup's Sanford I. Weill.

There is a rare condition called Exploding Head Syndrome which you have probably never heard of.

The first airline, DELAG, was established on October 16, 1909, to carry passengers between German cities by Zeppelin airships. Up to November 1913, more than 34,000 people had used the service.

Its impossible to smoke oneself to death with weed. You won't be able to retain enough motor control and consciousness to do so after such a large amount.

The average bra size today is 36C. Ten years ago it was 34B.

One gallon of used motor oil can ruin approximately one million gallons of fresh water!

The two most famous actors who portrayed the "Marlboro Man" in the cigarette ads died of lung cancer.

Only humans sleep on their backs.

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

Starfish don't have brains.