Useless Facts II

Useless Facts II

The first car ever to be stolen was a Peugeot (in 1896) The White House is painted white to cover the scorch marks left when the British army set fire to it during the war of 1812 The speed of light is 1,802,617,500,000 furlongs per fortnight 5780 stars are visible to the naked eye under ideal Earth-based viewing conditions Empress Marie-Theresa of Austria was 4'11" tall and weighed 21 stone In the US, the 'on' position for light switches is 'up' Queen Anne was buried in a square coffin According to ancient Chinese astrologers,70% of omens were bad The word 'haywire' is not the legacy of an early and futile experiment in the transmission of electricity The 3,000,000,000th decimal digit of Pi is an 8 On Pitcairn island it is a criminal offense to shout "Ship Ahoy" when there is in fact no ship in sight.Icelandic phone books are listed by given name rather than surname The population of Outer Mongolia have recently been issued with surnamesPolar bears are the only mammals with hair on the soles of their feetAll polar bears are left-handed Earth worms are hermaphrodites There is no single word in the English language for the back of the knee The word 'set' has more distinct meanings than any other word in the English languageJapan is the only country ever to have changed its capital to a city whose name is an anagram of the name of the previous capital (Tokyo and Kyoto)Kansas's state song is "Home On The Range."The 1905 treaty ending the Russo-Japanese war was signed in New Hampshire.On Tahiti, high tides occur every day at noon and midnight, regardless of where themoon is.The whip is the first man-made invention to break the sound barrier.Cranberries' skins are so tight that they actually bounce and may be dribbled like basketballs."Flammable" and "inflammable" are synonyms.  So are “ebriate" and "inebriate."Raymond Burr was once a professional nightclub singer.More Americans die at 9 a.m. on Monday morning than at any time during the week.“Racecar" is the longest single-word palindrome in the English language.Sharks are immune to cancer.In New Jersey, it's illegal to have sex with the lights on.At least ten million people are having a birthday today.In Oklahoma, it is against the law to get a fish drunk.Of the many thousands of mammal species in the world, 1/4 are bats.Some combinations of smells are odorless; for example, the smells of gardenia and orange blossom will cancel each other out.No NFL team that lost a regular season game to the N.Y. Jets has won the Super Bowl at the end of that season.Goldfish kept in dark rooms often turn white.The snow carnival scheduled for May 1, 1953, in Sheridan, Wyoming, was canceled because of too much snow.If a frog's mouth is held open too long, it will suffocate.Spanish word "esposa" means both "wife" and "handcuff".After the Bible, the most translated book in the world is Cervantes' Don Quixote.Fetuses can get the hiccups.The octopus's testes are located in its head.The only animal with a straight backbone is the camel.Dog saliva is an antiseptic and can help to heal wounds.The kangaroo cannot jump if its tail is lifted off the ground.Malaysians protect their babies from disease by washing them in beer.The Chinese character for "thunder", which contains 52 strokes, is pronounced "ping".Pennies are not legal tender in amounts over twenty-five,unless the recipient chooses to accept them.IOW, if a debtor owes you more than twenty-five cents and spitefully tries to pay you in pennies, you can legally refuse to accept them, without affecting the debt.You can tell a turtle's sex by its sound.Males grunt,females hiss.King Louis XIX ruled France for a total of fifteen minutes.Coca-cola was originally green.Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than for the US Treasury.Smartest dogs: 1) border collie; 2) poodle; 3)golden retriever;Dumbest dog--afghanHawaiian alphabet has 12 letters.Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.Chances that an American lives within 50 miles of where they grew up: 1 in 2Amount American Airlines saved in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served first class: $40,000City with the most Rolls Royce's per capita: Hong KongState with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: AlaskaChances of a white Christmas in New York: 1 in 4Portion of US annual rainfall that falls in April: 1/12Percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28Percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38Estimated percentage of American adults who go on a diet each year: 44Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33Average number of days a West German goes without washing his underwear: 7Percentage of Americans who say that God has spoken to them: 36Percentage of Americans who regularly attend religious services: 43City with the highest per capita viewer-ship of television evangelists: Washington DCPercentage of American men who say they would marry the same woman if they had it to do all over again: 80Percentage of American women who say they would marry the same man: 50Percentage of men who say they are happier after their divorce or separation: 58Percentage of women who say they are happier: 85Number of different family relationships for which Hallmark makes cards: 105Cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven:  $6,400Average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000.Percentage of Americans who have visited Disneyland or Disney World: 70Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches.Portion of ice cream sold that is vanilla: 1/3Portion of potatoes sold that are French fried: 1/3Percentage of Americans that eat at McDonalds each day: 7Percentage of bird species that are monogamous: 90Percentage of mammal species that are: 3Number of US states that claim test scores in their elementary schools are above national average: 50Portion of Harvard students who graduate with honors: 4/5Chances that a burglary in the US will be solved: 1 in 7.Portion of land in the US owned by the government: 1/3Only President to remain a bachelor: James BuchanonOnly first lady to carry a loaded revolver: Eleanor RooseveltOnly President to win a Pulitzer: John F. Kennedy for Profiles in CourageOnly President awarded a patent: Abe Lincoln, for a system of buoying vessels over shoalsOnly food that does not spoil: honeyOnly person to win $64,000 Challenge and $64,000 Question: Dr. Joyce Brothers (subject is boxing)Only continent without reptiles or snakes: AntarticaOnly animal besides human that can get sunburn: pigOstriches stick their heads in the sand to look for water.An eagle can kill a young deer and fly away with it.In the Caribbean there are oysters that can climb trees.Polar bears are left-handed.Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.Eskimos never gamble.The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.The youngest pope was 11 years old.Mark Twain didn't graduate from elementary school.Proportional to their weight, men are stronger than horses.Pilgrims ate popcorn at the first Thanksgiving dinner.Your nose and ears never stop growing.Jupiter is bigger than all the other planets in our solar system combined.Hot water is heavier than cold.The parachute was invented by da Vinci in 1515.They have square watermelons in Japan...they stack better.Cream does not weigh as much as milk.Starfish have eight eyes--one at the end of each leg.Iceland consumes more Coca-cola per capita than any other nation.First novel ever written on a typewriter was Tom Sawyer.There are more collect calls on Father's Day than any other day of the year.Heinz Catsup leaving the bottle travels at 25 miles per year.It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs.Men get hiccups more often than woman.Armadillos can be housebroken.

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