lilhave
08-30-2006, 10:22 AM
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.
Kevin Spacey's older brother is a professional Rod Stewart impersonator.
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.
There are 1,008 McDonald's franchises in France.
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.
George W. Bush is probably going to be the eighth president in US history to have completed a term in office without ever having issued a single veto.
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.
35 Billion e-mails are sent each day throughout the world.
The richest self-made American under 40 is Michael Dell, chairman of Dell Computers. He is worth $18 billion.
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.
Airport security agents at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts caught a passenger trying to sneak a severed seal head onto a plane inside a cooler. The man said he was a biology professor and had found the dead animal on the beach.
Jimmy Carter once reported a UFO in Georgia.
There are 150,000,000 cell phones in use in the United States, more than one per every two human beings in the country.
A Boeing 767 airliner is made of 3,100,000 separate parts.
The average child recognizes over 200 company logos by the time he enters first grade.
Last December, the House of Representatives earmarked $50,000,000 to create an indoor rain forest in Iowa.
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.
On EBay, there are an average of $680 worth of transactions each second.
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 Eiffel Tower shrinks 6 inches in winter.
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.
We forget 80 percent of what we learn everyday.
Pain is measured in units of "dols". The instrument used to measure pain is a "dolorimeter".
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.
In 2003, the Transportation Security Administration dropped a requirement that air marshals pass a marksmanship test. Some applicants were even hired after they repeatedly shot flight attendants in mock hijacking episodes.
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 only state with a one syllable name is Maine.
Albert Einstein never knew how to drive a car.
The UK's best selling hiking magazine published faulty coordinates for descending Scotland's tallest peak (Ben Nevis), and recommended a route that leads climbers off the edge of a cliff.
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.
There is a Starbucks in Myungdong, South Korea that is five stories tall.
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.
Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.
The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.
The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.
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.
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
Dolly Pardon once lost a Dolly Pardon Look-Alike contest.
An average of 100 people choke to death on ball point pens each year.
The National Anthem of Greece has 158 verses.
Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
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.
The Bible has been translated into Klingon.
Toto was paid $125 per week while filming the "Wizard of Oz".
All polar bears are left handed.
Fidgeting can burn about 350 calories a day.
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.
Montpelier, Vermont is the only state capitol without a McDonald's.
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.
Ted Turner owns 5% of New Mexico.
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.
Maine has no venomous snakes.
It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
65% of Elvis impersonators are of Asian descent.
More people are killed annually by donkeys than die in air crashes.
Burt Reynolds was originally cast to be Han Solo in the first Star Wars film. He dropped out before filming.
Pope John Paul II was named an "Honorary Harlem Globetrotter" in 2000.
Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan carries the designation M - 1, named so because it was the first paved road anywhere.
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".
If you stretch a standard Slinky out flat it measures 87 feet long.
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.
Harvey
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.
Kevin Spacey's older brother is a professional Rod Stewart impersonator.
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.
There are 1,008 McDonald's franchises in France.
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.
George W. Bush is probably going to be the eighth president in US history to have completed a term in office without ever having issued a single veto.
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.
35 Billion e-mails are sent each day throughout the world.
The richest self-made American under 40 is Michael Dell, chairman of Dell Computers. He is worth $18 billion.
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.
Airport security agents at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts caught a passenger trying to sneak a severed seal head onto a plane inside a cooler. The man said he was a biology professor and had found the dead animal on the beach.
Jimmy Carter once reported a UFO in Georgia.
There are 150,000,000 cell phones in use in the United States, more than one per every two human beings in the country.
A Boeing 767 airliner is made of 3,100,000 separate parts.
The average child recognizes over 200 company logos by the time he enters first grade.
Last December, the House of Representatives earmarked $50,000,000 to create an indoor rain forest in Iowa.
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.
On EBay, there are an average of $680 worth of transactions each second.
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 Eiffel Tower shrinks 6 inches in winter.
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.
We forget 80 percent of what we learn everyday.
Pain is measured in units of "dols". The instrument used to measure pain is a "dolorimeter".
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.
In 2003, the Transportation Security Administration dropped a requirement that air marshals pass a marksmanship test. Some applicants were even hired after they repeatedly shot flight attendants in mock hijacking episodes.
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 only state with a one syllable name is Maine.
Albert Einstein never knew how to drive a car.
The UK's best selling hiking magazine published faulty coordinates for descending Scotland's tallest peak (Ben Nevis), and recommended a route that leads climbers off the edge of a cliff.
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.
There is a Starbucks in Myungdong, South Korea that is five stories tall.
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.
Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.
The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.
The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.
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.
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.
Dolly Pardon once lost a Dolly Pardon Look-Alike contest.
An average of 100 people choke to death on ball point pens each year.
The National Anthem of Greece has 158 verses.
Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
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.
The Bible has been translated into Klingon.
Toto was paid $125 per week while filming the "Wizard of Oz".
All polar bears are left handed.
Fidgeting can burn about 350 calories a day.
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.
Montpelier, Vermont is the only state capitol without a McDonald's.
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.
Ted Turner owns 5% of New Mexico.
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.
Maine has no venomous snakes.
It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
65% of Elvis impersonators are of Asian descent.
More people are killed annually by donkeys than die in air crashes.
Burt Reynolds was originally cast to be Han Solo in the first Star Wars film. He dropped out before filming.
Pope John Paul II was named an "Honorary Harlem Globetrotter" in 2000.
Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan carries the designation M - 1, named so because it was the first paved road anywhere.
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".
If you stretch a standard Slinky out flat it measures 87 feet long.
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.
Harvey