WEIRD BUT TRUE FACTS
1.Abraham Lincoln was born in 1808. John F. Kennedy was born in 1908. Lincoln became president in 1860. JFK became president in 1960. They were both killed on Fridays. Booth who shot Lincoln was born in 1839 and Oswald who shot JFK was born in 1939. Lincoln's personal assistant was Kennedy while Kennedy's personal assistant was Lincoln. The names of the presidents elected after Lincoln and Kennedy were both Johnson's.
2. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
3. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple.
4. Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them use to burn their houses down -- hence the expression "to get fired."
5. Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village."
6. Only two people signed the American Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until five years later.
7. The international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 672.
8. Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots.
9. The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin zoo.
10. More people are killed annually by donkeys than die in air crashes.
11. The term, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye," is from ancient Rome. The only rule during wrestling matches was: "No eye gouging." Everything else was allowed, but the only way to be disqualified was to poke someone's eye out.
12. A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
13. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
14. Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.
15. Money isn't made out of paper, it's made out of cotton.
16. Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.
17. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
18. An ostrich's eye is bigger that it's brain.
19. Cat's urine glows in a blacklight.
20. Coca-Cola was originally green.
21. Amount American Airlines saved in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served first class: $40,000.
22. City with most Rolls Royce's per capita: Hong Kong.
23. State with highest % of people who walk to work: Alaska.
24. Percent Of Africa that is wilderness: 28%
Percent Of America that is wilderness: 38%
25. A duck's quack does not echo and nobody knows why.
26. Cost of raising a medium sized dog to age of 11: $6400.
27. # Of people airborne of US at any given time: 61,000
28. % Of Americans who have visited Disney Land/World: 70%
29. Intelligent people have more copper and zinc in their hair.
30. The youngest pope was 11 years old.
31. Iceland consumes more Coca-Cola per capita than any other country.
32. The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." uses every letter in the alphabet and was developed by Western Union to test telex/twx communications.
33. In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.
34. Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches.
35. In the 1940s, the FCC assigned television's Channel 1 to mobile services (two-way taxicabs, for instance) but did now re-number the other channel assignments. That is why your TV set has channels 2 and up, but no channel 1.
36. The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
37. The only 15-letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
38. Hang On Sloopy is the official rock song of Ohio.
39. Did you know that there are coffee flavored Pez?
40. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.
41. The airplane Buddy Holly crashed in was the "American Pie." Thus the name of the Don McLean song.
42. When opossums are playing 'possum', they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.
43. 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.
44. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history. Spades -King David, Clubs - Alexander the Great, Hearts - Charlemagne, and Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
45. 111,111,111 X 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
46. "I Am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
47. The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.
48. David Prowse was the guy in the Darth Vader suit in Star Wars. He spoke all of Vader's lines, and didn't know that he was going to be dubbed over by James Earl Jones until he saw the screening of the movie.
49. The Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, has twice as many bathrooms as is necessary. When it was built in the 1940s, the state of Virginia still had segregation laws requiring separate toilet facilities for black and whites.
50. The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
51. The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.
52. Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.
53. If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.
54. No NFL team which plays its home games in a domed stadium has ever won a SuperBowl.
55. The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB,NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League All-Star Game.
56. Only one person in 2 billion will live to be 116 or older.
57. The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan".
58. In Cleveland, Ohio, it's illegal to catch mice without a hunting license.
59. There is an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonalds Big Mac bun.
60. Pound for pound, hamburgers cost more than new cars.
61. The 3 most valuable brand names on Earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
62. It's possible to lead a cow upstairs, but not downstairs.
63. The Bible has been translated into Klingon.
64. Humans are the only primates that don't have pigment in the palms of their hands.
65. Ten percent of the Russian government's income comes from the sale of vodka.
66. Ninety percent of New York City cabbies are recently arrived immigrants.
67. In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the world's nuclear weapons combined.
68. Reno, Nevada is west of Los Angeles, California.
69. Elephants can't jump. Every other mammal can.
70. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
71. If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.
72. The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
73. Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.
74. On average people fear spiders more than they do death.
75. The strongest muscle in your body is the tongue.
76. It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
77. Americans on the average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.
78. Did you know that you are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a poisonous spider?
79. Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do.
80. In ancient Egypt, priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies.
81. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
82. The ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight, and always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
83. Polar bears are left-handed.
84. The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds, which ranks #1.
85. The flea can jump 350 times its body length, which is like a human jumping the length of a football field.
86. A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death.
87. Butterflies taste with their feet.
88. If you fart consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.
89. You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.
90. The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.
91. The term..."the whole 9 yards"... came from WWII fighter pilots in the Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the . 50 caliber Machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards."
92. The name, Jeep, came from the abbreviation used in the army for the "General Purpose" vehicle, G.P.
93. The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It To Beaver".
94. It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs.
95. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
96. The world's termites outweigh the world's humans 10 to 1.
97. When Heinz ketchup leaves the bottle, it travels at a rate of 25 miles per year.
98. On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.
99. Average age of top GM executives in 1994: 49.8 years.
Average age of the Rolling Stones: 50.6.
100.The Boston University Bridge (on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts) is the only place
in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.
101.Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.
102.Our eyes are always about the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
103.Many hamsters only blink one eye at a time.
104.Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33.
105.February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
106.Montpelier, Vermont is the only U.S. state capital without a McDonalds.
107.The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
108.There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.
109.Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every Dewey-decimal category.
110.Columbia University is the second largest landowner in New York City, after the Catholic Church.
111.Back in the mid to late 80's, an IBM compatible computer wasn't considered a hundred percent
compatible unless it could run Micro- soft's Flight Simulator.
112.Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.
113.It takes about a half a gallon of water to cook macaroni, and about a gallon to clean the pot.
114.In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
115.Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2-6 years of age.
116.The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
117.Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in
Malaysia combined.
118.In the great fire of London in 1666 half of London was burnt down but only 6 people were injured
119.Lincoln Logs were invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son.
120.Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older
121.he word "samba" means "to rub navels together."
122.The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.
123.Until 1965, driving was done on the left-hand side on roads in Sweden. The conversion to right-hand
was done on a weekday at 5pm. All traffic stopped as people switched sides. This time and day were
chosen to prevent accidents where drivers would have gotten up in the morning and been too sleepy to
realize that *this* was the day of the changeover.
124.Dr. Seuss pronounced "Seuss" such that it rhymed with "rejoice."
125.In Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart never said "Play it again, Sam."
126.Sherlock Holmes never said "Elementary, my dear Watson."
127.The oldest known goldfish lived to 41 years of age. Its name was Fred.
128.In 1984, a New Jersey man opened a summer camp for Cabbage Patch dolls.
129.You're more likely to get stung by a bee on a windy day that in any other weather.
130.In 1976, a Los Angeles secretary formally married her 50-pound pet rock.
131.In 1980, the Yellow Pages accidentally listed a Texas funeral home under frozen foods.
131.About 96% of all American children can recognize Ronald McDonald.
132.An average person laughs about 15 times a day.
133.Research indicates that mosquitoes are attracted to people who have recently eaten bananas.
134.Penguins can jump as high as 6 feet in the air.
135.The most money ever paid for a cow in an auction was $1.3 million.
136.The average person is about a quarter of an inch taller at night.
137.A sneeze zooms out of your mouth at over 600 m.p.h.
138.Hockey Pucks travel at speeds as high as 100 m.p.h.
139.98% of American drivers think they drive better than anyone else.
140.A Saudi Arabian woman can get a divorce if her husband doesn't give her coffee.
141.In 1980, there was only one country in the world with no telephones - Bhutan.
142.The most extras ever used in a movie was 300,000, for the film Gandhi in 1981.
143.Every person has a unique tongue print.
144.Your right lung takes in more air than your left one does.
145.Women's hearts beat faster than men's.
146.When Bugs Bunny first appeared in 1935, he was called Happy Rabbit.
147.Pollsters say that 40% of dog and cat owners carry pictures of the pets in their wallets.
148.Bubble gum contains rubber.
149.You can only smell 1/20th as well as a dog.
150.Most American car horns honk in the key of F.
151.The world population of chickens is about equal to the number of people.
152.It's against the law to catch fish with your bare hands in Kansas.
153.There are more plastic flamingos in America than real ones.
154.Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than for the US Treasury
155.First novel ever written on a typewriter was "Tom Sawyer"
156.Men get hiccups more often than women
157.Chances that an American lives within 50 mi of where he/she grew up: 1 in 2
158.Percentage of Americans who have visited Disneyland or Disney World: 70
159.Portion of ice cream sold that is vanilla: 1/3
160.Portion of potatoes sold that are French-fried: 1/3
161.Percentage of Americans that eat at McDonalds each day: 7
162.Honey is the only food that does not spoil.
163.Only bird that can fly backwards: Hummingbird
164.Only continent without reptiles or snakes: Antarctica
165.Only animal besides human that can get sunburn: Pig
166.Ostriches stick their heads in the sand to look for water
167.An eagle can kill a young deer and fly away with it
168.In the Caribbean there are oysters that can climb trees
169.Eskimos never gamble
170.The phone book in Iceland is alphabetic ... by first name
171.Armadillos can be housebroken; they are also the only mammals that do not dream.
172.Debra Winger was the voice of E.T.
173.Pearls melt in vinegar.
174.The average bed is home to over 6 billion dust mites.
175.Starfish have no brain.
176.Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a novel with over 50,000 words, none of which containing the letter "E".
177.Dolphins sleep with one eye open.
178.Bulls are colour blind.
179.Apples are more effective at keeping people awake in the morning than caffeine.
180.A can of SPAM is opened every 4 seconds
181."Babe" was played by over 48 pigs.
182.Mosquitoes have 47 teeth.
183.Ants never sleep.
184.The largest pumpkin weighed 377 lbs.
185.The largest cabbage weighed 144 lbs.
186.A bowling pin only has to tilt 7.5 degrees in order to fall down.
187.Beaver Cleaver's locker number is 9.
188.Jerry Seinfeld's apartment number (on the show) is 5A. In the old episodes it was 3A.
189.The life span of a taste bud is ten days.
190.A stretched out Slinky is 87 feet long.
191.The hundred billionth Crayola crayon was Perriwinkle Blue.
192.An iguana can stay under water for 28 minutes.
193.Emus can't walk backwards.
194.A group of unicorns is called a blessing.
195.A group of kangaroos is called a mob.
196.A group of whales is called a pod.
197.A group of owls is called a parliament.
198.A group of ravens is called a murder.
199.12 or more cows is called a flink.
200.A baby oyster is called a spat.
201.Chickens can't swallow while they are upside down.
202.The average garden variety caterpillar has 248 muscles in its head.
203.Pinocchio was made of pine.
204.There are 22 stars in the Paramount logo.
205.The average human produces 10,000 gallons of saliva in a lifetime.
206.A quarter has 119 grooves around the edge.
207.A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
208.Cranberry Jell-0 is the only kind that contains real fruit.
209.The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
210.The pound sign # is called anoctothorpe.
211.Maine is the toothpick capital of the world.
212.New Jersey has a spoon museum with over 5,400 spoons from almost all the states.
213.Singapore only has one train station.
214.The parking meter was invented in North Dakota.
215.Napolean made his battle plans in a sandbox.
216.Roman Emperor Caligula made his horse a senator
217.The green stuff on the occasional freak potatoe chip is chlorophyll.
218.If you ate too many carrots you would turn orange.
219.The earth is approx. 6,588,000,000,000,000,000 tons.
220.The force of 1 billion people jumping at the same time is equal to 500 tons of TNT.
221.Popeye was 5"6.
222.Howdy Doody had 48 freckles.
223.The Eifel Tower has 2 500 000 rivets in it.
224.On an average work day, a typist's fingers travel 12.6 miles.
225.The longest word in the Old Testament is Malhershalahashbaz.
226.2500 lefties die each year using products designed for righties.
227.On average, a 4 year old child asks 437 questions a day.
228.Blue and white are the most common school colors.
229.Swimming pools in Phoenix, Arizona, pick up 20 pounds of dust a year.
230.The four words in the English language with the letters uu are: vacuum, residuum, triduum and continuum.
231.In a normal life time an American will eat 200 pounds of peanuts and 10 000 pounds of meat.
232.A new book is published every 13 minutes in America.
233.American's eat 18 billion hot dogs a year.
234.American's eat 134 pounds of sugar a year.
235.Every year the sun loses 360 million tons.
236.Because of Animal Crackers, many kids until they reach the age of ten, believe a bear is as tall as a giraffe.
237.You can tell if a skunk is about if you smell only .000 000 000 000 071 ounce of its spray.
238.India has 50 million monkeys.
239.By some unknown means, an iguana can end its own life.
240.The colder the room you sleep in, the better the chances are that you'll have a bad dream.
241.The bullseye on a dartboard must be 5 feet 8 inches off the ground.
242.The foot is the most common body part bitten by insects.
243.The most common time for a wake up call is 7am.
244.The doorbell was invented in 1831.
245.The are 225 squares on a Scrabble board.
246.The electric shaver was patented on November 6, 1928.
247.Japan is the largest exporter of frog's legs.
248.There are approx. 550 hairs in the eyebrow.
249.The most common non-contagious disease in the world is tooth decay.
250.The world AND appears 46 277 times in the Bible.
251.The first word played in the Scrabble rules demonstration game is "Horn."
252.The telephone's U.S. patent number is 174 465.
253.There are 17 steps leading up to Sherlock Holme's apartment.
254.Napoleon was terrified of cats.
255.The first Lifesaver flavor was peppermint
256.The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger.
257.The letter N ends all Japanese words not ending in a vowel.
258.4000 people are injured by teapots each year.
259.The shortest English word that contains the letters A, B, C, D, E, and F is feedback.
260.The only dogs that don't have a pink tongue is the chow and the chinese shar-pei.
261.The dumbest domesticated animal is the turkey.
