On average, people move house every 7 years.
In 1750 there were
about 800 million people in the world. In 1850 there were a billion more, and by
1950, another billion. Then it took just 50 years to double to 6 billion.
Half the world's
population earns about 5% of the world's wealth.
There are more than
600 million telephone lines today, yet almost half the world's population has
never made a phone call.
More personal
telephone calls are made on Mother's Day in the USA than on any other day in any
other country.
One in ten people
in the world live on an island.
The opposite sides
of a dice cube always add up to seven.
In the US, murder
is committed most frequently in August and least frequently in February.
In 1870 there were
more Irish living in London than in Dublin.
In 1870 there also
were more Catholics living in London than in Rome.
The chance of being
born on Leap Day is about 684 out of a million, or 1 in 1461. Only 4,1 million
have their birthday on Leap Day.
The odds of being
struck by lightning are about 600,000 to one.
About 27% of food
in developed countries are wasted each year. It's simply thrown away.
Almost 1,2 billion
people are underfed - the same number of people that are overweight to the point
of obesity.
The world average
of egg consumption per capita is 230.
In the US, about
280 million turkeys are sold for the Thanksgiving celebrations.
Half the world's
population is under 25 years of age.
On average in the
West, people move house every 7 years.
US Post Office
handles 43% of the world's mail. Its nearest competitor is Japan with 6%.
In the developed
countries, the proportion of adults married has declined from 72% in 1970 to 60%
in 1996. The chance of a first marriage ending in divorce is between 50% and
67%. The chance that a second marriage will end in divorce is about 10% higher
than for the first marriage.
The world's average
school year is 200 days per year. In the US, it is 180 days; in Sweden 170 days,
in Japan it is 243 days.
Since 1972, some 64
million tons of aluminum cans (about 3 trillion cans) have been produced. Placed
end-to-end, they could stretch to the moon about a thousand times. Cans
represent less than 1% of solid waste material.
More than a billion
transistors are manufactured... every second.
92% of Chinese
belong to the Han nationality, which has been China's largest nationality for
centuries. The rest of the nation consists of about 55 minority groups.
According to the US
Census Bureau, 19% of US children live in poverty. (1999)
In 1998, US states
spent $30 billion in funds on correctional services and $24 billion on social
welfare.
In 1998, American
people, foundations and corporations gave more than $175 billion to charities
and churches. Churches received 40% of the contributions, while public charities
and educational organizations received the remainder.
According to the US
Weather Service, their one day forecasts are accurate more than 75% of the time.
They send out 2 million forecasts a year.
There are more than
150 million sheep in Australia, a nation of 17 million people.
