Facts You Need To Know!
1. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) was born on and died on
days when Halley's Comet can be seen. During his life he
predicted that he would die when it could be seen.
2. US Dollar bills are made out of cotton and linen.
3. The "57" on the Heinz ketchup bottle represents the
number of pickle types the company once had.
4. Americans are responsible for about 1/5 of the
world's garbage annually. On average, that's 3 pounds a
day per person.
5. Giraffes and rats can last longer without water than
camels.
6. Your stomach produces a new layer of mucus every two
weeks so that it doesn't digest itself.
7. 98% of all murders and rapes are by a close family
member or friend of the victim.
8. A B-25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor of the
Empire State Building on July 28, 1945.
9. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp
(marijuana) paper.
10. The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.
11. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will
bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the
glass to the top.
12. Benjamin Franklin was the fifth in a series of the
youngest son of the youngest son.
13. Triskaidekaphobia means fear of the number 13.
Paraskevidekatriaphobia means fear of Friday the 13th
(which occurs one to three times a year). In Italy, 17
is considered an unlucky number. In Japan, 4 is
considered an unlucky number.
14. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and
cannot find a mate.
15. All the chemicals in a human body combined are worth
about 6.25 euro (if sold separately).
16. In ancient Rome, when a man testified in court he
would swear on his testicles.
17. The ZIP in "ZIP code" means Zoning Improvement Plan.
18. Coca-Cola contained Coca (whose active ingredient is
cocaine) from 1885 to 1903.
19. A "2 by 4" is really 1 1/2 by 3 1/2.
20. It's estimated that at any one time around 0.7% of
the world's population is drunk.
21. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a
great king from history: Spades = David ; Clubs =
Alexander the Great ; Hearts = Charlemagne ; Diamonds =
Caesar
22. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of
Happy Meals.
23. Every person, including identical twins, has a
unique eye and tongue print along with their finger
print.
24. The "spot" on the 7-Up logo comes from its inventor
who had red eyes. He was an albino.
25. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 dictionary were
misspelled.
26. The "save" icon in Microsoft Office programs shows a
floppy disk with the shutter on backwards.
27. Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin both married
their first cousins (Elsa Löwenthal and Emma Wedgewood
respectively).
28. Camel's have three eyelids.
29. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong
parents every day.
30. John Wilkes Booth's brother once saved the life of
Abraham Lincoln's son.
31. Warren Beatty and Shirley McLaine are brother and
sister.
32. Chocolate can kill dogs; it directly affects their
heart and nervous system.
33. Daniel Boone hated coonskin caps.
34. Playing cards were issued to British pilots in WWII.
If captured, they could be soaked in water and unfolded
to reveal a map for escape.
35. 55.1% of all US prisoners are in prison for drug
offenses.
36. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
37. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up
into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the
shark to explode.
38. Dr. Seuss pronounced his name "soyce".
39. Slugs have four noses.
40. Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine.
41. The Three Wise Monkeys have names: Mizaru (See no
evil), Mikazaru (Hear no evil), and Mazaru (Speak no
evil).
42. India has a Bill of Rights for cows.
43. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If
you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood
vessel in your head or neck and die. If you keep your
eyes open by force, they can pop out. (DON'T TRY IT,
DUMBASS)
44. During the California gold rush of 1849, miners sent
their laundry to Honolulu for washing and pressing. Due
to the extremely high costs in California during these
boom years, it was deemed more feasible to send their
shirts to Hawaii for servicing.
45. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by taking
out an olive from First Class salads.
46. About 200,000,000 M&Ms are sold each day in the
United States.
47. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out
during World War II were made of wood.
48. Over a course of about eleven years, the sun's
magnetic poles switch places. This cycle is called
"Solarmax".
49. There are 318,979,564,000 possible combinations of
the first four moves in Chess.
50. Upper and lower case letters are named "upper" and
"lower" because in the time when all original print had
to be set in individual letters, the upper case letters
were stored in the case on top of the case that stored
the lower case letters.
51. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.
52. The numbers "172" can be found on the back of the US
5 dollar bill, in the bushes at the base of the Lincoln
Memorial.
53. Coconuts kill about 150 people each year. That's
more than sharks.
54. Half of all bank robberies take place on a Friday.
55. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan.
There was never a recorded Wendy before it.
56. The international telephone dialing code for
Antarctica is 672.
57. The first bomb the Allies dropped on Berlin in WWII
killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
58. The average raindrop falls at 7 miles per hour.
59. It took Leonardo Da Vinci 10 years to paint Mona
Lisa. He never signed or dated the painting. Leonardo
and Mona had identical bone structures according to the
painting. X-ray images have shown that there are 3 other
versions under the original.
60. If you put a drop of liquor on a scorpion, it will
instantly go mad and sting itself to death.
61. Bruce Lee was so fast that they had to slow the film
down so you could see his moves.
62. The largest amount of money you can have without
having change for a dollar is $1.19 (3 quarters, 4
dimes, and 4 pennies cannot be divided into a dollar).
63. The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce
Springsteen's "Born in the USA".
64. IBM's motto is "Think". Apple later made their motto
"Think different".
65. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original
"Halloween" was actually a Captain Kirk mask painted
white, due to low budget.
66. The original name for butterfly was flutterby.
67. 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.
68. One in fourteen women in America is a natural
blonde. Only one in sixteen men is.
69. The Olympic was the sister ship of the Titanic, and
she provided twenty-five years of service.
70. When the Titanic sank, 2228 people were on it. Only
706 survived.
71. In America, someone is diagnosed with AIDS every 10
minutes. In South Africa, someone dies due to HIV or
AIDS every 10 minutes.
72. Every day, 7% of the US eats at McDonald's.
73. The first product Motorola started to develop was a
record player for automobiles. At that time, the most
known player on the market was Victrola, which Motorola
got their name from.
74. In the US, about 127 million adults are overweight
or obese; worldwide, 750 million are overweight and 300
million more are obese. In the US, 15% of children in
elementary school are overweight; 20% are worldwide.
75. In Disney's Fantasia, the Sorcerer to whom Mickey
played an apprentice was named Yensid (Disney spelled
backward).
76. During his entire life, Vincent Van Gogh sold
exactly one painting, "Red Vineyard at Arles".
77. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back,
you cannot sink into quicksand.
78. One in ten people live on an island.
79. It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than
the celery has in it to begin with.
80. 28% of Africa is classified as wilderness. In North
America, its 38%.
81. Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie
Chaplin look-alike contest.
82. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from
crying.
83. Sherlock Holmes NEVER said "Elementary, my dear
Watson", Humphrey Bogart NEVER said "Play it again, Sam"
in Casablanca, and they NEVER said "Beam me up, Scotty"
on Star Trek.
84. An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it
illegal for a woman to take more than 3 steps backwards
while dancing.
85. Sharon Stone was the first Star Search spokes model.
86. The sound you here when you put a seashell next to
your ear is not the ocean, but blood flowing through
your head.
87. More people are afraid of open spaces (kenophobia)
than of tight spaces (claustrophobia).
88. The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.
89. There is a 1 in 4 chance that New York will have a
white Christmas.
90. The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for
being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.
91. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal
ads for dating are already married.
92. Back in the mid to late '80s, an IBM compatible
computer wasn't considered 100% compatible unless it
could run Microsoft's Flight Simulator.
93. $203,000,000 is spent on barbed wire each year in
the U.S.
94. Every US president has worn glasses (just not always
in public).
95. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.
96. Jim Henson first coined the word "Muppet". It is a
combination of "marionette" and "puppet."
97. The names of all the continents end with the same
letter that they start with (not counting the words
"North" and "South).
98. The Michelin man is known as Mr. Bib. His name was
Bibendum in the company's first ads in 1896.
99. About 20% of bird species have become extinct in the
past 200 years, almost all of them because of human
activity.
100. The word "lethologica" describes the state of not
being able to remember the word you want.
101. About 14% of injecting drug users are HIV positive.
102. A word or sentence that is the same front and back
(racecar, kayak) is called a "palindrome".
103. A snail can sleep for 3 years.
104. People photocopying their buttocks are the cause of
23% of all photocopier faults worldwide.
105. China has more English speakers than the United
States.
106. Finnish folklore says that when Santa comes to
Finland to deliver gifts, he leaves his sleigh behind
and rides on a goat named Ukko instead. According to
French tradition, Santa Claus has a brother named Bells
Nichols, who visits homes on New Year's Eve after
everyone is asleep, and if a plate is set out for him,
he fills it with cookies and cakes.
107. One in every 9000 people is an albino.
108. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
109. You share your birthday with at least 9 million
other people in the world.
110. Everyday, more money is printed for Monopoly sets
than for the U.S. Treasury.
111. Every year 4 people in the UK die putting their
trousers on.
112. Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds; dogs only
have about ten.
113. Our eyes are always the same size from birth but
our nose and ears never stop growing.
114. In every episode of "Seinfeld" there is a Superman
picture or reference somewhere.
115. If Barbie were life-size her measurements would be
39-23-33. She would stand seven feet two inches tall and
have a neck twice the length of a normal human's neck.
116. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two
rats could have over million descendants.
117. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase
the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
118. Each year in America there are about 300,000 deaths
that can be attributed to obesity.
119. About 55% of all movies are rated R.
120. About 500 movies are made in the US and 800 in
India annually.
121. Arabic numerals are not really Arabic; they were
created in India.
122. Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (implemented on July 16, 1969) makes it
illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with
extraterrestrials or their vehicles.
123. The February of 1865 is the only month in recorded
history not to have a full moon.
124. 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 blacks and
whites.
125. There is actually no danger in swimming right after
you eat, though it may feel uncomfortable.
126. The cruise liner Queen Elizabeth II moves only six
inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
127. More than 50% of the people in the world have never
made or received a telephone call.
128. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both
eyes.
129. There are about 2 chickens for every human in the
world.
130. The word "maverick" came into use after Samuel
Maverick, a Texan refused to brand his cattle.
Eventually any unbranded calf became known as a
Maverick.
131. Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New
Jersey.
132. For every memorial statue with a person on a horse,
if the 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 of battle wounds; if all four of
the horse's legs are on the ground, the person died of
natural causes.
133. On a Canadian two-dollar bill, the American flag is
flying over the Parliament Building.
134. An American urologist bought Napoleon's penis for
$40,000.
135. No word in the English language rhymes with month,
orange, silver, or purple.
136. Dreamt is the only English word that ends in the
letters "MT".
137. $283,200 is the absolute highest amount of money
you can win on Jeopardy.
138. Almonds are members of the peach family.
139. Rats and horses can't vomit.
140. The penguin is the only bird that can't fly but can
swim.
141. There are approximately 100 million acts of sexual
intercourse each day.
142. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies room during
a dance.
143. Maine is the only state whose name is just one
syllable.
144. There are only four words in the English language
that end in "-dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous,
and hazardous.
145. Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza every
day.
146. Every time you lick a stamp you consume 1/10 of a
calorie.
147. "101 Dalmatians" and "Peter Pan" are the only
Disney animations in which both of a character's parents
are present and don't die during the movie.
148. You are more likely to be killed by a champagne
cork than by a poisonous spider.
149. Hedenophobic means fear of pleasure.
150. Ancient Egyptian priests would pluck every hair
from their bodies.
151. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
152. Half of all crimes are committed by people under
the age of 18. 80% of burglaries are committed by people
aged 13-21.
153. An ant always falls over on its right side when
intoxicated.
154. All polar bears are left-handed.
155. The catfish has over 27000 taste buds (more than
any other animal)
156. A cockroach will live nine days without its head
before it starves to death.
157. Butterflies taste with their feet.
158. Elephants are the only mammals that cannot jump.
159. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
160. Starfish have no brains.
161. 11% of the world is left-handed.
162. John Hancock and Charles Thomson were the only
people to sign the Declaration of independence on July
4th, 1776. The last signature came five years later.
163. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
164. Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
165. The national anthem of Greece has 158 verses.
166. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
167. A healthy (non-colorblind) human eye can
distinguish between 500 shades of gray.
168. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
169. Lizards can self-amputate their tails for
protection. It grows back after a few months.
170. Los Angeles' full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra
Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula". It can
be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.
171. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
172. A honeybee can fly at fifteen miles per hour.
173. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
174. A "jiffy" is the scientific name for 1/100th of a
second.
175. The average child recognizes over 200 company logos
by the time he enters first grade.
176. The youngest pope ever was 11 years old.
177. The first novel ever written on a typewriter is Tom
Sawyer.
178. One out of every 43 prisoners escapes from jail.
94% are recaptured.
179. The cigarette lighter was invented before the
match.
180. The average chocolate bar has 8 insects' legs
melted into it.
181. A rhinoceros horn is made of compacted hair.
182. The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar
and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38
minutes.
183. Elwood Edwards did the voice for the AOL sound
files (i.e. "You've got Mail!"). He is heard about 27
million times a day. The recordings were done before
Quantum changed its name to AOL and the program was
known as "Q-Link."
184. A polar bears skin is black. Its fur is actually
clear, but like snow it appears white.
185. Elvis had a twin brother named Garon, who died at
birth, which is why Elvis middle name was spelled Aron,
in honor of his brother.
186. Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both
parties are registered blood donors.
187. Donkeys kill more people than plane crashes.
188. Shakespeare invented the words "assassination" and
"bump."
189. There are a million ants for every person on Earth.
190. If you keep a goldfish in the dark room, it will
eventually turn white.
191. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
192. The name Jeep comes from "GP", the army
abbreviation for General Purpose.
193. Right handed people live, on average, nine years
longer than left handed people do.
194. There are two credit cards for every person in the
United States.
195. Cats' urine glows under a black light.
196. A "quidnunc" is a person who is eager to know the
latest news and gossip.
197. The first US Patent was for manufacturing potassium
carbonate (used in glass and gunpowder). It was issued
to Samuel Hopkins on July 31, 1970.
198. Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors, the
helicopter, and many other present day items.
199. In the last 4000 years no new animals have been
domesticated.
200. 25% of a human's bones are in its feet.
201. David Sarnoff received the Titanic's distress
signal and saved hundreds of passengers. He later became
the head of the first radio network, the National
Broadcasting Company (NBC).
202. On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint
pens every year.
203. Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually
than every Nike factory worker in Malaysia combined.
204. One of the reasons marijuana is illegal today is
because cotton growers in the '30s lobbied against hemp
farmers (they saw it as competition).
205. "Canada" is an Indian word meaning "Big Village".
206. Only one in two billion people will live to be 116
or older.
207. If you yelled for 8 years 7 months and 6 days, you
would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup
of coffee. If you fart consistently for 6 years and 9
months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of
an atomic bomb.
208. Rape is reported every six minutes in the U.S.
209. The human heart creates enough pressure in the
bloodstream to squirt blood 30 feet.
210. A jellyfish is 95% water.
211. Truck driving is the most dangerous occupation by
accidental deaths (799 in 2001).
212. Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories
an hour.
213. Elephants only sleep for two hours each day.
214. On average people fear spiders more than they do
death.
215. The strongest muscle in the human body is the
tongue. (the heart is not a muscle)
216. In golf, a 'Bo Derek' is a score of 10.
217. In the U.S, Frisbees outsell footballs, baseballs
and basketballs combined.
218. In most watch advertisements the time displayed on
a watch is 10:10.
219. If you plant an apple seed, it is almost guaranteed
to grow a tree of a different type of apple.
220. Al Capone's business card said he was a used
furniture dealer.
221. The only real person to be a PEZ head was Betsy
Ross.
222. There are about 450 types of cheese in the world.
240 come from France.
223. When the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers plays
football at home the stadium becomes Nebraska's third
largest city.
224. 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".
225. A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours.
226. In Iceland, a Big Mac costs $5.50.
227. Broccoli and cauliflower are the only vegetables
that are flowers.
228. Newborn babies have about 350 bones. They gradually
merge and disappear until there are about 206 by age 5.
229. There is no solid proof of who built the Taj Mahal.
230. In a survey of 200000 ostriches over 80 years, not
one tried to bury its head in the sand.
231. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. A quarter
has 119.
232. On an American one-dollar bill there is a tiny owl
in the upper-left-hand corner of the upper-right-hand
"1" and a spider hidden in the front upper-right-hand
corner.
233. Judy Scheindlin ("Judge Judy") has a $25,000,000
salary, while Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg
has a $190,100 salary.
234. The name for Oz in the Wizard of Oz was thought up
when the creator Frank Baum looked at his filing cabinet
and saw A-N and O-Z.
235. Andorra, a tiny country on the border between
France and Spain, has the longest average lifespan:
83.49 years.
236. The microwave was invented after a researcher
walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his
pocket.
237. Mr. Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister.
238. In America you will see an average of 500
advertisements a day.
239. John Lennon's first girlfriend was named Thelma
Pickles.
240. You can lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs.
241. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
242. "The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said
to be the toughest tongue twister in English.
243. There are 336 dimples on a regulation US golf ball.
In the UK its 330.
244. The Toltecs (a 7th century tribe) used wooden
swords so they wouldn't kill their enemies.
245. "Duff" is the decaying organic matter found on a
forest floor.
246. The US has more personal computers than the next 7
countries combined.
247. There have been over 600 lawsuits against Alexander
Grahm Bell over rights to the patent of the telephone,
the most valuable patent in U.S. history.
248. Kuwait is about 60% male (highest in the world).
Latvia is about 54% female (highest in the world).
249. The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters.
250. In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy
than all the world's nuclear weapons combined.
251. At the height of its power in 400 BC, the Greek
city of Sparta had 25,000 citizens and 500,000 slaves.
252. Julius Caesar's autograph is worth about
$2,000,000.
253. The tool doctors wrap around a patient's arm to
measure blood pressure is called a sphygmomanometer.
254. People say "bless you" when you sneeze because your
heart stops for a millisecond.
255. US gold coins used to say "In Gold We Trust".
256. In "Silence of the Lambs", Hannibal Lector (Anthony
Hopkins) never blinks.
257. A shrimp's heart is in its head.
258. In the 17th century, the value of pi was known to
35 decimal places. Today, to 1.2411 trillion.
259. The bestselling books of all time are The Bible
(6billion+), Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung
(900million+), and The Lord of the Rings (100million+)
260. Pearls melt in vinegar.
261. "Lassie" was played by a group of male dogs; the
main one was named Pal.
262. In 1863, Paul Hubert of Bordeaux, France, was
sentenced to life in jail for murder. After 21 years, it
was discovered that he was convicted of murdering
himself.
263. Nepal is the only country that doesn't have a
rectangular flag. Switzerland is the only country with a
square flag.
264. Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer are the only angels
named in the Bible.
265. Tiger Woods' real first name is Eldrick. His father
gave him the nickname "Tiger" in honor of a South
Vietnamese soldier his father had fought alongside with
during the Vietnam War.
266. Johnny Appleseed planted apples so that people
could use apple cider to make alcohol.
267. Abraham Lincoln's ghost is said to haunt the White
House.
268. God is not mentioned once in the book of Esther.
269. The odds of being born male are about 51.2%,
according to census.
270. Scotland has more redheads than any other part of
the world.
271. There is an average of 61,000 people airborne over
the US at any given moment.
272. Prince Charles and Prince William never travel on
the same airplane in case there is a crash.
273. The most popular first name in the world is
Muhammad. The most common name (of any type) in the
world is Mohammed.
274. The surface of the Earth is about 60% water and 10%
ice.
275. For every 230 cars that are made, 1 will be stolen.
276. Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. President to be
born in a hospital.
277. Lightning strikes the earth about 8 million times a
day.
278. Around 2,000 left-handed people die annually due to
improper use of equipment designed only for right handed
people.
279. The "if" and "then" parts of conditional ("if P
then Q") statement are called the protasis (P) and
apodosis (Q).
280. Humans use a total of 72 different muscles in
speech.
281. If you feed a seagull Alka-Seltzer, its stomach
will explode.
282. Only female mosquitoes bite.
283. The U.S. Post Office handles 43 percent of the
world's mail.
284. Most household dust is made of dead skin cells.
285. One in about eight million people has progeria, a
disease that causes people to grow faster than they age.
286. The male seahorse carries the eggs until they hatch
instead of the female.
287. The "countdown" (counting down from 10 for an event
such as New-Years Day) was first used in a 1929 German
silent film called "Die Frau Im Monde" (The Girl in the
Moon).
288. Negative emotions such as anxiety and depression
can weaken your immune system.
289. There are seven suicides in the Bible: Abimelech.
Samson, Saul, Saul's armor-bearer, Ahithophel, Zimri,
Judas.
290. A mongoose is not a goose but more like a meercat,
which is not a cat but more like a prairie dog, which is
not a dog but more like a ground squirrel.
291. Stephen Hawking was born exactly 300 years after
Galileo died.
292. Mercury is the only planet whose orbit is coplanar
with its equator. Venus and Uranus are the only planets
that rotate opposite to the direction of their orbit.
293. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe died
on July 4th. Adams and Jefferson died in the same year.
Supposedly, Adams last words were "Thomas Jefferson
survives."
294. The Baby Ruth candy bar was named after Grover
Cleveland's baby daughter, Ruth, not Babe Ruth the
baseball player.
295. Dolphins can look in different directions with each
eye. They can sleep with one eye open.
296. The Falkland Isles (pop. about 2000) has over
700000 sheep (350 per person).
297. There are 41,806 different spoken languages in the
world today.
298. While many treaties have been signed at or near
Paris, France (including many after WWI and WWII), nine
are actually known as the "Treaty of Paris": Seven
Years' War (1763), American Revolutionary War (1783),
French-Swede War (1810), France vs Sixth Coalition
(1814), Battle of Waterloo (1815), Crimean War (1856),
Spanish-American War (1898), union of Bessarabia and
Romania (1920), establishment of European Coal and Steel
Community (1951).
299. Robert Todd Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln's oldest son)
was in Washington DC during his father's assassination
as well as during President Garfield's assassination,
and he was in Buffalo NY when President McKinley was
assassinated.
300. The city of Venice stands on about 120 small
islands.
301. The past-tense of the English word "dare" is
"durst".
302. Don Mac Lean's song "American Pie" was written
about Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson
(The Big Bopper), who all died in the same plane crash.
303. The drummer for ZZ Top (the only one without a
beard) is named Frank Beard.
304. Hummingbirds can't walk.
305. When movie directors do not want their names to be
seen in the credits, they use the pseudonym "Allen
Smithee" instead. It has been used over 50 times,
starting with "Death of a Gunfighter" (1969).
306. Four different people played the part of Darth
Vader (body, face, voice, and breathing).
307. Pamela Lee-Anderson was the first to be born in
Canada on the centennial anniversary of Canada's
independence (7/1/1967).
308. There is about 200 times more gold in the oceans
than has been mined throughout history.
309. William Shatner is credited for being the first
person on TV to say "hell" as well as to have the first
inter-racial kiss (with Nichelle Nichols), both in
episodes of Star Trek.
310. While the US government's supply of gold is kept at
Fort Knox, its supply of silver is kept at the Military
Academy at West Point, NY.
311. Alexander Graham Bell's wife and mother were both
deaf.
312. Compact discs read from the inside to the outside
edge, the reverse of how a record works.
313. In the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, if a man
was not married by age 30, he would not be allowed to
vote or watch athletic events involving nude young men.
314. Attila the Hun (invader of Europe; 406-453), Felix
Faure (French President; 1841-1899), Pope Leo VII
(936-939), Pope John VII (955-964), Pope Leo VIII
(963-965), Pope John XIII (965-72), Pope Paul II
(1467-1471), Lord Palmerston (British Prime Minister,
1784-1865), Nelson Rockefeller (US Vice President,
1908-1979), and John Entwistle (The Who's bassist,
1944-2002) all died while having sex.
315. Humans and dolphins are the only animals known to
have sex for pleasure.
316. Pac-Man, Namco's 1979 arcade game, was originally
called "Puck Man". The name was changed when they
realized that vandals could easily scratch out part of
the letter "P".
317. Shakespeare and Cervantes died on the same day,
April 23, 1616.
318. There are about 7.7 million millionaires in the
world (more than 1/1000th of the population).
319. The youngest mother on record was a Peruvian girl
named Lina Medina. She gave birth to a boy by caesarean
section on May 14, 1939 (which happened to be Mother's
Day), at the age of five years, seven months and 21
days.
320. The "middle finger" gesture originates back to 423
BC in Aristophanes play "The Clouds"