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The average American looks at eight houses before buying one.

75% of people wash from top to bottom in the shower.

8% of Americans twiddle their thumbs.

5,840 people with pillow related injuries checked into U.S. emergency rooms in 1992.

"Evaluation and Parameterization of Stability and Safety Performance Characteristics of Two and Three Wheeled Vehicular Toys for Riding." Title of a $230,000 research project proposed by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, to study the various ways children fall off bicycles.

According to the US Government people have tried nearly 28,000 different ways to lose weight.

40,000 Americans are injured by toilets every year.

The average person over fifty will have spent 5 years waiting in lines.

Statistically speaking, the most dangerous job in the United States is that of Sanitation Worker. Firemen and Policeman are a close second and third, followed by Leather Tanners in fourth.

Since the Lego Group began manufacturing blocks in 1949, more than 189 billion pieces in 2000 different shapes have been produced. This is enough for about 30 Lego pieces for every living person on Earth.

Since 1978, at least 37 people have died as a result of shaking vending machines, in an attempt to get free merchandise. More than 100 have been injured.

Seventy-three percent of Americans are willing to wear clothes until the clothes wear out. The poll conducted by Louis Harris and Associates also revealed: 92 percent are willing to eliminate annual model changes in automobiles; 57 percent are willing to see a national policy that would make it cheaper to live in multiple-unit apartments than in single-family homes; 91 percent are willing to eat more vegetables and less meat for protein.

Seventy percent of house dust is made up of dead skin flakes.

Half of all people who have ever smoked have now quit.

Adults spend an average of 16 times as many hours selecting clothes (145.6 hours a year) as they do on planning their retirement.

Results of a survey show that 76 percent of women make their bed every day, compared to 46 percent of men.

Police estimated that 10,000 abandoned, orphaned and runaway children were roaming the streets of New York City in 1852.

Per capita, it is safer to live in New York City than it is to live in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

In 1996, Americans bought only 12 inches of dental floss per capita.

In 1995, each American used an annual average of 731 pounds of paper, more than double the amount used in the 1980s. Contrary to predictions that computers would displace paper, consumption is growing.

In 1990 the life expectancy of the average American male was 72.7 years and 76.1 years for females. In 1900 the life expectancy was 46.6 for males and 48.7 for females.

In 1977, less than 9 percent of physicians in the U.S. were women.

In 1970 only 5 percent of the American population lived in cities.

In 1915, the average annual family income in the United States was $687 a year.

Per a national survey, 80 percent of U.S. teachers in grades kindergarten through eighth grade have received chocolate as a gift from their students.

Per a "Newsweek" poll, 49 percent of American fathers described themselves as better parents than their dads.

Pediatricians estimate that 58 percent of their young patients go to child care or school even when ill, according to a Gallup survey. This despite the fact that 81 percent of mothers working full-time have stayed home at times to care for a sick child.

In 1990 there were about 15,000 vacuum cleaner related accidents in the U.S.

There have been several documented cases of women giving birth to twins who had different fathers, including cases where the children were of different races. To do so, the mother had to have conceived both children in close proximity. There has also been one recent case where a mother gave birth to unrelated "twins." In that instance, the mother underwent in vitro fertilization and had her own child and the embryo of another couple accidentally implanted in her.

While the average cost of air travel is about $60 per hour, using an air-phone during that plane trip can cost as much as $160 per hour.

Over 15 billion prizes have been given away in Cracker Jacks boxes.

Two out of three adults in the United States have hemorrhoids.

Hawaii is the only state in the United States where male life expectancy exceeds 70 years. Hawaii also leads all states in life expectancy in general, with an average of 73.6 years for both males and females.

Hawaii has the highest percentage of cremations of all other U.S. states, with a 60.6 percent preference over burial.

Only 3 percent of Americans ages 18 to 21 attended college in 1890.

Executives work an average 57 hours a week, but just 22 percent say their hours are a major cause of stress.

Out of the 34,000 gun deaths in the U.S. each year, fewer than 300 are listed as "justifiable homicide," the only category that could include shooting a burglar, mugger, or rapist.

Only about 30 percent of teenage males consistently apply sun protection lotion when going poolside, compared to 46 percent of female teens.

There are more telephones than people in Washington DC.

Occasionally, hot dog sales at baseball stadiums exceed attendance, but typically, hot dog sales at ballparks average 80 percent of the attendance.

Each year approximately 250,000 American husbands are physically attacked and beaten by their wives.

Canada is the largest importer of American cars.

Ninety percent of U.S. households have at lease one remote control for the television; 8 out of 10 report losing it.

More than 50 percent of adults surveyed said that children should not be paid money for getting good grades in school.

Spaghetti is the favorite pasta shape, with 38 percent favoring it over other pasta shapes. The second favorite shape is elbow macaroni, at 16 percent.

The one extra room new-home shoppers want the most is the laundry room, at 95 percent. Only 66 percent of new-home buyers request an extra room to use as an office.

Residential buildings use about 35 percent of all available electricity.

A recent Gallup survey showed that in the United States 8 percent of kissers kept their eyes open, but more than 20 percent confessed to an occasional peek. Forty-one percent said they experienced their first serious smooch when they were age thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen; 36 percent between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one. The most memorable kiss in a motion picture was in "Gone With The Wind" according to 25 percent of those polled.

The population divides approximately in half between AM and PM people. But early-birds have the edge - 56 percent routinely rise early while 44 percent stay up late. Medical studies, by the way, find that people tend to work more productively in the morning.

According to a major hotel chain, approximately the same numbers of men and women are locked out of their rooms. 32 percent are less than fully dressed.

Nearly 87 percent of the 103 people polled in 1977 were unable to identify correctly an unlabeled copy of the Declaration of Independence.

By the end of the U.S. Civil War, 33 percent of all U.S. paper currency in circulation was counterfeit. This was a devastating situation for a nation struggling to recover economically from such a destructive war. On July 5, 1865, the Secret Service was created as a part of the Department of the Treasury to help suppress counterfeit currency.

Before the Chinese take-over of Tibet in 1952, 25 percent of the males in the country were Buddhist monks.

One in five American households move in a given year. The average American moves 11 times. But most of us - 61 percent - still live in the state we were born in. And big corporations report increasing resistance to transfers to new cities...with many people turning down promotions in order to stay put.

Focus group information compiled by CalComp revealed that 50 percent of computer users do not like using a mouse.

According to one U.S. study, about 25 percent of all adolescent and adult males never use deodorant.

Half of all men start to lose their hair by the time they turn 30. Everybody loses dozens of hairs a day - the key thing is whether or not they grow back. More than 40 percent of men wind up with significant hair loss.

About 10 percent of the workforce in Egypt is under 12 years of age. Although laws protecting children are on the books, they are not well enforced, partly because many poverty-stricken parents feel forced to send their children out to help support the family.

About 60 percent of all American babies are named after close relatives.

About 25 percent of all male Americans between the ages of ten and fifteen were "gainfully employed" at the turn of the century. By 1970, so few in that age bracket were employed that the U.S. Census Bureau did not bother to make inquiries about them.

About 24 percent of alcoholics die in accidents, falls, fires, and suicides.

A recent study conducted by the Shyness Clinic in Menlo Park, California, revealed that almost 90 percent of Americans label themselves as shy.

It is illegal to marry the spouse of a grandparent in Maine, Maryland, South Carolina, and Washington, DC.

Golf was banned in England in 1457 because it was considered a distraction from the serious pursuit of archery.

The murder rate in the Unted States is 200 times greater than in Japan. In Japan no private citizen can buy a handgun legally.

Impotence is grounds for divorce in 24 U.S. states.

The minimum age set in the U.S. Constitution for the President of the United States is 35.

In Milan, Italy, there is a law on the books that requires a smile on the face of all citizens at all times. Exemptions include time spent visiting patients in hospitals or attending funerals. Otherwise, the fine is $100 if they are seen in public without a smile on their face.

Talking on a cellular phone while driving is against the law in Israel.

Because of heavy traffic congestion, Julius Caesar banned all wheeled vehicles from Rome during daylight hours.

In 1968, a convention of beggars in Dacca, India, passed a resolution demanding that the minimum amount of alms be fixed at 15 paisa (three cents).

In the marriage ceremony of the ancient Inca Indians of Peru, the couple was considered officially wed when they took off their sandals and handed them to each other.

During the eighteenth century, books that were considered offensive were sometimes punished by being whipped.

The Spanish Inquisition once condemned the entire Netherlands to death for heresy.

A girl, in the Vacococha tribe of Peru, to prepare her for marriage at the age of 12, is placed in a basket in the hut of her prospective in-laws and must remain suspened over an open fire night and day for 3 months.

In the Middle Ages, the highest court in France ordered the execution of a cow for injuring a human.

Margaret Sanger was jailed for a month, in 1917, in a workhouse for founding a clinic that dispensed contraceptives.

The curtain or veil used by some Hindus and Moslems to seclude or hide their women from strangers is called a "purdah."

It is illegal to marry the spouse of a grandparent in Maine, Maryland, South Carolina, and Washington, DC.

Golf was banned in England in 1457 because it was considered a distraction from the serious pursuit of archery.

The murder rate in the Unted States is 200 times greater than in Japan. In Japan no private citizen can buy a handgun legally.

Impotence is grounds for divorce in 24 U.S. states.

The minimum age set in the U.S. Constitution for the President of the United States is 35.

In Milan, Italy, there is a law on the books that requires a smile on the face of all citizens at all times. Exemptions include time spent visiting patients in hospitals or attending funerals. Otherwise, the fine is $100 if they are seen in public without a smile on their face.

Talking on a cellular phone while driving is against the law in Israel.

Because of heavy traffic congestion, Julius Caesar banned all wheeled vehicles from Rome during daylight hours.

In 1968, a convention of beggars in Dacca, India, passed a resolution demanding that the minimum amount of alms be fixed at 15 paisa (three cents).

In the marriage ceremony of the ancient Inca Indians of Peru, the couple was considered officially wed when they took off their sandals and handed them to each other.

During the eighteenth century, books that were considered offensive were sometimes punished by being whipped.

The Spanish Inquisition once condemned the entire Netherlands to death for heresy.

A girl, in the Vacococha tribe of Peru, to prepare her for marriage at the age of 12, is placed in a basket in the hut of her prospective in-laws and must remain suspened over an open fire night and day for 3 months.

In the Middle Ages, the highest court in France ordered the execution of a cow for injuring a human.

Margaret Sanger was jailed for a month, in 1917, in a workhouse for founding a clinic that dispensed contraceptives.

The curtain or veil used by some Hindus and Moslems to seclude or hide their women from strangers is called a "purdah."

The mummified hand of a notary public, chopped off for falsely certifying a document, has been on display in the city hall of Munster, Germany, as a warning to other notaries for 400 years.

It is legal in North Dakota to shoot an Indian on horseback, provided you are in a covered wagon.

Women in Florida may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.

Snoring is prohibited in Massachusetts unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked. It is also illegal to go to bed without first having a full bath.

Mailing an entire building has been illegal in the U.S. since 1916 when a man mailed a 40,000-ton brick house across Utah to avoid high freight rates.

In Hartford, Connecticut, you may not, under any circumstances, cross the street walking on your hands.

To pass U.S. Army basic training young female recruits must do 17 pushups in two minutes. Males must do 40 pushups in two minutes.

At the first professional baseball game, the umpire was fined 6 cents for swearing.

During the time of Peter the Great, any Russian man who wore a beard was required to pay a special tax.

During World War II, bakers in the United States were ordered to stop selling sliced bread for the duration of the war on January 18, 1943. Only whole loaves were made available to the public. It was never explained how this action helped the war effort.

During World War I, the punishment for homosexuality in the French army was execution.

Quebec and Newfoundland are the only two provinces which do not allow personalized license plates.

The ship, the Queen Elizabeth 2, should always be written as QE2. QEII is the actual queen.

In Atlanta, Georgia, it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp.

In 1996, Christmas caroling was banned at two major malls in Pensacola, Florida. Apparently, shoppers and merchants complained the carolers were too loud and took up too much space.

In 1388, English Parliament banned waste disposal in public waterways and ditches.

In most places, when a drawbridge is open, the only land vehicle that can claim priority over boats is a truck hauling the US mail. This option is seldom if ever exercised, of course.

Found on a butane lighter: "Warning: Flame may cause fire."

Found on the handle of a hammer: "Caution: Do not use this hammer to strike any solid object."

Found on Bat Man The Animated Series Armor Set Halloween costume box: "PARENT: Please exercise caution, mask and chest plate are not protective; cape does not enable wearer to fly."

Found on the instruction sheet of a Conair Pro Style 1600 hair dryer: "WARNING: Do not use in shower. Never use while sleeping."

Found a box of Tampax Tampons: "Remove used tampon before inserting a new one."

Found on Axius Sno-Off Automobile Windshield cover: "Caution: Never drive with the cover on your windshield."

A local ordinance in Atwoodville, Connecticut prohibits people from playing Scrabble while waiting for a politician to speak.

In December 1997, the state of Nevada (USA) became the first state to pass legislation categorizing Y2K data disasters as "acts of God"— protecting the state from lawsuits that may potentially be brought against it by residents in the year 2000.

In Hartford Connecticut, it is illegal for a husband to kiss his wife on Sundays.

In Milan, Italy, when an operator dialed a wrong number, the phone company fined the operator.

In Italy, it is illegal to make coffins out of anything except nutshells or wood.

It is illegal to hunt camels in the state of Arizona.

In Turkey, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, anyone caught drinking coffee was put to death.

Christmas was once illegal in England.

In Utah, birds have the right of way on all highways.

During the time that the atomic bomb was being hatched by the United States at Alamogordo, New Mexico, applicants for routine jobs like janitors, were disqualified if they could read. Illiteracy was a job requirement. The reason: the authorities did not want their trash or other papers read.

In Kentucky, it is illegal to carry ice cream in your back pocket.

No building in DC may be taller than 13 floors. This is so that no matter where in the city you are, you can see the monument to our first president, Washington.

Texas is the only state that permits residents to cast absentee ballots from space. The first to exercise this right to vote while in orbit was astronaut David Wolf, who cast his vote for Houston mayor via e-mail from the Russian space station Mir in November 1997.

Hypnotism is banned by public schools in San Diego.

It was once against the law to slam your car door in a city in Switzerland.

In Pakistan, it is rude to show the soles of your feet or point a foot when you are sitting on the floor.

In Thailand, the left hand is considered unclean, so you should not eat with it. Also, pointing with one finger is considered rude and is only done when pointing to objects or animals, never humans.

Being rude to a telephone operator in Prussia was once a crime. In 1908, a respected citizen was reprimanded by the government after becoming exasperated with an operator and saying "My dear girl!"

In South America, it would be rude not to ask a man about his wife and children. In most Arab countries, it would be rude to do so.

In some smaller towns in the state of Arizona, it is illegal to wear suspenders.

In seventeenth-century Japan, no citizen was allowed to leave the country on penalty of death. Anyone caught coming or going without permission was executed on the spot.

In Pennsylvania, Ministers are forbidden from performing marriages when either the bride or groom is drunk.

In San Salvador, drunk drivers can be punished by death before a firing squad.

In Saudi Arabia, a woman reportedly may divorce her husband if he does not keep her supplied with coffee.

Women were banned by royal decree from using hotel swimming pools in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, in 1979.

Vermont, Alaska, Hawaii, and Maine are the four states in the U.S. that do not allow billboards.

In New York State, it is still illegal to shoot a rabbit from a moving trolley car.

In most American states, a wedding ring is exempt by law from inclusion among the assets in a bankruptcy estate. This means that a wedding ring cannot be seized by creditors, no matter how much the bankrupt person owes.

A few years back, a Chinese soap hit it big with consumers in Asia. It was claimed in ads that users would lose weight with Seaweed Defat Scented Soap simply by washing with it. The soap was sold in violation to the Japanese Pharmaceutical Affairs Law and was banned. Reportedly, the craze for the soap was so great that Japanese tourists from China and Hong Kong brought back large quantities. The product was also in violation of customs regulations. In June and July 1999 alone, over 10,000 bars were seized.

Connecticut and Rhode Island never ratified the 18th Amendment: Prohibition.

Candy made from pieces of barrel cactus was outlawed in the U.S. in 1952 to protect the species.

By law, information collected in a U.S. census must remain confidential for 72 years.

An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman to take more than 3 steps backwards while dancing.

For hundreds of years, the Chinese zealously guarded the secret of sericulture; imperial law decreed death by torture to those who disclosed how to make silk.

The handkerchief had been used by the Romans, who ordinarily wore two handkerchiefs: one on the left wrist and one tucked in at the waist or around the neck. In the fifteenth century, the handkerchief was for a time allowed only to the nobility; special laws were made to enforce this. The classical heritage was rediscovered during the Renaissance.

Chewing gum is outlawed in Singapore because it is a means of "tainting an environment free of dirt."

Before the enactment of the 1978 law that made it mandatory for dog owners in New York City to clean up after their pets, approximately 40 million pounds of dog excrement were deposited on the streets every year.

According to law, no store is allowed to sell a toothbrush on the Sabbath in Providence, Rhode Island. Yet these same stores are allowed to sell toothpaste and mouthwash on Sundays.

In the state of Queensland, Australia, it is still constitutional law that all pubs (hotel/bar) must have a railing outside for patrons to tie up their horse.

A Venetian law decrees that all gondolas must be painted black. The only exceptions are gondolas belonging to high public officials.

It is against the law to whale hunt in Oklahoma. (Think about it...)

Every citizen of Kentucky is required by law to take a bath at least once a year.

In Idaho a citizen is forbidden by law to give another citizen a box of candy that weighs more than 50 pounds.

Lawn darts are illegal in Canada.

Anti-modem laws restrict Internet access in the country of Burma. Illegal possession of a modem can lead to a prison term.

Under the law of Mississippi, there’s no such thing as a female Peeping Tom.

Theaters in Glendale, California can show horror films only on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

Scientists have estimated a fly ball will travel about seven feet further for every 1,000 feet of altitude. With an approximate elevation of 1,100 feet, Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona is the second highest facility in the major baseball leagues; only Coors Field in Denver, Colorado is higher.

In the U.S., there are more then 10,000 golf courses.

Boxing champion Gene Tunney taught Shakespeare at Yale University.

The city of Denver was chosen to host and then refused the 1976 Winter Olympics.

The Miami Dolphins were the last NFL team to go through a season unbeaten.

The 1900 Olympics were held in Paris, France.

The average rikishi tips the scales at about 280 pounds, but in 1988 the heaviest sumo westler ever recorded weighed in at a thundering 560 pounds.

To bulk up, rikishi eat huge portions of protein-rich stews called chankonabe, packed with fish or meat and vegetables, plus vast quantities of less healthful foods, including fast food. They often force themselves to eat when they are full, and they have a nap after lunch, thus acquiring flab on top of their strong muscles, which helps to keep their center of gravity low.

Professional sumo wrestlers, called rikishi, must be quick on their feet and supple, but weight is vital to success as they hurl themselves at their opponents, aiming to floor them or push them outside the 15-foot fighting circle.

In 1870, British boxing champ Jim Mace and American boxer Joe Coburn fought for three hours and 48 minutes without landing one punch.

Boxing is considered the easiest sport for gamblers to fix.

Six bulls are killed in a formal bullfight.

Canada beat Denmark 47-0 at the 1949 world hockey championships.

The theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters is "Sweet Georgia Brown."

Three consective strikes in bowling is called a turkey.

Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals at the 1936 Olympics.

O.J. Simpson rushed for 2,003 yards in 1973.

The Indianapolis 500 is run on Memorial Day.

The five Olympic rings represent the continents.

Ten events make up the decathlon.

A regulation soccer games is 90 minutes.

In 1910, A baseball with a cork center was used in a World Series game for the first time. The Philadelphia Athletics (managed by Connie Mack) and the Chicago Cubs (managed by P.K. Wrigley) played for the championship.

Before 1859, baseball umpires were seated in padded chairs behind home plate.

Golf-great Billy Casper turned golf pro during the Korean War while serving in the Navy. Casper was assigned to operate and build golf driving ranges for the Navy in the San Diego area.

The United States Golf Association (USGA) was founded in 1894 as the governing body of golf in the United States.

The youngest golfer recorded to have shot a hole-in-one is Coby Orr (5 years) of Littleton, CO on the 103 yd fifth at the Riverside Golf Course, San Antonio, TX in 1975.

Two golf clubs claim to be the first established in the United States: the Foxberg Golf Club, Clarion County, PA (1887) and St. Andrews Golf Club of Yonkers, NY (1888).

The Tom Thumb golf course was the first miniature golf course in the United States. It was built it 1929 in Chattanooga, Tennessee by John Garnet Carter.

The oldest player to score his age is C. Arthur Thompson (1869-1975) of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, who scored 103 on the Uplands course of 6,215 yd, age 103 in 1973.

The youngest American female to score an ace was Shirley Kunde in August 1943 at age 13.

Americans spend more than $630 million a year on golf balls.

Before 1850, golf balls were made of leather and were stuffed with feathers.

Honey is used as a center for golf balls and in antifreeze mixtures.

In the NHL in the 1960’s, the league decided that home teams would wear white, while visiting teams would wear their dark jerseys. The reasoning behind this was that it would be more difficult to keep white uniforms clean while on the road.

Frank Mahovlich played for 3 different teams during his NHL career: Toronto, Detroit, and Montreal. For all three, he wore the number 27.

Fastest round of golf (18 holes) by a team - 9 minutes and 28 seconds. Set at Tatnuck CC in Worcester in September 9, 1996 at 10:40am.

Pittsburgh is the only city where all major sports teams have the same colors: Black and gold.

Pro golfer Wayne Levi was the first PGA pro to win a tournament using a colored (orange) ball. He did it in the Hawaiian Open in 1982.

In 1986 Danny Heep became the first player in a World Series to be a designated hitter (DH) with the initials "D.H."

Kresimir Cosic is only non-American player in NBA Hall of Fame.

Jackie Robinson was the only person to letter in four sports at UCLA. Of all of them, he supposedly liked baseball the least.

Honey is used as a center for golf balls and in antifreeze mixtures.

Superfly Jimmy Snuka was the first E.C.W. World Champ.

The silhouette on the Major League Baseball logo is Harmon Killebrew.

At 101, Larry Lewis ran the 100 yard dash in 17.8 seconds setting a new world record for runners 100 years old or older.

Rick and Paul Reuschel of the 1975 Chicago Cubs combine to pitch a shutout, the first time brothers do this.

The 1990 New York Yankee pitching staff set an all-time record with the fewest complete games, three.

Will Clark, professional baseball player, is a direct descendant of William Clark of Lewis and Clark.

Olympic Badminton rules say that the birdie has to have exactly fourteen feathers.

The home team must provide the referee with 36 footballs for each National Football League game.

Racehorses have been known to wear out new shoes in one race.

Baseball cards have been around since 1886. Modern cards, with high-resolution color photographs on the front and player statistics on the back, date from 1953. The photos are taken in the spring, with and without team caps, just in case the player is traded to another team.

Australian Rules football was originally designed to give cricketers something to play during the off season.

Since 1896, the beginning of the modern Olympics, only Greece and Australia have participated in every Games.

In 1964 for the 10th time in his major-league baseball career, Mickey Mantle hit home runs from both the left and ride sides of the plate in the same game - setting a new baseball record.

Gene Sarazen, a golfer from several generations ago, set the record for the fastest golf drive: 120 mph.

In July 1934 Babe Ruth paid a fan $20 dollars for the return of the baseball he hit for his 700th career home run.

The Iditarod dog sled race - from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska - commemorates an emergency operation in 1925 to get medical supplies to Nome following a diphtheria epidemic.

Golf was banned in England in 1457 because it was considered a distraction from the serious pursuit of archery.

Not all Golf Balls have 360 dimples. There are some as high as 420. Thereare also all different kinds of dimple patterns.

Prior to 1900, prize fights lasted up to 100 rounds.

Four men in the history of boxing have been knocked out in the first eleven seconds of the first round.

Golf-great Billy Casper turned golf pro during the Korean War while serving in the Navy. Casper was assigned to operate and build golf driving ranges for the Navy in the San Diego area.

Billiards great, Henry Lewis once sank 46 balls in a row.

We are in the middle of an ice age. Ice ages include both cold and warm periods; at the moment we are experiencing a relatively warm span of time known as an "interglacial period." Geologists believe that the warmest part of this period occurred from 1890 through 1945 and that since 1945 things have slowly begun freezing up again.

The first man-made insecticide was DDT.

The earth rotates on its axis more slowly in March than in September.

The Earth gets heavier each day by tons, as meteoric dust settles on it.

The whirling cloud, a flat cloud hovering over the peak of an extinct volcano, Mount Jirinaj in Indonesia, affected by hot air rising from the crater, spins swiftly around and around.

Because of a large orbital eccentricity, Pluto was closer to the sun than Neptune between January 1979 and March 1999.

According to experts, large caves tend to "breathe"; they inhale and exhale great quantities of air when the barometric pressure on the surface changes, and air rushes in or out seeking equilibrium.

About 500 meteorites hit the Earth each year. The largest known meteorite was found at Grootfontein in Namibia, southwest Africa, in 1920. It is 9 feet (2.75m) long and 8 feet (2.43m) wide.

A shrimp has more than a hundred pair of chromosomes in each cell nucleus.

Vineger was the strongest acid known in the ancient times.

The clock at the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C., will gain or lose only one second in 300 years because it uses cesium atoms.

The densest substance on Earth is the metal "osmium."m