May 2011
1 post
RT @thedavies: The wingspan of a Boeing 747 is 100ft longer than the length of the Wright Brothers’ first flight.
February 2011
1 post
“The UN currently values the global drug trade at £198bn, making it the 3rd largest industry … after oil and arms.” http://t.co/12WnfOB
January 2011
1 post
RT @lindaboff: Jeff Immelt: More sports therapists than engineers graduating in US, CEO Innovation Panel, #CES
November 2010
1 post
Only 9 percent of students at for-profit universities graduate within 6 years. http://bit.ly/fddSpq
October 2010
1 post
1 in 34 housing units in Florida are in foreclosure process or bank-owned. http://bit.ly/9xAJuf
August 2010
1 post
“Studies show that more than a fifth of all voice messages are never listened to.” http://bit.ly/djRHoR
July 2010
4 posts
“A quarter of all daily searches on Google have never been seen before.” http://bit.ly/bvpOhS
“Manufacturing employment in the US computer industry is lower than it was before the 1st personal computer in 1975.” http://bit.ly/a2oaV3
“At the average U.S. price, you can buy 40,000 gallons of water for about $80.” http://bit.ly/c9OLNs
“Over the last four decades, only 18 teachers in the entire U.K. have been fired for incompetence.” http://nyti.ms/a1iqNP
May 2010
1 post
“Between 1980 and 2003, the amount Americans spent on prescription drugs quietly rose from $12 billion to $197 billion” http://bit.ly/bzgzIT
March 2010
2 posts
Over a tenth of the elements in the periodic table have been discovered since 1970. http://bit.ly/9M2VGk
In 1892 American Express purchased 2,400 copies of the popular novel Black Beauty as a gift to all of the company’s stablemen.
February 2010
1 post
If Facebook was a country it’s population would make it the third biggest nation in the world. http://bit.ly/bZQ46U
January 2010
1 post
“The average amount of time the ball is in play on the field during an NFL game is about 11 minutes.” http://bit.ly/8QOjEh
December 2009
1 post
“1/4 of America’s engineering and tech firms founded between 95 & 05 had an immigrant founder.” http://bit.ly/59RwUs
November 2009
6 posts
Of the 17k+ words Shakespeare used, over 1700 are recorded there for the first time. http://bit.ly/1Ccv1j
“300 million [golf] balls are lost or discarded in the United States alone, every year.” http://bit.ly/3yXjsq
“LEGO is the world’s No. 1 tire manufacturer.” They produce 306 million tiny tires a year. http://bit.ly/3IMnnA
10 percent of electricity in the US comes from “dismantled nuclear bombs, including Russian ones.” http://bit.ly/WFO6Q
Kafka invented HARD HAT while working @ Worker’s Accident Insurance Institute of Kingdom of Bohemia http://bit.ly/33sNfc
“The number of licenses to operate cabs in New York [City] has actually shrunk since 1937.” http://bit.ly/4F8MW9
October 2009
11 posts
“Total vacant land in Detroit now occupies an area almost the size of Boston.” http://bit.ly/42gCBr
“US Wireless Users Send 4.1 billion Texts Daily” http://bit.ly/49ocio
Average broadband speed and cost in US is 4.8mbps and $3.33 per 1mbps. Japan is 61mbps & $0.27 per 1mpbs. http://bit.ly/2SOhnt
mid 70s in the bronx there were 120,000 per yr (3 fires every 2 hrs). 40% of all housing was destroyed. http://bit.ly/3q18yR
the first ATMs were installed in NYC in 1977 at Citibank branches. http://bit.ly/16GQWL
“New Mexico boasts the largest concentration of Ph.D. scientists per capita in the United States.” http://bit.ly/F70kP
US consumers spent $66.54 per person on Halloween in 2008, a number that’s expected to drop this year. http://bit.ly/1izJa
What was the most watched show in the history of cable? Last night’s Vikings/Packers game: http://bit.ly/1JZGiW [Via @fimoculous]
In Dutch vader means father. (via @Joe_Liebman)
Youngest member of The Forbes 400: Mark Zuckerberg, 25 Net Worth: $2 billion http://bit.ly/rFTog
Collective net worth of The Forbes 400: $1.27 trillion http://bit.ly/13lG5g
September 2009
12 posts
Some US airports use falconry (hunting of game with falcons) “to scare off birds that can be hazardous for airplanes.” http://bit.ly/YxmYX
Farthest you can get from a McDonald’s in the USA: 107 miles as the crow flies, 145 miles by car. http://bit.ly/19nlFS [Thanks @epakurar]
Billionaire Roman Abramovich’s new mega-yacht is protected from paparazzi by camera detecting laser shield http://tinyurl.com/mg8gej
In 1862 Ulysses Grant issued Gen. Order 11 order expelling the jews frm TN, MS, KY. http://bit.ly/Bl3u2
“Chance a U.S. household that owns a Prius also owns an SUV: 1 in 3.” http://bit.ly/O5p5B
The Washington Post loses $1.10 per copy. http://bit.ly/b3s8v
Wal-Mart has “revenues that exceed those of Target, Home Depot, Sears, Kmart, Safeway, and Kroger — combined.” http://bit.ly/19ym0k
After Israel declared independence in 1948, (not-yet-Dr.) Ruth was trained by the Israeli military as a sniper. (via @mental_floss)
The IKEA Catalog is the 3rd most printed publication in the world after the Bible and Harry Potter. http://bit.ly/Q9Lzl
Switching to LED lighting for signage will save Holiday Inn an estimated $4.4 Million a year. http://bit.ly/hZ2ul
18 million links were shared on Facebook in August. http://bit.ly/102tLu
“Men buy an average of 3.4 pairs of underwear in a year.” http://bit.ly/19sMtR
August 2009
6 posts
utah now penalizes a texting driver who causes a fatality as harshly as a drunken driver who kills someone. http://bit.ly/iYZOX
“The bikini got it’s name from the oooh and awe resulting from a nuclear test at Bikini Atoll.” http://bit.ly/Tu3qF
Holy Crap Facts is now on Tumblr! http://holycrapfacts.com/ … It’s just a feed from Twitter, though, so if this is more your style, cool.
Aircraft windows are rounded because the square windows used in early planes concentrated stress on the corners. http://bit.ly/13OSmZ
Octopus blood is pale blue. http://bit.ly/mNfVB