Useless Facts II

Useless Facts II

The first car ever to be stolen was a Peugeot (in 1896)  


The White House is painted white to cover the scorch marks left when the British army set fire to it during the war of 1812  


The speed of light is 1,802,617,500,000 furlongs per fortnight  


5780 stars are visible to the naked eye under ideal Earth-based viewing conditions  


Empress Marie-Theresa of Austria was 4'11" tall and weighed 21 stone  


In the US, the 'on' position for light switches is 'up'  


Queen Anne was buried in a square coffin  


According to ancient Chinese astrologers,70% of omens were bad  


The word 'haywire' is not the legacy of an early and futile experiment in the transmission of electricity  


The 3,000,000,000th decimal digit of Pi is an 8  


On Pitcairn island it is a criminal offense to shout "Ship Ahoy" when there is in fact no ship in sight.


Icelandic phone books are listed by given name rather than surname  


The population of Outer Mongolia have recently been issued with surnames


Polar bears are the only mammals with hair on the soles of their feet


All polar bears are left-handed  


Earth worms are hermaphrodites  


There is no single word in the English language for the back of the knee  


The word 'set' has more distinct meanings than any other word in the English language 


Japan is the only country ever to have changed its capital to a city whose name is an anagram of the name of the previous capital (Tokyo and Kyoto) 


Kansas's state song is "Home On The Range." 


The 1905 treaty ending the Russo-Japanese war was signed in New Hampshire. 


On Tahiti, high tides occur every day at noon and midnight, regardless of where the 
moon is.


The whip is the first man-made invention to break the sound barrier. 


Cranberries' skins are so tight that they actually bounce and may be dribbled like basketballs. 


"Flammable" and "inflammable" are synonyms.  So are “ebriate" and "inebriate." 


Raymond Burr was once a professional nightclub singer. 


More Americans die at 9 a.m. on Monday morning than at any time during the week. 


“Racecar" is the longest single-word palindrome in the English language. 


Sharks are immune to cancer. 


In New Jersey, it's illegal to have sex with the lights on.


At least ten million people are having a birthday today.


In Oklahoma, it is against the law to get a fish drunk. 


Of the many thousands of mammal species in the world, 1/4 are bats. 


Some combinations of smells are odorless; for example, the smells of gardenia and orange blossom will cancel each other out. 


No NFL team that lost a regular season game to the N.Y. Jets has won the Super Bowl at the end of that season. 


Goldfish kept in dark rooms often turn white. 


The snow carnival scheduled for May 1, 1953, in Sheridan, Wyoming, was canceled because of too much snow. 


If a frog's mouth is held open too long, it will suffocate. 


Spanish word "esposa" means both "wife" and "handcuff". 


After the Bible, the most translated book in the world is Cervantes' Don Quixote. 


Fetuses can get the hiccups. 


The octopus's testes are located in its head. 


The only animal with a straight backbone is the camel.


Dog saliva is an antiseptic and can help to heal wounds.


The kangaroo cannot jump if its tail is lifted off the ground. 


Malaysians protect their babies from disease by washing them in beer. 


The Chinese character for "thunder", which contains 52 strokes, is pronounced "ping". 


Pennies are not legal tender in amounts over twenty-five,unless the recipient chooses to accept them.IOW, if a debtor owes you more than twenty-five cents and spitefully tries to pay you in pennies, you can legally refuse to accept them, without affecting the debt. 


You can tell a turtle's sex by its sound.Males grunt,females hiss. 


King Louis XIX ruled France for a total of fifteen minutes. 


Coca-cola was originally green. 


Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than for the US Treasury. 


Smartest dogs: 1) border collie; 2) poodle; 3)golden retriever; 


Dumbest dog--afghan 


Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters. 


Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.


Chances that an American lives within 50 miles of where they grew up: 1 in 2 


Amount American Airlines saved in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served first class: $40,000 


City with the most Rolls Royce's per capita: Hong Kong 


State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska 


Chances of a white Christmas in New York: 1 in 4 


Portion of US annual rainfall that falls in April: 1/12 


Percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28 


Percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38 


Estimated percentage of American adults who go on a diet each year: 44 


Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33 


Average number of days a West German goes without washing his underwear: 7 


Percentage of Americans who say that God has spoken to them: 36 


Percentage of Americans who regularly attend religious services: 43 


City with the highest per capita viewer-ship of television evangelists: Washington DC 


Percentage of American men who say they would marry the same woman if they had it to do all over again: 80 


Percentage of American women who say they would marry the same man: 50 


Percentage of men who say they are happier after their divorce or separation: 58 


Percentage of women who say they are happier: 85 


Number of different family relationships for which Hallmark makes cards: 105 


Cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven:  $6,400 


Average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000. 


Percentage of Americans who have visited Disneyland or Disney World: 70 


Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches. 


Portion of ice cream sold that is vanilla: 1/3 


Portion of potatoes sold that are French fried: 1/3 


Percentage of Americans that eat at McDonalds each day: 7 


Percentage of bird species that are monogamous: 90 


Percentage of mammal species that are: 3 


Number of US states that claim test scores in their elementary schools are above national average: 50 


Portion of Harvard students who graduate with honors: 4/5 


Chances that a burglary in the US will be solved: 1 in 7. 


Portion of land in the US owned by the government: 1/3 


Only President to remain a bachelor: James Buchanon 


Only first lady to carry a loaded revolver: Eleanor Roosevelt 


Only President to win a Pulitzer: John F. Kennedy for Profiles in Courage 


Only President awarded a patent: Abe Lincoln, for a system of buoying vessels over shoals 


Only food that does not spoil: honey 


Only person to win $64,000 Challenge and $64,000 Question: Dr. Joyce Brothers (subject is boxing) 


Only continent without reptiles or snakes: Antartica 


Only animal besides human that can get sunburn: pig 


Ostriches stick their heads in the sand to look for water. 


An eagle can kill a young deer and fly away with it. 


In the Caribbean there are oysters that can climb trees. 


Polar bears are left-handed. 


Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. 


Eskimos never gamble. 


The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. 


The youngest pope was 11 years old.


Mark Twain didn't graduate from elementary school.


Proportional to their weight, men are stronger than horses.


Pilgrims ate popcorn at the first Thanksgiving dinner.Your nose and ears never stop growing.


Jupiter is bigger than all the other planets in our solar system combined.


Hot water is heavier than cold.


The parachute was invented by da Vinci in 1515.


They have square watermelons in Japan...they stack better.


Cream does not weigh as much as milk.


Starfish have eight eyes--one at the end of each leg.


Iceland consumes more Coca-cola per capita than any other nation.


First novel ever written on a typewriter was Tom Sawyer.


There are more collect calls on Father's Day than any other day of the year.


Heinz Catsup leaving the bottle travels at 25 miles per year.


It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs.


Men get hiccups more often than woman.


Armadillos can be housebroken.