ELECTRIC AVENUE

More than 1,000 different languages are spoken on the continent of Africa

The language in which a government conducts business is the official language of the country

The term "couch potato" is the legal trademarked property of Robert Armstrong, who had the descriptor officially trademarked in 1976

Since 1990, 30 new nations have emerged to declare themselves sovereigns

The United States uses slightly more than 33% of all electricity produced in the world

A flea can jump 350 times its body length, the equivalent of a human jumping the length of a football field

U.S. Airways makes about $10 million a year from ads on tray tables and napkins

In 1995, there were 18,000 websites on the Internet -- today, there are more than 100 million sites (1 in 5 are considered pornographic)

It is more fuel efficient to drive with the air conditioner on than with the windows rolled down if you are driving over 55 miles per hour

Only 1 in 1,000 animals born in the ocean survives to maturity

Peru has the greatest biodiversity and density of bird species with over 1,780 species, representing 18.5% of all bird species on earth

By October 2005, seven otherwise independent nations - Easat Timur, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, and Panama- adopted the U.S. dollar as their currency

Brazonia County in Texas has the distinction of being the only county in the United States to have every kind of poisonous snake found in the entire country

Of all known forms of animal life ever to inhabit the earth, less than 10% still exist today

10% of all animal biomass in the world is comprised of ants

On average, humans sleep 2-3 hours less than other primates who generally sleep about 10 hours a day

17 hours of sustained wakefulness in a person leads to a decrease in mental performance and physical coordination equivalent to a blood alcohol level of .05%

Emilio Marco Palma was the first person born in Antarctica, in 1978

Whenever the divorce rate spikes in the U.S., toy-makers report a rise in toy sales

65% of candy sold in the U.S. is consumed by adults

Denmark has the highest per capita consumption of candy in the world with each person in the country eating, on average, 36 pounds a year

First minimum wage in the United States: 25 cents per hour, enacted in 1938

1 out of 6 disabling work injuries worldwide involve the fingers

New York was the first state to require license plates on cars

The Amazon rain forest produces 20% of the world's oxygen

Burials in the United States deposit 827,000 gallons of embalming fluid into the soil each year (formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol)

Woodward, Avenue in Detroit carries the designation M1, so named because it was the first paved road anywhere in the United States

Damascus, Syria is the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence

People descended from the Scottish clan of Kerr are more likely to be left-handed than any other ancestral group

70% of people who die in the U.S. die in a hospital emergency, operating room, or during their stay (20% die in a private residence)

No American has died of "old age" since 1951 when the classification was eliminated on death certificates by federal law

Human babies are colorblind at birth

Color of automobiles most frequently involved in car accidents in the U.S. each year: Red

Color of automobiles most frequently stolen in the U.S. each year: Red

Half of all newspapers in the world are published in the U.S. and Canada

Average number of birds killed each year from flying into windows: 10,000

Most popular color of toothbrush sold in the U.S.: Blue

Percentage of all your bones that are in your feet: 25%

Number of sheets of toilet paper used each day by the typical American: 57