U.S. state with the highest African-American population: New York
People on earth living in slums: 1 in 6
Country with the most women Internet users: United States
Globally, number of children who die from preventable diseases each year: 1 in 12
Of the more than one million species of insect on earth, 3000 are mosquito, and 165 species flourish in the United States
Most popular cheese in the world: Cheddar
A cup of decaffeinated coffee contains about the same amount of caffeine as in 50 M&Ms
Every hamster alive in the United States today is descended from a single litter captured in Syria in 1930
Wal-Mart sells more clothing apparel each year than all other department stores combined
Length of a "jiffy": 1/100th of a second
In 1900 in the U.S. an infant had an 80% of living to age 15 - by 2000, odds had increased to 99%
Researchers at the University of Arizona discovered that bacteria is spread most easily in hospitals through the use of the remote control that calls for the nurse and operates the television in patients' rooms - most deaths from bacterial infections contracted in hospitals were traced to the use of the remotes and the fact they were not cleaned regularly - the most common infection is Staphylococcus, which kills about 90,000 people in the U.S. each year
The average lifespan of an Ancient Egyptian was 30 years - the average lifespan of a Medieval European peasant was 25 years
How a breathalyzer works:
The subject's breath is passed over a platinum electrode, which causes the alcohol to bind with oxygen, forming acetic acid - in the process it loses two electrons, a process that sets up a current in a wire connected to an electrode - the higher the concentration of alcohol in the breath, the greater the electrical current, which can be read by a simple meter to indicate intoxication levels
The continent of Asia covers 30% of the earth's surface and holds 60% of the world's human population
Currently, Belgium and the Netherlands have the lowest rates of abortion (11.2 per 100 and 10.6 per 100, respectively), while Russia (62.6 per 100) and Vietnam (43.7 per 100) have the highest rates annually
1 out of every 16 Americans has one of the 12 most common last names in the United States, such as Smith, Jones and Johnson
Wheat is grown on every continent except Antarctica
More than 60 million children worldwide shown signs of acute malnutrition, while 5 million children under age five die each year from hunger
In 1920, Socialist Eugene V. Deb received 90,000 votes for President of the United States even though he ran his entire campaign from prison
NEWS FEED:
Ralph Conone, 68, was arrested in Columbus, Ohio, in March 2010 after witnesses identified him as the man who several times had walked up behind young children, punched them on the head when their parents weren't looking, and walked away as if nothing had happened. According to police, Conone confessed that he had been punching children in public since January because he liked the "excitement" of getting away with something
The city health office in London, Ontario, created an online sex-education game that officials hope will appeal to teenagers in that its messages are delivered by a cast of iconic superheroes. According to a February report by Canwest News Service, the players are Captain Condom (who wears a "cap"), Wonder Vag (a virgin girl), Power Pap ("sexually active"), and Willy the Kid, with each fighting the villain Sperminator, who wears a red wrestling mask and has phalluses for arms. The characters answer sex-knowledge questions and, with correct answers, obtain "protection," but a wrong one gets the player squirted with sperm. At press time, the game was still accessible at www.GetItOnLondon.com/
TITANIC ODDS:
Of the 2,207 people aboard the Titanic when it hit the iceberg, 1,664 (75%) were male passengers or crew members and only 438 (19.8%) were female passengers or crew members. The odds a male passenger would survive the accident were 1 in 5.91 (16.9%). The odds a female passenger would survive were 1 in 1.37 (73%). The percentage of survival for male crew members was 21% vs. a 91% survival rate for the 22 female staff on board. And the odds a child would survive were an astronomical 1 in 2.
]That 316 women and 57 children survived is evidence that the emergency protocol of “women and children” first was followed. Even among children, survival odds were split along gender lines. A girl was 62% more likely to be saved than a boy.
Two categories of women passengers were among the most fortunate:
- Women traveling first class—they were two times more likely to survive the disaster than males traveling third class
- Women with children fared better than either women alone, or men in any category. Seventy-four percent of women accompanying children survived
| WOMEN | CHILDREN | |||
| TOTAL | Saved (%) | TOTAL | % Saved | |
| First Class | 140 | 97.22% | 6 | 100% |
| Second Class | 203 | 86.02% | 24 | 100% |
| Third Class | 76 | 46.06% | 27 | 34.18% |
| Crew | 20 | 86.96% | ||
