Miles of telephone wire a strung across the U.S.: 1,525, 000, 000
The volume of the Earth's moon is the same as the volume of the Pacific Ocean
Ingrown toenails are hereditary
In Mel Brooks' 'Silent Movie,' mime Marcel Marceau is the only person who has a speaking role
The heart pumps about 1 million barrels of blood during an average lifetime
During WWII Chrysler built B-29's that bombed Japan, and Mitsubishi built Zeros that tried to shoot them down - Both companies now build cars in a joint plant called Diamond Star
An elephant's tooth can weigh as much as 12 pounds
The first hard drive available for the Apple II had a capacity of only 5 megabytes
Contrary to popular belief, opossums, squirrels, chipmunks, and mice do not carry rabies
Europe is the only continent without a desert
Car accidents rise 10% during the first week of daylight savings time, also known as summer savings time
Over 10,000 birds a year die from smashing into windows - about 50,000 die during migration by being distracted at night by city lights, leaving the birds to fly in circles around the lighted areas to the point of exhaustion and death
The word 'gymnasium' comes from the Greek word gymnazein which means 'to exercise naked'
4.5 pounds of sunlight strike the Earth each day
"FIRST, CARRY TO FIRE" - Instructions on a standard fire extinguisher in the U.S.
Vidalia onions are grown in Georgia (U.S.A.) and no other place in the world
The firefly is not actually a fly, but a beetle - males emit a light in sequences that attract females by sending out key information about themselves including age and location
Caterpillars have about four thousand muscles
New Yorkers have some of the longest commutes among Americans, averaging 40 minutes
The longest place name in the United States is Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg, located near Webster, Massechusetts
The U.S. Interstate system was started by Dwight D. Eisenhower to transport military supplies and troops in case of foreign invasion
Francis Galton, the inventor of fingerprinting, had many other notable ideas: the weather map, the phrase “nature vs. nurture,” and the silent dog whistle
Although the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People clearly stated its mission in its title, W.E.B. Du Bois was the only African American on the NAACP’s first board of directors
Birds cock their heads at the ground not to listen for prey (such as insects or worms) but to better see them
Light from the sun takes approximately 8 minutes to reach Earth
Despite its 6.5 million square feet of floor space, the Pentagon in Washington was constructed in such a way that no point in the building is more than seven minutes’ walk from any other point in the building
Pepsi-Cola was originally called “Brad’s Drink"
At the fastfood restaurant Fatburger, you can order a ‘Hypocrite’ –- a veggie burger topped with crispy strips of bacon
Despite their menacing appearance and fierce name, dragonflies cannot sting and are harmless to human beings
The small pink protuberance is in the corner of your eye is called the plica semilunaris
Cleopatra had a special lipstick made for her, consisting of crushed ants and deep red carmine beetles
According to the 2000 census, there are at least 2,376,206 people named Smith in the United States, making it the most common American surname
The average life span of a Major League Baseball is 7 pitches
Some of the first examples s of graffiti come from 1st century Pompeii, where messages like “I don’t want to sell my husband” and “Successus was here,” were written on walls
NEWS FEED:
Time magazine reported in August 2010 that among the entrants in this year's "Detroit Hair Wars" (showcasing 34 stylists working with 300 models) were The Hummer (stylist: "Little Willie"), in which a mass of extensions is shaped to resemble the vehicle, including four large tires--with "metal" wheels and front grid added--sitting upon the styled hair of model Sharv Bailey; and Beautiful Butterfly (stylist: Niecy Hayes), featuring extensions thinned, teased, and stretched into four artistic "wings" arising from the styled hair of model Taja Hill. Both stylings appear to be at least two feet long, dwarfing the models' heads, and take at least 10 hours to prepare
Featured at London's Royal College of Art in June 2010 was Hiromi Ozaki's "Menstruation Machine"- a wearable contraption that enables men to experience the two primary symptoms of the "period." It periodically generates abdominal pain, and its reservoir permits liquid ("blood") to be stored and released over several days' time
Between suicide, murder, assault, drunken driving, and drug use, the soldiers of the Fourth Brigade, First Armored Division, at Fort Bliss, Tex., have been statistically in greater peril while stateside than while deployed in Iraq. "Being back [home] is what we don't do well," Lt. Col. David Wilson told the New York Times in July. During the last year in Iraq, the Brigade lost only one soldier to combat, but in the previous year stateside, seven were killed and four people died in crimes committed by Brigade personnel
