If a pregnant or recently pregnant woman dies, she was most likely murdered, and the assailant was most likely the father or the alleged father of the unborn child
In 1893, William Taylor was strapped into the newly-invented electric chair for execution. The routine 2000 volts surged through his body but he did not die. Instead, the badly burned man was carried into an adjacent room and given morphine for pain and chloroform to render him unconscious. Taylor, still unconscious, was strapped back into the chair and finally executed
Donald Rumsfeld holds the dual distinction of being the youngest and then the oldest Defense Secretary in the history of the United States
In the United States six people turn 17 years old every minute
Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the death of their cat
Al Capone, one of the most notorious gangsters in U.S. mob history, carried business cards that read he was a "furniture dealer"
Owls are the only birds that can see the color blue
1 out of 5 births in the U.S. are delivered by Cesarean Section- the highest rate of all developed countries
Archeologists believe that the first plant that was cultivated by humans was Cannabis (Marijuana) and was used in food, clothing, fastening weapons, smoked in rituals, among other uses
Contrary to popular belief, at least in the U.S., handling of a baby bird will not cause it to be rejected by its mother, mostly because birds have a very limited sense of smell and cannot detect the scent of a human - researchers believe that this legend may have been started with good intentions so that children would not move a fledgling baby bird, since in fact many young birds may spend a few days on the ground before gaining the strength to fly away
The Smithsonian Institution, the largest museum in the U.S., holds 137 million objects ranging from the pocket watch of President Abraham Lincoln to bricks from the Great Wall of China
Number of U.S. states ordered to implement Daylight Savings Time under federal law: O
This year in the U.S., Daylight Savings Time falls on March 14 when Americans in nearly every state will move their clocks ahead one hour (except for Hawaii and Alaska) - To mathematics enthusiasts, March 14 is Pi Day each year, with Pi being roughly equal to 3.14 - most celebrate the discovery of Pi at on March 14th at exactly 1:59 pm, because those are the next three digits of Pi (3.14159...)
Nearly 90% of Americans surveyed stated it takes them "5-7 days" to adjust to Daylight Savings Time's new hour
Ten States in the U.S. where you are LEAST likely to be murdered: Maine, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Iowa, Hawaii, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, Massachusetts, Rhode Island
Ten States in the U.S. where you are MOST likely to be murdered (bearing in mind that the murder rate in the U.S. has been dropping steadily for the past 30 years): Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina, California, Tennessee, Alabama
Age group most likely to be murder victims in the U.S.: 15-24 year olds
Nearly 75% of Americans use medication regularly, and of these 49% are using prescribed medication and 30% are using over-the-counter remedies
Percent of hospital admissions in the U.S. resulting from the patient not taking medication as directed: 10% (average hospital stay is 4 days)
Annual salty snack sales in the United States in 2009:
Potato Chips - $6.9 billion
Tortilla Chips - $5 billion
Pretzels - $1.5 billion
Corn Chips - $861 million
Americans spend about $13 billion each year on chocolate
DUNBAR'S NUMBER
A few years ago, anthropologist Robin Dunbar came up with a theory about social networks. He stated that our brains alone can manage only a limited number of social contacts. Studying the social networks of apes, the number he arrived at was 148. Commonly rounded up to 150, this famous number is the Dunbar Number. Although the study didn't include humans, sociologists often cite Dunbar's number when discussing our social networks. Worth noting is the fact that the average number of "friends" in a Facebook network is 120, very close to Dunbar's magic number
The Nielson Company stated in March 2009 that social networks and blogs are now visited by more than two-thirds of the online community, and that social networks such as Facebook are now the fourth most popular online category, even ahead of personal e-mail
Niche social networking is growing as sites like Facebook grow so large that some feel lost in the shuffle - a niche site is one that draws members around one particular interest or topic - an example of an ever-growing niche site is HoffSpace - an entire social network dedicated to the celebrity David Hasselhoff. Members with names like "The Hoff Dog" and "Hoff the Wall" come together to share information about Mr. Hasselhoff, post tribute videos and plan get-togethers (The site also features a feed of Hasselhoff's tweets)
NEWSFEED
A Toronto restaurant, Mildred's Temple Kitchen, announced that its Valentine's Day promotion this year would not just be a romantic dinner but would also include an invitation for couples to have sex in the restrooms. Toronto Public Health officials appeared unconcerned, as long as there was no sex in food-preparation areas and as long as the restrooms were clean. "Bodily fluids" were not a concern, said one unruffled health official, because after all, that's what restrooms are for.
In January, the Justice Department's Inspector General released a long-anticipated report detailing the FBI's post-9-11 corner-cutting in obtaining individual Americans' phone records. Federal law permits such acquisition only with a "terrorism" subpoena ("National Security Letter") unless the FBI documents emergency ("exigent") circumstances to a telecom company. The Inspector General found that, from 2002-2006, the FBI had representatives of three telecom companies set up in the FBI unit so that agents could request phone records orally, without documentation, and in some cases merely by writing the requested phone numbers on Post-It Notes and sticking them on the telecom employees' workstations. Some of the acquired records were uploaded to the FBI's database.
Buffalo, N.Y., television meteorologist Mike Cejka was arrested in December after a brief police chase and charged with trespassing after he was spotted at 4 a.m. tinkering with the covering of a motorcycle in a stranger's yard. Cejka told police he was on his way to work at the station and had merely stopped to admire the motorcycle he had remembered seeing in that yard over the summer. He was wearing a dress shirt and shoes and leather chaps topped by a pair of sweat shorts.
The Jesus and Mary World Tour (Recent Appearances)
- Rathkeale, Ireland, July 2009 (Mary on a tree stump).
- Apia, Samoa, September 2009 (Mary on the outside wall of a church).
- Velyky Berezny, Ukraine, September 2009 (Jesus on the outside wall of a factory).
- Ravena, N.Y., September 2009 (Jesus in a coffee stain on a mason jar).
- Bishopville, S.C., October 2009 (Jesus on a kitchen curtain).
Southampton, England, November 2009 (Jesus in a flat bread at an Indian restaurant). - Methuen, Mass., November 2009 (Jesus in a stain on the bottom of an iron).
- Jonesborough, Tenn., November 2009 (Jesus, morning after morning, in window condensation on a pickup truck).
- Florissant, Mo., December 2009 (Jesus on a splotch in a sink).
