| Date |
Title |
First Line of Text ... |
| 11/22/2009 |
Turkey Time |
Fact 1: Forty-five million turkeys are eaten each Thanksg... |
| 11/15/2009 |
Henry's Dream |
In 1912, Henry Ford produced 168,000 automobiles.
In 191... |
| 11/8/2009 |
The Dunbar Number |
Cameron Marlow, serving as a "resident sociologist&q... |
| 11/1/2009 |
Be Very Wary: To Tarry vs. Marry Harry or Larry? |
While browsing through old newspapers in Garner (IA), I f... |
| 10/25/2009 |
Where Does Our Time Go? |
According to USA Today, we spend (i.e. waste) our time on... |
| 10/18/2009 |
Nailing It! |
An average human's finger and toe nails grow at the rate ... |
| 10/11/2009 |
Ah...Ah...Chew on these Facts! |
Consider these statistics regarding a single sneeze (or i... |
| 10/4/2009 |
Tired Argument Tried |
Consider this dialogue from a cartoon published in The Chi... |
| 9/27/2009 |
The Negative With the Positive |
In 1920, 9,130 people died in automobile accidents.
In 1... |
| 9/20/2009 |
Where's the Media Pyramid When You Need It? |
In its August (2009) issue, Wired noted that the average ... |
| 9/13/2009 |
WARNING: Drive Slow, Given Last Year's Revenue Drop! |
The results of an interesting correlation study were publ... |
| 8/30/2009 |
Charity Burger Re-Eaten! |
To begin the school year, I am reprinting a "classic&quo... |
| 5/31/2009 |
SuperSize It, Please! |
Cargo freighters carrying containers are getting bigger an... |
| 5/24/2009 |
Sum of Area of All Walmarts = Size of Manhattan? |
Look at this slide from an on-line presentation...and consi... |
| 5/17/2009 |
I Saw It Blow! |
On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, being the &qu... |
| 5/10/2009 |
"OneWay" To Subtract |
Fact 1: In 2007 (and for the past two decades), the size... |
| 5/3/2009 |
Can You Feel The Ridge? |
Factoid On Wall In My Doctor's Office: A dime has 118 eq... |
| 4/26/2009 |
Big and Bigger |
...
Definition 1: A googol is the number 10100, or a 1 fo... |
| 4/19/2009 |
Tax Time Has Passed...But The Pain Remains |
Fact 1: In fiscal year 2006, the total amount of U.S. ta... |
| 4/12/2009 |
Forrest Gump...This Is Your Life! |
On November 14, 2002, Marsh Field's, Chicago (IL), made t... |
| 3/29/2009 |
Average: Mean, Median, or Mode? |
In 1982, the Modern Day Almanac made these claims about t... |
| 3/22/2009 |
Somebody's Lying? |
The National Pet Owners' Survey (2007) made these claims... |
| 3/15/2009 |
Surely Numbers Be(lie) Truth |
84% percent of American students would rather take out t... |
| 3/8/2009 |
Are the Actuaries Right? |
The State Farm Insurance Company provided this data about ... |
| 3/1/2009 |
Around and Around She Goes...Faster, Higher... |
In 1884, Coney Island introduced the Switchback Railway--... |
| 2/22/2009 |
Speed of Sound vs. Sound of Speed |
On October 14, 1922, Lt. Lester Maitland was first to fly a... |
| 2/15/2009 |
A Waste of Good Chocolate? |
Remember: The average American eats just over 12 pounds of ... |
| 2/8/2009 |
Valentine's Day is Upon Us....Time to Buy a Card |
Fact 1: The first-known Valentine was sent in 1415 A.D. by ... |
| 2/1/2009 |
Supporting America's Chocolate Habit |
The average American eats just over 12 pounds of chocolat... |
| 1/25/2009 |
Read A Book, Please.... |
Fact 1: The typical 15-to-24-year-old American spends 7 ... |
| 1/18/2009 |
Math Book'em Danno! |
Fact 1: In the year 2006, United States publishers took ... |
| 1/11/2009 |
The Contract Is For $43,950 and Counting! |
The Iowa College Student Aid Commission issued a report ... |
| 1/4/2009 |
And Good Riddance to 2 Anchovies Each Day |
Factoid: Every day 75 acres of pizza are eaten in the Un... |
| 12/14/2008 |
1.2 Percent and Dropping |
Claim in Newspaper: The world's population will reach 7 ... |
| 12/7/2008 |
Climbing The Barbie Ladder |
FACT: Every second, two Barbie dolls are purchased somew... |
| 11/30/2008 |
Fact? or Fiction? |
I know the last thing most want to think about is eating ... |
| 11/23/2008 |
Think Turkey |
Fact 1: Forty-five million turkeys are eaten each Thanksg... |
| 11/16/2008 |
Ready, Set, Move 1, Move 2, ... |
Ever try to solve the Rubik's Cube? If few positions look f... |
| 11/9/2008 |
Body Estimates |
How well do you make know facts regarding aspects of your... |
| 11/2/2008 |
Fall Fall |
Some things to think about while doing your fall raking o... |
| 10/26/2008 |
Opportunities for the Few |
Consider this claim: "In 2005, there were only 17,00... |
| 10/19/2008 |
The Savings When Going Green |
Consider these "before" statistical facts that ... |
| 10/12/2008 |
Spending Money But Saving Trees |
In February, 2008, the White House decided to go paperles... |
| 10/5/2008 |
Inflating Inflation |
Sometimes statistical facts arise that are hard to believe,... |
| 9/28/2008 |
Help Solve This Problem... |
Consider these statistical facts:
About 40% of the stu... |
| 9/21/2008 |
Attention All Chickens.... |
To both raise its international profile and draw attention... |
| 9/14/2008 |
A Lot of Hot Air |
In April, 2008, Andrew Dahl, age 13, of Blaine, WA, set a... |
| 9/7/2008 |
Running Your Car on Wite-Out Fluid? |
In his New York Times column "Pogue’s Posts," D... |
| 8/31/2008 |
Fermi For Me? |
To make the following "guesstimates," determine ... |
| 6/15/2008 |
What...No Onions? |
About a year ago, I reviewed the
Charity Burger, a world ... |
| 6/7/2008 |
Hope It is Hung Right Side Up! |
On November 11, 2006, David Martinez, a Mexican financier, ... |
| 6/1/2008 |
Build The Cat To Catch The Rat |
In January 2008 in Uruguay, scientists found the skull of... |
| 5/11/2008 |
A Billion Here...A Billion There.... |
On January 1, 1816, public debt of the United States first ... |
| 5/4/2008 |
Growth Spurts Alerts |
In the July, 2001, issue of Scientific American, we find Al... |
| 4/27/2008 |
To Err Is....To Gain From It Is.... |
In February, 2008, Benjamin Lovell finally got in trouble. ... |
| 4/20/2008 |
Careful: Stapling Paper Is Haxardous to your Health! |
Sometimes statistical facts arise that are hard to believe.... |
| 4/13/2008 |
Stop...There's a Yard Sale |
It's spring time...which means yard sales are springing u... |
| 4/6/2008 |
The "What's in Store" Age |
Trivia exists everywhere and about eveything. For example... |
| 3/30/2008 |
One Billion and Counting...or Is It Searching |
In late 2005, the one-billionth new user went online to s... |
| 3/23/2008 |
And The Recommended Daily Calorie Intake Is.... |
Consider this table of data relating to "normal" ... |
| 3/16/2008 |
The Beef Problem: Well-Done |
Consider this data:
Total number of cattle in the U.S. i... |
| 3/9/2008 |
Is Bigger Better? |
The size of the average new house in 1950 was 1,100 squar... |
| 3/2/2008 |
Driver Distractions Delineated |
In Washington State, 93.5 % of all collisions are due to ... |
| 2/24/2008 |
Psst...You're Being Phished....Pshaw! |
Phishing is the malicious attempt to use phony e-mails to... |
| 2/17/2008 |
East vs. West Bloggers |
Harris Interactive recently did a survey of 25,000 people... |
| 2/10/2008 |
A Kiss in Time Saves... |
According to Diet Power's Food Dictionary, a Hershey choc... |
| 2/3/2008 |
Money Does Not Grow on Trees.... |
We have all seen the local businesses or advertisements t... |
| 1/27/2008 |
Murky Mathematics |
Since the advent of computers, schools have tried different ... |
| 1/20/2008 |
Lincoln Logs On |
Consider the task of e-mailing someone the text for the Dec... |
| 1/13/2008 |
Can It Equal 100% |
3% of your life!
That's how much of your life of 75 years ... |
| 12/30/2007 |
Time to Reflect |
The Sky Mirror, an artistic creation of
Anish Kapoor, res... |
| 12/16/2007 |
The Perfect Holiday Gift--A Book |
Two nanotechnologists at Simon Fraser University have produ... |
| 12/9/2007 |
How Would You Know if You Dropped One....a Hundred? |
Intel's new transistors are so small that 2 million of them... |
| 12/2/2007 |
Putting a Sphere into A Cubical Box |
Consider this photo:
It is a picture of the Hayden Plane... |
| 11/25/2007 |
Clawing Way to Record |
Lee Redmond decided to stop clipping and filing her finge... |
| 11/18/2007 |
Turkey Time |
Fact 1: Forty-five million turkeys are eaten each Thanksg... |
| 11/11/2007 |
Population Race |
Consider the following data for these cities in Whatcom C... |
| 11/4/2007 |
Tea for 1,321,851,888 |
John Hodgman, resident expert on The Daily Show, asks other... |
| 10/28/2007 |
Just in the Lick of Time |
John Hodgman, resident expert on The Daily Show, re-asks an... |
| 10/21/2007 |
CAZIQUES is Worth 392 Points! |
Scrabble is a great game and keeps your mind active....but ... |
| 10/14/2007 |
Da Vinci's Other Code |
Assumption: Because most bones grow at the same rate, the l... |
| 10/7/2007 |
404...CRBT...GAL...L8R G8R! |
Consider this data, obtained from an AP-AOL survey about th... |
| 9/30/2007 |
100 Year Celebration of the Marathon |
On April 19, 1897, the first American Marathon Race was hel... |
| 9/23/2007 |
And I'm Still Working on Milli...and Mega... |
In Patrick Di Justo's opening words: "From trillion-fl... |
| 9/16/2007 |
The Good Old Days.....Are Often Never Known |
The first Corn Husking National Championship Contest was he... |
| 9/9/2007 |
A Sucker's Made Every... |
In 1908, the Racine (WI) Confectioners' Machinery Company i... |
| 9/2/2007 |
Up, Up, and ...Up |
Consider the following facts:
On May 4, 1927, Captain H... |
| 8/26/2007 |
My Dad Always Said: Pull your Own Weight! |
Consider these claims....
[1] An elephant can pull twice... |
| 6/17/2007 |
Trip for a Lifetime |
The United States has more than four million miles of roa... |
| 6/10/2007 |
Ye Olde Amazing Number 2 |
The average pencil has enough led to draw a line that is ... |
| 6/3/2007 |
A New Source of Alternative Energy |
Consider this...Lots of hurricanes occur each year....fin... |
| 5/27/2007 |
Hitch a Ride |
Consider these two statistical facts:
[1] For a spacecr... |
| 5/20/2007 |
The Power of Statistics in the Wrong Hands |
No numerical statistics this week...rather a statistical ... |
| 5/13/2007 |
Hair Today...Gone Tomorrow! |
A male face has between 10,000 and 30,000 whiskers, with ... |
| 5/6/2007 |
Group Hug...Another Use for Circles |
Some records are meant to be broken. In 1999, the Guinnes... |
| 4/29/2007 |
Want a 4-Second Do? |
Uma Jayakumar (Bombay, India) is known everywhere as the ... |
| 4/22/2007 |
Warped Speed |
The speed of light is 669,600,000 miles per hour.
On the... |
| 4/15/2007 |
2 Bee or Not 2 Bee |
Some facts regarding the making of one pound of honey:
B... |
| 4/8/2007 |
Singultus Repeatititus |
On January 23, 2007, fifteen-year-old Jennifer Mee (St. P... |
| 4/1/2007 |
The Burger Race for Food Fools |
The past two weeks of this web site have focused on the l... |
| 3/25/2007 |
More Burger Stories |
Remember last week's Charity Burger, a nightmare for an u... |
| 3/18/2007 |
The Charity Burger Replaces the Chessboard & Rice Problem |
Sounds like a nightmare on an upset stomach. Imagine a ha... |
| 3/11/2007 |
3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 ... |
People have been obsessed with memorizing the digits of p... |
| 3/4/2007 |
Take This Problem With a Grain of Salt |
The world's oceans (97.2% of all the earth's water) conta... |
| 2/25/2007 |
Be Hip...Drink Hippo Milk |
One pint of hippopotamus milk contains 1,600 calories.
Y... |
| 2/18/2007 |
Run for Time |
According to one research claim, if you jog for one-and-a... |
| 2/11/2007 |
The Crowded Earth |
Population density is defined to be the number of persons... |
| 2/4/2007 |
An e-Xperiment! |
Point your pen randomly at one of these digits of e...and h... |
| 1/28/2007 |
New Twist on My Space |
As the United States population grows, the idea of "my... |
| 1/21/2007 |
Snow = Rain? |
Recently, the newspaper headlines claimed that a record s... |
| 1/14/2007 |
Yet Another Bowl! |
This photo was entered in Worth 1000's Supersize It! cont... |
| 1/7/2007 |
New Car for the New Year |
In 1925, a new car cost an average of $1,732.
In 1981, a n... |
| 12/31/2006 |
This year, I will..... |
Consider this "fact": 77% of the New Year’s resol... |
| 12/17/2006 |
How Can This Be? |
Consider this statement: During an average year, more ste... |
| 12/10/2006 |
"The Flu" vs. "The Wave" |
Consider this unusual set of "facts":
Average ti... |
| 12/3/2006 |
Marge Simpson, Move Over |
A new Guinness record was set this week in Lima, Peru....th... |
| 11/26/2006 |
Slip, Slip, Slidding Away |
The Washington Monument sinks an average of 6 inchers ann... |
| 11/19/2006 |
Fast-Fingers Ben |
Consider the 160-character phrase: "The razor-toothed ... |
| 11/12/2006 |
The Smoking Gun on Cigarettes |
The data is available and quite clear:
154,761 cancer dea... |
| 11/5/2006 |
Sure, Chick, We Believe You...... |
Factoid:On August, 1933, "Chick" Reinhart suppo... |
| 10/29/2006 |
Ultimate Frisbee |
In 2002, Christian Sandstrom (standing on level ground) b... |
| 10/22/2006 |
tap |
Roy Castle was well known for his speed as a tap dancer, ... |
| 10/15/2006 |
Want to Calculate a Large Number? |
Look closely at this spot .
Do you see a pile of neutrin... |
| 10/8/2006 |
Those Who Laugh, Last! |
William Fry, Stanford University researcher, is one of th... |
| 10/1/2006 |
Mandi Martin's MillenniuM Pinball Marathon |
A former studio recording artists, Mandi Martin set her f... |
| 9/24/2006 |
The Optional vs. The Necessary |
Consider this table of data relating to the number of pla... |
| 9/17/2006 |
Beard Heard Around the World |
Gary Weddle is a science teacher in Ephrata Middle School... |
| 9/10/2006 |
Your Own Personal Wal-Mart in the Year.... |
Like them or not, Wal-Mart stores are here to stay. Consi... |
| 9/3/2006 |
Waste Not.... |
Municiple Solid Waste (MSW) is a problem...but is it a prob... |
| 8/27/2006 |
As Marshall McLuhan said, "The Medium is the Message" |
In 2002, the PEW Internet and American Life Project release... |
| 6/25/2006 |
College: Afford or Ill-Afford? |
Consider this table of college costs (tuition, fees, room... |
| 6/18/2006 |
Pop Tabs Revisited |
To continue on the last week's theme of pop tabs, student... |
| 6/11/2006 |
Kepping Tabs on Tabs |
In Grand Mound Elementary School (Rochester, WA), student... |
| 6/4/2006 |
He Must be One of My Former Seventh Graders! |
Factoid: Every weekday, David Givens drives 372 miles rou... |
| 5/28/2006 |
Ping Pong for the Brain and Heart |
Factoid 1: April 13, 1979, is special because on that dat... |
| 5/21/2006 |
Don't Blink! |
Claim: When relaxed, humans blink their eyes over 1200 time... |
| 5/14/2006 |
Can Our Brains Keep Up? |
Knowledge is growing at an astounding rate. If it continues a... |
| 5/7/2006 |
A Third Piece of Pizza? |
The previous two week's statistics dealt with records for t... |
| 4/30/2006 |
A Second Piece of Pizza? |
Last week's statistic Piece of Pizza dealt with the record ... |
| 4/23/2006 |
Piece of Pizza? |
Fact 1: Paul Revere's Pizza in Mount Pleasant (IA) current... |
| 4/15/2006 |
Bunny Money |
Consider these interesting facts related to Easter:
Americ... |
| 4/9/2006 |
A Dollar Here...Another Dollar There... |
Accoding to Treasury Secretary John Snow, the United Stat... |
| 4/2/2006 |
Say Cheese! Please.... |
Sonya Thomas, a 100-pound woman, won the World Grilled Ch... |
| 3/26/2006 |
Bicycles Built for Two, Automobiles Built for One |
To accomodate Americans who are gradually growing larger, w... |
| 3/19/2006 |
Happy 71st Year-Old Birthday! |
Invented by Richard James by accident, the Slinky was int... |
| 3/12/2006 |
Approximations for PI |
Many different approximations for the actual value of pi ha... |
| 3/5/2006 |
IQ Demise Surmise |
Fact 1: An average worker's functioning IQ falls ten points... |
| 2/26/2006 |
The Key Fits, Mr. Mason |
Fact 1:The New York Times (March 4, 1996) reported a case o... |
| 2/19/2006 |
doughnuts |
To continue on with the "weighty" theme, consider... |
| 2/12/2006 |
Be Someone's Valentine! |
Fact 1: The first-known Valentine was sent in 1415 A.D. by ... |
| 2/5/2006 |
Some Winter Olympics Mathematics |
Downhill skiers race down a mountainside at an average of... |
| 1/29/2006 |
Weighty Data |
Wait! Before you eat that sandwich...Do you know that w... |
| 1/22/2006 |
Cell Phone Mania |
Consider this table of data relating to cell phone use:
... |
| 1/15/2006 |
Credit Card IQ |
Fact 1: In 2004 in the United States, the average credit ... |
| 1/8/2006 |
To Dropout or Not to Dropout |
Fact 1: A high school dropout earns about $260,000 less over ... |
| 1/1/2006 |
Goodbye B.M.I. |
For years, B.M.I. (or Body Mass Index) has been the common in... |
| 12/16/2005 |
Billion Candy Canes |
Fact: Approximately 1.76 billion candy canes ... |
| 12/11/2005 |
Meany, Mediany, Modey Moe |
Fact 1:In the year 2005, the median age of a person in t... |
| 12/4/2005 |
Paul Ehrlich, We Need You! |
Consider these facts taken from the U.S. Census Population ... |
| 11/27/2005 |
A Pile of Corn |
The Given: Located in Ralston, Iowa, the conical pile of 2.... |
| 11/20/2005 |
Turkey Time |
Fact 1: Forty-five million turkeys are eaten each Thanksg... |
| 11/13/2005 |
GIGO: Garbage In...Garbage Out |
Claim: Each day, every person in the United States genera... |
| 11/6/2005 |
A Google of Cokes |
Claim: Every minute, people throughout the world drink a ... |
| 10/30/2005 |
Odds Are... |
Consider these facts:
7 out of every 10 adults purchase ... |
| 10/23/2005 |
Webster.con |
In the year 2001, someone claimed that more than 98% of t... |
| 10/16/2005 |
Just the Facts, Spam |
Fact 1: Of all e-mail messages received, 58% are categori... |
| 10/9/2005 |
A Fish Tale |
Twenty-five years after its first discovery on the Great Barr... |
| 10/2/2005 |
Fast is Relative |
IBM seems to be winning the battle for the title of being... |
| 9/25/2005 |
Something's Wrong? |
A newborn baby has 300 bones.
An adult has only 206 bones.
... |
| 9/18/2005 |
Perspective on Time |
Author John McPhee offers an interesting analogy for geologic... |
| 9/11/2005 |
To Wash or Not to Wash |
In a phone survey conducted by researchers for the American S... |
| 9/4/2005 |
Did You Know.... |
In 1609, the calculations for working out the orbit of Mars t... |
| 8/28/2005 |
Baseball Hits |
A line drive in baseball travels an average of 100 yards ... |
| 8/21/2005 |
Hair Loss |
The human head sheds an average of 68 hairs during a 24-hour ... |
| 8/14/2005 |
Pianos Galore |
In 1909, more than 350,000 pianos were sold in the United... |
| 8/7/2005 |
Brain Loss |
Eventually, our brain stops growing because some of our bra... |
| 7/31/2005 |
Caviar for the Rich |
Caviar is basically fish eggs (or roe), often taken from stur... |
| 7/24/2005 |
Rocket Speed |
Suppose we could design a rocket that would travel at t... |
