Futility Closet

Men per woman:

• Northern Mariana Islands: 0.77
• Russia: 0.86
• Puerto Rico: 0.92
• United States: 0.97
• Canada: 0.98
• United Kingdom: 0.98
• Australia: 0.99
• Iceland: 1
• India: 1.06
• Greenland: 1.12
• Qatar: 1.87

The world average is 1.01.

When asked his age, mathematician Augustus De Morgan used to offer a clue: "I was x years of age in the year x²." (He was 43 in 1849.)

That quirk puts De Morgan in a pretty exclusive club. Other members include Charles Atlas (who was 44 in 1936) and Jake Gyllenhaal (who will be 45 in 2025). Next up: Babies born in 2070 will be 46 in 2116.

The border between Delaware and Pennsylvania is a perfect curve.

It's the arc of a circle centered on the cupola of the courthouse at New Castle.

It's the only such boundary in the territorial United States.

A force of 1 newton is about the weight of an apple.

Twelve percent of people dream only in black and white.

Reno, Nevada, is farther west than Los Angeles.

Picasso's full name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Clito Ruiz y Picasso.

The first day of a new century can never fall on a Sunday, a Wednesday, or a Friday.

It's a quirk of the Gregorian calendar.

Maine is the only state with a one-syllable name.

The 1933 a thoroughbred stallion named Brokers Tip won the Kentucky Derby.

It was the only win of his career.