Twenty-one U.S. states have names that end in A.
Trivia
Free Parking
Longest game of Monopoly:
- played upside down: 36 hours
- played in a bathtub: 99 hours
- played underground: 100 hours
- played in a treehouse: 286 hours
- ever played: 1,680 hours
No Man’s Land
On the border between Egypt and Sudan is a small trapezoid of landlocked desert, about 2,000 square kilometers.
Egypt says it belongs to Sudan. Sudan says it belongs to Egypt.
That makes Bir Tawil the only land area in the world (outside of Antarctica) that’s not claimed by any state.
Trivium
Men are struck by lightning four times as often as women.
Pieces of Pi
In the decimal expansion of π:
- the digits 27182818 — the first eight digits of e — appear at position 1,526,800.
- the digits 14142135 — the first eight digits of the square root of 2 — appear at position 52,638.
- the first eight digits of π itself — 31415926 — reappear at position 50,366,472.
- 16470 appears at position 16470.
- there are seven 7s at position 3,346,228, eight 8s at position 46,663,520, and six 9s at position 762.
- The White House switchboard number (456-1414) is at position 3,193,808, the population of France (65,073,482) is at position 98,709,092, and Disneyland’s zip code (92802) is at position 41,112.
Write out the alphabet starting with J:
JKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHI
Erase all letters that have left-right symmetry (such as A) and count the letters in each of the five groups that remain. (James Davis)
Left and Right
Three of our last four presidents have been left-handed:
Bush I: Left-handed
Clinton: Left-handed
Bush II: Right-handed
Obama: Left-handed
The same would be true if John McCain had won the last election — he’s a leftie too. Indeed, fully half of American presidents since Truman have been southpaws, though only 10 percent of the general population is left-handed.
What accounts for this? Who knows? But UCLA geneticist Daniel Geschwind says, “Six out of the past 12 presidents is statistically significant, and probably means something.”
Cosmopolitan
Denmark, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Monmouth, Newcastle, Oxford, Plymouth, Wales, Athens, Belfast, Belgrade, Bremen, Calais, Dresden, Frankfort, Hanover, Lisbon, Madrid, Moscow, Naples, Palermo, Paris, Rome, Sorrento, Stockholm, and Vienna …
… are all towns in Maine.
Trivium
The fastest temperature drop in history occurred in Rapid City, S.D., when the mercury plunged 47°F (26°C) in 5 minutes on Jan. 10, 1911.
Interestingly, the fastest temperature rise in history occurred in the same city 32 years later, when it jumped 49°F (27°C) in 2 minutes on Jan. 22, 1943.
Gesundheit!
Sneezes around the world:
- France: Atchoum!
- Finland: Atsiuh!
- Iceland: Atsjú!
- Sweden: Atjo!
- India: Akchhee!
- Denmark: Atju!
- Netherlands: Hatsjoe!
- Lithuania: Apchi!
- Germany: Hatschie!
- Hungary: Hapci!
- Poland: Apsik!
- Russia: Apchkhi!
- Italy: Etciù!
- Spain: ¡Achís!
- Portugal: Atchim!
- Romania: Hapciu!
- Philippines: Hatsing!
- Japan: Hakushon!
- South Korea: Achee!
- Vietnam: Hát-xì!
See also “Lides to Bary Jade.”
Figures
294 miles south of Paradise, Michigan … is Hell, Michigan.