- 300 million – smallpox, worldwide, 20th century
- 200 million – bubonic plague, worldwide, 1300s
- 62 million – World War II
- 60 million – Mongol conquests, 13th century
- 19 million – AIDS, worldwide to date
- 1 million – Irish potato famine, 1846-1849
- 830,000 – Shaanxi earthquake, China, 1556
- 650,000 – Deaths in the Roman Colosseum for public entertainment, 80-404
- 36,000 – Krakatoa eruption, Indonesia, 1883
- 15,000 – Holy Inquisition, 1184-1800
- 1,517 – RMS Titanic, 1912
- 300 – Great Chicago Fire, 1871
- 270 – Pan Am Flight 103, Lockerbie, Scotland, 1988
- 36 – Hindenburg disaster, Lakehurst, N.J., 1937
- 7 – Space shuttle Challenger, Florida, 1986
- 4 – Kent State shootings
Fraser Spiral
An optical illusion. There’s no spiral, just concentric circles.
Stature
Tallest U.S. presidents:
- Abraham Lincoln 6’3.75″
- Lyndon B. Johnson 6’3.5″
- Thomas Jefferson 6’2.5″
- Chester A. Arthur 6’2″
- George H.W. Bush 6’2″
- Franklin D. Roosevelt 6’2″
And shortest:
- John Adams 5’7″
- John Quincy Adams 5’7″
- William McKinley 5’7″
- Benjamin Harrison 5’6″
- Martin Van Buren 5’6″
- James Madison 5’4″
Top Languages
The world’s most popular languages, by number of native speakers:
- Chinese, 937 million
- English, 335 million
- Spanish, 332 million
- Hindi/Urdu, 291 million
- Arabic, 193 million
- Bengali, 189 million
- Malay/Indonesian, 176 million
- Portuguese, 170 million
- Russian, 165 million
- Japanese, 125 million
“The great thing about human language,” wrote Lewis Thomas, “is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand.”
Wear Oven Mitts
Unquote
“Years ago it meant something to be crazy; now everybody’s crazy.” — Charles Manson
Heimlich Candidates
Famous people who have died by choking:
- Tommy Dorsey, Nov. 26, 1956 (age 51)
- Jimi Hendrix, Sept. 18, 1970 (27)
- Bon Scott, Feb. 19, 1980 (33)
- John Bonham, Sept. 25, 1980 (32)
- Tennessee Williams, Feb. 25, 1983 (71)
Free Falling
A falling person reaches a top speed of around 120 mph. After that, all falls are equally dangerous: If you survive the lack of oxygen, a fall of 10,000 feet won’t necessarily hurt you any more than 2,000 feet.
During World War II, at least three airmen survived free falls of around 20,000 feet without a parachute. All three lost consciousness, and two of them landed in deep snow.
In 1972, a Yugoslavian flight attendant fell from 33,330 feet when terrorists blew up her DC-9 over Czechoslovakia. She broke both legs and was paralyzed from the waist down, but only temporarily.
Great Stork Derby
When financier Charles Vance Millar died in Toronto in 1926, he willed his fortune to the woman who had the most children in the next 10 years.
And people took him up on it — in the end, four women tied at nine births apiece. Each got $125,000.
The period is known as “The Great Stork Derby.”
And 5,000 Visitors Per Day
The White House has:
- Six stories and 55,000 square feet of floor space
- 134 rooms, including 35 bathrooms
- 412 doors and 147 windows
- 28 fireplaces
- Eight staircases
- Three elevators
- A tennis court
- A bowling lane
- A movie theater
- A jogging track
- A swimming pool
Harry Truman called it “the finest prison in the world.”