Paul Berger is a staff writer at The Forward. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The (London) Times, The Daily and Guardian.co.uk.

Jul
27

Danny’s Fantastic Facts

By

EINY reader Danny sent me these facts. Number 12 intrigues me. And I’m convinced that number 17 is of great philosophical value. The rest you can judge for yourself…

1. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.
2. Alfred Hitchcock didn’t have a belly button.
3. A pack-a-day smoker will lose approximately 2 teeth every 10 years.
4. People do not get sick from cold weather; it’s from being indoors a
lot more.
5. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop, even your heart!
6. Only 7 per cent of the population are lefties.
7. Forty people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.
8. Babies are born without kneecaps. They don’t appear until they are
2-6 years old.

9. The average person over 50 will have spent 5 years waiting in lines.
10. The toothbrush was invented in 1498. (I have checked this one on Wikipedia–Ed.)
11. The average housefly lives for one month.
12. 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.
13. A coat hanger is 44 inches long when straightened.
14. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.
15. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than any other time of day.
16. Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.
17. The REAL reason ostriches stick their head in the sand is to
search for water.
18. The only two animals that can see behind themselves without
turning their heads are the rabbit and the parrot.

19. John Travolta turned down the starring roles in “An Officer and a
Gentleman” and “Tootsie.”
20. Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State anthem.
21. In most television commercials advertising milk, a mixture of
white paint and a little thinner is used in place of the milk.
22. Prince Charles and Prince William NEVER travel on the same
airplane, just in case there is a crash.
23. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle built in 1903 used a tomato
can for a carburetor.
24. Most hospitals make money by selling the umbilical cords cut from
women who give birth. They are used in vein transplant surgery.
25. Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana. They were 7th cousins.
26. If coloring weren’t added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.

(Source: http://ugoto.com/jokes/go/367)

19 Comments

1

8. Babies do have kneecaps, they are just cartilaginous and do not show up easily on x-ray until they have ossified a few years later.

2

Suddenly all of the other “facts” are thrown into doubt! I am becoming increasingly suspicious of number 1!

3

Number 9 doesn’t correspond to anything in my experience. That would mean an average of 2.4 hours in lines every day of one’s life. (Maybe was once true in some regions on the Soviet Union?)

5

27. All polar bears are left-handed.

6

How on earth did someone work that one out? Or do I not want to know…?

7

18. Chameleons can also see behind themselves without turning their heads. (So can spiders, but I guess they are not counting bugs as animals.)

8

Duly noted. Danny, if you’re out there, I think you have got some explaining to do!

9

PS The polar bear fact is a little surreal!

10

Number 7 is probably nonsense – a placenta-less foetus?
Number 4 – hypothermia?
Number 5 – just rubbish.

Also, my own polar bear fact: never eat a polar bear’s or seal’s liver, for you will surely die of vitamin A poisoning. (from “Lofty” Wiseman’s SAS Survival Handbook).

11

Wow, didn’t know you were going to post it lol. I agree that these are not all true, but some of them are true, and quite interesting. Personaly I’m slightly curious about #12. Do they fall in? Anyways, I don’t stand by the truth in these.

Here are the three “on topic” comments from the ugoto.com page.

“”26. If coloring weren’t added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.”

Coke that looks like mountain dew? no thanks. I’m glad they add coloring. – MeiMira”

“Roughly 150 people are killed by falling coconuts each year. – Pardus”

“”5. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop, even your heart!”

So we all clinically die about a 500.000 (a very rough number) times in our lives. – jaggah”

Anyways yea.

12

This site has some funny urban legends and questions people ask. :D
>> http://www.snopes.com/humor/question/urgent.asp

“I’ve heard that it is impossible to take a lightbulb out of your mouth once one puts it in, without either breaking the bulb or dislocating the jaw.

Do you know if this is true? I’m counting on you – my husband is really curious, and I don’t want to have to drive him to the hospital…”

“…My cat often looks me in the face. I used to think he was just being friendly. Now I know he’s just sizing me up, like a chef at a butcher shop, waiting for “the big day”…”

13

Danny, bit by bit you are redeeming yourself :)

14

This site claims the have “200 Amazing Secrets”. You can judge. Just, watch out for the background. It will kill your eyes.
http://www.inter-web.co.uk/secrets.htm

“10. Make your own fireplace logs.

Roll newspapers up tightly in shape of logs. “-Must look great!

“26. How to renew car batteries.

Dissolve 1oz of epsom salts in warm water and add to each cell. “-I question the safety of this one, for your car and you. :)

“33. When your pet has no appetite.

Try a saucer of beer. It’s known to perk up the appetite. “-wow…

thats all for now. heh :)

15

14. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.

This one is definitely true. The average number of blinks per minute is 20. While being concentrated on the pc screen we are definitely blinking much less, and especially if we are myopic

16

Plenty of false facts there… Alfred is a mammal, therefore he had a belly button. Surgery can remove the navel from visible view but, it’s there. Plenty of other falsehoods up there, too.

17

Mmm. The fact about eating spiders in one’s sleep is an urban legend; it was created as a test of the internet’s potential for spreading erroneous information.

18

haha, I sent this so long ago. Was 14yrs old.

19

So, you must be 18 now!

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