1. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) was born on and died on days when Halley’s Comet can be seen. During his life he predicted that he would die when it could be seen.
2. US Dollar bills are made out of cotton and linen.
3. The "57" on the Heinz ketchup bottle represents the number of pickle types the company once had.
4. Americans are responsible for about 1/5 of the world’s garbage annually. On average, that’s 3 pounds a day per person.
5. Giraffes and rats can last longer without water than camels.
6. Your stomach produces a new layer of mucus every two weeks so that it doesn’t digest itself.
7. 98% of all murders and rapes are by a close family member or friend of the victim.
8. A B-25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building on July 28, 1945.
9. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp (marijuana) paper.
10. The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.
11. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.
12. Benjamin Franklin was the fifth in a series of the youngest son of the youngest son.
13. Triskaidekaphobia means fear of the number 13. Paraskevidekatriaphobia means fear of Friday the 13th (which occurs one to three times a year). In Italy, 17 is considered an unlucky number. In Japan, 4 is considered an unlucky number.
14. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.
15. All the chemicals in a human body combined are worth about 6.25 euro (if sold separately).
16. In ancient Rome, when a man testified in court he would swear on his testicles.
17. The ZIP in "ZIP code" means Zoning Improvement Plan.
18. Coca-Cola contained Coca (whose active ingredient is cocaine) from 1885 to 1903.
19. A "2 by 4" is really 1 1/2 by 3 1/2.
20. It’s estimated that at any one time around 0.7% of the world’s population is drunk.
21. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades = David ; Clubs = Alexander the Great ; Hearts = Charlemagne ; Diamonds = Caesar
22. 40% of McDonald’s profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
23. Every person, including identical twins, has a unique eye and tongue print along with their finger print.
24. The "spot" on the 7-Up logo comes from its inventor who had red eyes. He was an albino.
25. 315 entries in Webster’s 1996 dictionary were misspelled.
26. The "save" icon in Microsoft Office programs shows a floppy disk with the shutter on backwards.
27. Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin both married their first cousins (Elsa Löwenthal and Emma Wedgewood respectively).
28. Camel’s have three eyelids.
29. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents every day.
30. John Wilkes Booth’s brother once saved the life of Abraham Lincoln’s son.
31. Warren Beatty and Shirley McLaine are brother and sister.
32. Chocolate can kill dogs; it directly affects their heart and nervous system.
33. Daniel Boone hated coonskin caps.
34. Playing cards were issued to British pilots in WWII. If captured, they could be soaked in water and unfolded to reveal a map for escape.
35. 55.1% of all US prisoners are in prison for drug offenses.
36. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
37. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark’s stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.
38. Dr. Seuss pronounced his name "soyce".
39. Slugs have four noses.
40. Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine.
41. The Three Wise Monkeys have names: Mizaru (See no evil), Mikazaru (Hear no evil), and Mazaru (Speak no evil).
42. India has a Bill of Rights for cows.
43. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die. If you keep your eyes open by force, they can pop out. (DON’T TRY IT, DUMBASS)
44. During the California gold rush of 1849, miners sent their laundry to Honolulu for washing and pressing. Due to the extremely high costs in California during these boom years, it was deemed more feasible to send their shirts to Hawaii for servicing.
45. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by taking out an olive from First Class salads.
46. About 200,000,000 M&Ms are sold each day in the United States.
47. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.
48. Over a course of about eleven years, the sun’s magnetic poles switch places. This cycle is called "Solarmax".
49. There are 318,979,564,000 possible combinations of the first four moves in Chess.
50. Upper and lower case letters are named "upper" and "lower" because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the upper case letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the lower case letters.
51. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.
52. The numbers "172" can be found on the back of the US 5 dollar bill, in the bushes at the base of the Lincoln Memorial.
53. Coconuts kill about 150 people each year. That’s more than sharks.
54. Half of all bank robberies take place on a Friday.
55. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan. There was never a recorded Wendy before it.
56. The international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 672.
57. The first bomb the Allies dropped on Berlin in WWII killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
58. The average raindrop falls at 7 miles per hour.
59. It took Leonardo Da Vinci 10 years to paint Mona Lisa. He never signed or dated the painting. Leonardo and Mona had identical bone structures according to the painting. X-ray images have shown that there are 3 other versions under the original.
60. If you put a drop of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad and sting itself to death.
61. Bruce Lee was so fast that they had to slow the film down so you could see his moves.
62. The largest amount of money you can have without having change for a dollar is $1.19 (3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies cannot be divided into a dollar).
63. The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen’s "Born in the USA".
64. IBM’s motto is "Think". Apple later made their motto "Think different".
65. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original "Halloween" was actually a Captain Kirk mask painted white, due to low budget.
66. The original name for butterfly was flutterby.
67. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law, which stated that you couldn’t beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
68. One in fourteen women in America is a natural blonde. Only one in sixteen men is.
69. The Olympic was the sister ship of the Titanic, and she provided twenty-five years of service.
70. When the Titanic sank, 2228 people were on it. Only 706 survived.
71. In America, someone is diagnosed with AIDS every 10 minutes. In South Africa, someone dies due to HIV or AIDS every 10 minutes.
72. Every day, 7% of the US eats at McDonald’s.
73. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was Victrola, which Motorola got their name from.
74. In the US, about 127 million adults are overweight or obese; worldwide, 750 million are overweight and 300 million more are obese. In the US, 15% of children in elementary school are overweight; 20% are worldwide.
75. In Disney’s Fantasia, the Sorcerer to whom Mickey played an apprentice was named Yensid (Disney spelled backward).
76. During his entire life, Vincent Van Gogh sold exactly one painting, "Red Vineyard at Arles".
77. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you cannot sink into quicksand.
78. One in ten people live on an island.
79. It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.
80. 28% of Africa is classified as wilderness. In North America, its 38%.
81. Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.
82. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
83. Sherlock Holmes NEVER said "Elementary, my dear Watson", Humphrey Bogart NEVER said "Play it again, Sam" in Casablanca, and they NEVER said "Beam me up, Scotty" on Star Trek.
84. An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman to take more than 3 steps backwards while dancing.
85. Sharon Stone was the first Star Search spokes model.
86. The sound you here when you put a seashell next to your ear is not the ocean, but blood flowing through your head.
87. More people are afraid of open spaces (kenophobia) than of tight spaces (claustrophobia).
88. The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.
89. There is a 1 in 4 chance that New York will have a white Christmas.
90. The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.
91. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
92. Back in the mid to late ’80s, an IBM compatible computer wasn’t considered 100% compatible unless it could run Microsoft’s Flight Simulator.
93. $203,000,000 is spent on barbed wire each year in the U.S.
94. Every US president has worn glasses (just not always in public).
95. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.
96. Jim Henson first coined the word "Muppet". It is a combination of "marionette" and "puppet."
97. The names of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with (not counting the words "North" and "South).
98. The Michelin man is known as Mr. Bib. His name was Bibendum in the company’s first ads in 1896.
99. About 20% of bird species have become extinct in the past 200 years, almost all of them because of human activity.
100. The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.
101. About 14% of injecting drug users are HIV positive.
102. A word or sentence that is the same front and back (racecar, kayak) is called a "palindrome".
103. A snail can sleep for 3 years.
104. People photocopying their buttocks are the cause of 23% of all photocopier faults worldwide.
105. China has more English speakers than the United States.
106. Finnish folklore says that when Santa comes to Finland to deliver gifts, he leaves his sleigh behind and rides on a goat named Ukko instead. According to French tradition, Santa Claus has a brother named Bells Nichols, who visits homes on New Year’s Eve after everyone is asleep, and if a plate is set out for him, he fills it with cookies and cakes.
107. One in every 9000 people is an albino.
108. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
109. You share your birthday with at least 9 million other people in the world.
110. Everyday, more money is printed for Monopoly sets than for the U.S. Treasury.
111. Every year 4 people in the UK die putting their trousers on.
112. Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds; dogs only have about ten.
113. Our eyes are always the same size from birth but our nose and ears never stop growing.
114. In every episode of "Seinfeld" there is a Superman picture or reference somewhere.
115. If Barbie were life-size her measurements would be 39-23-33. She would stand seven feet two inches tall and have a neck twice the length of a normal human’s neck.
116. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.
117. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
118. Each year in America there are about 300,000 deaths that can be attributed to obesity.
119. About 55% of all movies are rated R.
120. About 500 movies are made in the US and 800 in India annually.
121. Arabic numerals are not really Arabic; they were created in India.
122. Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations (implemented on July 16, 1969) makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles.
123. The February of 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
124. The Pentagon in Arlington Virginia has twice as many bathrooms as is necessary. When it was built in the 1940s the state of Virginia still had segregation laws requiring separate toilet facilities for blacks and whites.
125. There is actually no danger in swimming right after you eat, though it may feel uncomfortable.
126. The cruise liner Queen Elizabeth II moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
127. More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.
128. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
129. There are about 2 chickens for every human in the world.
130. The word "maverick" came into use after Samuel Maverick, a Texan refused to brand his cattle. Eventually any unbranded calf became known as a Maverick.
131. Two-thirds of the world’s eggplant is grown in New Jersey.
132. For every memorial statue with a person on a horse, if the horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died of battle wounds; if all four of the horse’s legs are on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
133. On a Canadian two-dollar bill, the American flag is flying over the Parliament Building.
134. An American urologist bought Napoleon’s penis for $40,000.
135. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.
136. Dreamt is the only English word that ends in the letters "MT".
137. $283,200 is the absolute highest amount of money you can win on Jeopardy.
138. Almonds are members of the peach family.
139. Rats and horses can’t vomit.
140. The penguin is the only bird that can’t fly but can swim.
141. There are approximately 100 million acts of sexual intercourse each day.
142. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies room during a dance.
143. Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
144. There are only four words in the English language that end in "-dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
145. Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.
146. Every time you lick a stamp you consume 1/10 of a calorie.
147. "101 Dalmatians" and "Peter Pan" are the only Disney animations in which both of a character’s parents are present and don’t die during the movie.
148. You are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a poisonous spider.
149. Hedenophobic means fear of pleasure.
150. Ancient Egyptian priests would pluck every hair from their bodies.
151. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
152. Half of all crimes are committed by people under the age of 18. 80% of burglaries are committed by people aged 13-21.
153. An ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
154. All polar bears are left-handed.
155. The catfish has over 27000 taste buds (more than any other animal)
156. A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death.
157. Butterflies taste with their feet.
158. Elephants are the only mammals that cannot jump.
159. An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.
160. Starfish have no brains.
161. 11% of the world is left-handed.
162. John Hancock and Charles Thomson were the only people to sign the Declaration of independence on July 4th, 1776. The last signature came five years later.
163. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
164. Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
165. The national anthem of Greece has 158 verses.
166. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
167. A healthy (non-colorblind) human eye can distinguish between 500 shades of gray.
168. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
169. Lizards can self-amputate their tails for protection. It grows back after a few months.
170. Los Angeles’ full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula". It can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.
171. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
172. A honeybee can fly at fifteen miles per hour.
173. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
174. A "jiffy" is the scientific name for 1/100th of a second.
175. The average child recognizes over 200 company logos by the time he enters first grade.
176. The youngest pope ever was 11 years old.
177. The first novel ever written on a typewriter is Tom Sawyer.
178. One out of every 43 prisoners escapes from jail. 94% are recaptured.
179. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
180. The average chocolate bar has 8 insects’ legs melted into it.
181. A rhinoceros horn is made of compacted hair.
182. The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.
183. Elwood Edwards did the voice for the AOL sound files (i.e. "You’ve got Mail!"). He is heard about 27 million times a day. The recordings were done before Quantum changed its name to AOL and the program was known as "Q-Link."
184. A polar bears skin is black. Its fur is actually clear, but like snow it appears white.
185. Elvis had a twin brother named Garon, who died at birth, which is why Elvis middle name was spelled Aron, in honor of his brother.
186. Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
187. Donkeys kill more people than plane crashes.
188. Shakespeare invented the words "assassination" and "bump."
189. There are a million ants for every person on Earth.
190. If you keep a goldfish in the dark room, it will eventually turn white.
191. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
192. The name Jeep comes from "GP", the army abbreviation for General Purpose.
193. Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left handed people do.
194. There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.
195. Cats’ urine glows under a black light.
196. A "quidnunc" is a person who is eager to know the latest news and gossip.
197. The first US Patent was for manufacturing potassium carbonate (used in glass and gunpowder). It was issued to Samuel Hopkins on July 31, 1970.
198. Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors, the helicopter, and many other present day items.
199. In the last 4000 years no new animals have been domesticated.
200. 25% of a human’s bones are in its feet.
201. David Sarnoff received the Titanic’s distress signal and saved hundreds of passengers. He later became the head of the first radio network, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC).
202. On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.
203. Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than every Nike factory worker in Malaysia combined.
204. One of the reasons marijuana is illegal today is because cotton growers in the ’30s lobbied against hemp farmers (they saw it as competition).
205. "Canada" is an Indian word meaning "Big Village".
206. Only one in two billion people will live to be 116 or older.
207. If you yelled for 8 years 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee. If you fart consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.
208. Rape is reported every six minutes in the U.S.
209. The human heart creates enough pressure in the bloodstream to squirt blood 30 feet.
210. A jellyfish is 95% water.
211. Truck driving is the most dangerous occupation by accidental deaths (799 in 2001).
212. Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.
213. Elephants only sleep for two hours each day.
214. On average people fear spiders more than they do death.
215. The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue. (the heart is not a muscle)
216. In golf, a ‘Bo Derek’ is a score of 10.
217. In the U.S, Frisbees outsell footballs, baseballs and basketballs combined.
218. In most watch advertisements the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.
219. If you plant an apple seed, it is almost guaranteed to grow a tree of a different type of apple.
220. Al Capone’s business card said he was a used furniture dealer.
221. The only real person to be a PEZ head was Betsy Ross.
222. There are about 450 types of cheese in the world. 240 come from France.
223. When the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers plays football at home the stadium becomes Nebraska’s third largest city.
224. The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra’s "It’s a Wonderful Life".
225. A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours.
226. In Iceland, a Big Mac costs $5.50.
227. Broccoli and cauliflower are the only vegetables that are flowers.
228. Newborn babies have about 350 bones. They gradually merge and disappear until there are about 206 by age 5.
229. There is no solid proof of who built the Taj Mahal.
230. In a survey of 200000 ostriches over 80 years, not one tried to bury its head in the sand.
231. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. A quarter has 119.
232. On an American one-dollar bill there is a tiny owl in the upper-left-hand corner of the upper-right-hand "1" and a spider hidden in the front upper-right-hand corner.
233. Judy Scheindlin ("Judge Judy") has a $25,000,000 salary, while Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has a $190,100 salary.
234. The name for Oz in the Wizard of Oz was thought up when the creator Frank Baum looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N and O-Z.
235. Andorra, a tiny country on the border between France and Spain, has the longest average lifespan: 83.49 years.
236. The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
237. Mr. Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister.
238. In America you will see an average of 500 advertisements a day.
239. John Lennon’s first girlfriend was named Thelma Pickles.
240. You can lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs.
241. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
242. "The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in English.
243. There are 336 dimples on a regulation US golf ball. In the UK its 330.
244. The Toltecs (a 7th century tribe) used wooden swords so they wouldn’t kill their enemies.
245. "Duff" is the decaying organic matter found on a forest floor.
246. The US has more personal computers than the next 7 countries combined.
247. There have been over 600 lawsuits against Alexander Grahm Bell over rights to the patent of the telephone, the most valuable patent in U.S. history.
248. Kuwait is about 60% male (highest in the world). Latvia is about 54% female (highest in the world).
249. The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters.
250. In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the world’s nuclear weapons combined.
251. At the height of its power in 400 BC, the Greek city of Sparta had 25,000 citizens and 500,000 slaves.
252. Julius Caesar’s autograph is worth about $2,000,000.
253. The tool doctors wrap around a patient’s arm to measure blood pressure is called a sphygmomanometer.
254. People say "bless you" when you sneeze because your heart stops for a millisecond.
255. US gold coins used to say "In Gold We Trust".
256. In "Silence of the Lambs", Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins) never blinks.
257. A shrimp’s heart is in its head.
258. In the 17th century, the value of pi was known to 35 decimal places. Today, to 1.2411 trillion.
259. The bestselling books of all time are The Bible (6billion+), Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung (900million+), and The Lord of the Rings (100million+)
260. Pearls melt in vinegar.
261. "Lassie" was played by a group of male dogs; the main one was named Pal.
262. In 1863, Paul Hubert of Bordeaux, France, was sentenced to life in jail for murder. After 21 years, it was discovered that he was convicted of murdering himself.
263. Nepal is the only country that doesn’t have a rectangular flag. Switzerland is the only country with a square flag.
264. Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer are the only angels named in the Bible.
265. Tiger Woods’ real first name is Eldrick. His father gave him the nickname "Tiger" in honor of a South Vietnamese soldier his father had fought alongside with during the Vietnam War.
266. Johnny Appleseed planted apples so that people could use apple cider to make alcohol.
267. Abraham Lincoln’s ghost is said to haunt the White House.
268. God is not mentioned once in the book of Esther.
269. The odds of being born male are about 51.2%, according to census.
270. Scotland has more redheads than any other part of the world.
271. There is an average of 61,000 people airborne over the US at any given moment.
272. Prince Charles and Prince William never travel on the same airplane in case there is a crash.
273. The most popular first name in the world is Muhammad. The most common name (of any type) in the world is Mohammed.
274. The surface of the Earth is about 60% water and 10% ice.
275. For every 230 cars that are made, 1 will be stolen.
276. Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. President to be born in a hospital.
277. Lightning strikes the earth about 8 million times a day.
278. Around 2,000 left-handed people die annually due to improper use of equipment designed only for right handed people.
279. The "if" and "then" parts of conditional ("if P then Q") statement are called the protasis (P) and apodosis (Q).
280. Humans use a total of 72 different muscles in speech.
281. If you feed a seagull Alka-Seltzer, its stomach will explode.
282. Only female mosquitoes bite.
283. The U.S. Post Office handles 43 percent of the world’s mail.
284. Most household dust is made of dead skin cells.
285. One in about eight million people has progeria, a disease that causes people to grow faster than they age.
286. The male seahorse carries the eggs until they hatch instead of the female.
287. The "countdown" (counting down from 10 for an event such as New-Years Day) was first used in a 1929 German silent film called "Die Frau Im Monde" (The Girl in the Moon).
288. Negative emotions such as anxiety and depression can weaken your immune system.
289. There are seven suicides in the Bible: Abimelech. Samson, Saul, Saul’s armor-bearer, Ahithophel, Zimri, Judas.
290. A mongoose is not a goose but more like a meercat, which is not a cat but more like a prairie dog, which is not a dog but more like a ground squirrel.
291. Stephen Hawking was born exactly 300 years after Galileo died.
292. Mercury is the only planet whose orbit is coplanar with its equator. Venus and Uranus are the only planets that rotate opposite to the direction of their orbit.
293. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe died on July 4th. Adams and Jefferson died in the same year. Supposedly, Adams last words were "Thomas Jefferson survives."
294. The Baby Ruth candy bar was named after Grover Cleveland’s baby daughter, Ruth, not Babe Ruth the baseball player.
295. Dolphins can look in different directions with each eye. They can sleep with one eye open.
296. The Falkland Isles (pop. about 2000) has over 700000 sheep (350 per person).
297. There are 41,806 different spoken languages in the world today.
298. While many treaties have been signed at or near Paris, France (including many after WWI and WWII), nine are actually known as the "Treaty of Paris": Seven Years’ War (1763), American Revolutionary War (1783), French-Swede War (1810), France vs Sixth Coalition (1814), Battle of Waterloo (1815), Crimean War (1856), Spanish-American War (1898), union of Bessarabia and Romania (1920), establishment of European Coal and Steel Community (1951).
299. Robert Todd Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln’s oldest son) was in Washington DC during his father’s assassination as well as during President Garfield’s assassination, and he was in Buffalo NY when President McKinley was assassinated.
300. The city of Venice stands on about 120 small islands.
301. The past-tense of the English word "dare" is "durst".
302. Don Mac Lean’s song "American Pie" was written about Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper), who all died in the same plane crash.
303. The drummer for ZZ Top (the only one without a beard) is named Frank Beard.
304. Hummingbirds can’t walk.
305. When movie directors do not want their names to be seen in the credits, they use the pseudonym "Allen Smithee" instead. It has been used over 50 times, starting with "Death of a Gunfighter" (1969).
306. Four different people played the part of Darth Vader (body, face, voice, and breathing).
307. Pamela Lee-Anderson was the first to be born in Canada on the centennial anniversary of Canada’s independence (7/1/1967).
308. There is about 200 times more gold in the oceans than has been mined throughout history.
309. William Shatner is credited for being the first person on TV to say "hell" as well as to have the first inter-racial kiss (with Nichelle Nichols), both in episodes of Star Trek.
310. While the US government’s supply of gold is kept at Fort Knox, its supply of silver is kept at the Military Academy at West Point, NY.
311. Alexander Graham Bell’s wife and mother were both deaf.
312. Compact discs read from the inside to the outside edge, the reverse of how a record works.
313. In the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, if a man was not married by age 30, he would not be allowed to vote or watch athletic events involving nude young men.
314. Attila the Hun (invader of Europe; 406-453), Felix Faure (French President; 1841-1899), Pope Leo VII (936-939), Pope John VII (955-964), Pope Leo VIII (963-965), Pope John XIII (965-72), Pope Paul II (1467-1471), Lord Palmerston (British Prime Minister, 1784-1865), Nelson Rockefeller (US Vice President, 1908-1979), and John Entwistle (The Who’s bassist, 1944-2002) all died while having sex.
315. Humans and dolphins are the only animals known to have sex for pleasure.
316. Pac-Man, Namco’s 1979 arcade game, was originally called "Puck Man". The name was changed when they realized that vandals could easily scratch out part of the letter "P".
317. Shakespeare and Cervantes died on the same day, April 23, 1616.
318. There are about 7.7 million millionaires in the world (more than 1/1000th of the population).
319. The youngest mother on record was a Peruvian girl named Lina Medina. She gave birth to a boy by caesarean section on May 14, 1939 (which happened to be Mother’s Day), at the age of five years, seven months and 21 days.
320. The "middle finger" gesture originates back to 423 BC in Aristophanes play "The Clouds".
i was bored lol

some interesting "facts", although some are half truths or half facts (i.e., heinz 57 is not for how many pickles they had, the 5 and 7 were considered "lucky" numbers and even though the company had more than 60 varieties at the time used 57 as its brand logo; or that Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations does not make it illegal to contact aliens, in fact there is no section 1211, it is "reserved" , as is 1205, 1241 and 1276-1299 of title 14; and "There are 336 dimples on a regulation US golf ball. In the UK its 330." is just not true, golf ball designers have made various number of dimples, up to 440 as far as I know. The Titleist Pro V1 has 392 dimples for example.)

I groaned as I got out of the car. I realized that it was raining, so I ran under the roof of my soon to be house. I sat at the front porch as my mom unloaded the car.
“Could you come over and help me, honey?” mom asked politely.
I walked over to her and pulled out the suitcases out. I rolled them over onto the deck. I hated moving to a new house. Leaving my friends was hard, and the worst part was saying goodbye. I lifted the vase on the right hand side of the door. I grabbed the key and unlocked the front door. The inside was well lit and clean. I walked up to my bedroom and it brought back memories from when I was 5. I heard someone come in the house downstairs. That was probably mom. I decided to take a shower and clean myself up. After that I ran down to have some dinner.
“So, how do you like it here?” Vivian said happily. I turned my head from the kitchen counter and realized she was sitting on the living room couch watching TV.
“It’s nice, I guess”
“Is something wrong?” She said pitiful.
“No. It’s just that this place brings back a lot of memories,”
“Well,” she said turning her head back to the TV “you’ll have to get used to it. You’re going to live here until you graduate. Anyway, that won’t be so long considering you’re 16.”
“Ok, mom.” I said kindly.
“Oh, and Ebony, one more thing” she added “Get some rest. You look really tired” I smiled at her and made some food for the both of us. Vivian is and always was a bad cook, so I always had to cook the food myself. I left some food on the table so Vivian could eat some herself when she felt like it. I ate it slowly on the kitchen counter listening to the radio music. I ran upstairs to go to bed. I was all wet and in inappropriate clothes for sleeping. I really needed to change! I walked over the closet and opened it about to fall asleep standing. That would be possible in my condition.
I realized that it was empty. Oh yeah, I didn’t unpack yet. I ran down and tiptoed to my suit case and rolled it upstairs, making sure I didn’t disturb Vivian. I let it fall on my bedroom floor with a loud landing. I opened it and pulled out my shorts and shirt. I changed. I didn’t bother picking up my suit case or closing it. I was too tired. I plopped down on my bed and fell right asleep. That night I dreamt about my other friends and my city. I could feel the tears run down my face even though I was sleeping. It was a happy and an emotional dream at the same time. I woke up early morning. The sun lit on my face. It hurt my eyes. I jumped out of bed and went to brush my teeth, afraid of having some bad morning breath. Why is she awake so early? I don’t blame Vivian for thinking that. In my previous town, Akria, I had always woke up late, usually about 1pm.
“Come down stairs and have some breakfast, honey” Vivian called from the kitchen. I could hear the sizzles coming from the frying pan.
“In a minute mom!” I said walking into my room and slammed the door behind me. I quickly changed my clothes and ran downstairs and into the kitchen. Vivian kept her eyes on the frying pan.
“So how did you sleep last night?”
“I slept pretty well” I answered taking my seat on the kitchen chair.
“Good. But why did you wake up so early this morning? You usually get out of bed really late” she said, her voice full of wonder.
“I have no idea. It’s probably because I knew there was school today. I’m nervous”
“Well, you better eat quickly if you want to get to school on time. Schools starts at nine” she pointed to the clock hung on the wall right above the kitchen door.
It was already 8:30. I needed to hurry. Vivian plopped the burnt eggs and burnt bacon on my plate. Like I said, she was not a good cook. I ate as fast as I could. I ran upstairs and grabbed my bag and headed out the door.
“Honey, you forgot something!” Vivian yelled after me. I looked back and she threw me a key. “It’s for the car.” she informed me. I spotted some car in front of the garage. It was a 2018 Toyota car.
“Thanks, mom!” I yelled back at her. I hope she drives well. I sighed. Mom, worried again as usual.

Chapter#2 Shool

I ran towards the car and unlocked it with they key. The door opened and the lights were well lit inside. The T.V. lowered from the ceiling and the T.V. turned on. It was some old 60’s music video. I changed it to some other random channel. It turned out to be a pop music video from this year. “Ah, that’s the kind of 2020 pop music I like” I whispered to myself quietly. I started the engine. It roared like a lion, and then the sound faded. I drove all the way to school and parked it in the parking lot. I walked out of my car. There were a million thoughts. It was confusing. I couldn’t ignore them. I walked into the building. I could feel the stares on my back of the kids. They always want to know more about the new kid. I felt safe after I entered the doors of the administration. No more kids. Just staff members. I walked up to the lady at the front desk.
“Ex
sorry about the mistakes!! I’m going to revise it and change some parts. Thanks for your nice comments. BTW im only 11 and I wrote this
cuse me” I said politely in a soft voice making sure I wouldn’t disturb the others. She looked up at me with her blue eyes and her face happy. She had short brown pixy like hair. She looked too young to be working in an office in a school. Another new student. Good thing I have my map ready…. Seems like one of those soft people. I spotted her name tag. “Carla Shepry” Nice name I thought to myself.
“Oh. Hi there. It seems you’re new here. Would you like some help?” she offered in a soft sweet voice.
“Yes, I do. Could I please have a map and schedules for my classes?”
“Sure” she handed me two sheets of paper. One was the map, and the other was the schedule. “You have math first period”
“Thank you” She looked away and continued writing. What a sweet girl. I wish I stayed in high school That explains it all. I knew she was too young. I walked out and into the hall way. The kids were walking around everywhere. I didn’t know where to go. There were different thoughts and lots of thinking
. I was confused. I felt a tap on my shoulder. I had a quick reaction and looked back as if I thought it was a monster. I didn’t know my expression on my face. Was it scared? Sad? I had no idea.
“Hi there. I’m Maverick. Maverick O’Connor” he said politely with his hand held out. He had short blond hair with his bangs swiped to his right. I stared at him not knowing what to do. His hand was held out. Maybe I should shake. I held out my hand and we shook.
“Hi, I’m Ebony…. Ebony Vera Philips” my voice seemed a little shaky. He smiled when he heard my name. He seemed nice.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ebony Vera Philips” he smiled a bigger smile. We let our hands go and back to our sides. “Do you need help getting around?”
“No it’s fine. Have a map and schedule. I’ll figure it out… soon enough” I said smiling back at him. He laughed.
“What do you have first period?” he asked curiously.
“Math” I said in a low whisper. I could barely hear myself. Luckily my mind reading was turned to off.
He was probably thinking about how stupid I was. It’s a good thing I can read their minds but only when I want to.
“Oh! What a coincidence. So do I. Should I show you the way?” He smiled again, but not as big as the previous smile.
“Hmmm… Well, I guess. Show me the way tour guide” I laughed jokingly. He grinned. We started walking to class.
“So how do you like it here so far here in Spira High and College, Ebony?” he asked looking angelic as he was looking at the hall and glancing at me.
“It’s pretty nice I guess” I said shyly. He just smiled. We reached the stairs. It was white and shiny. We walked up the shiny stairs until we reached the 2nd floor. It seemed that was the top floor. We finally reached the math room. The door had a colorful sign which said “MATH!” on it. It had rainbows, calculators, and numbers surrounding it.
“Here we are. Math class. I’m going to have to sit with my friends, because I promised them. Do you mind?” He asked with a frown on his face. He looked

Why does she have memories if it’s a new house?
Why did she let the suitcase fall on the floor with a "loud landing" if she was just previously rolling it up the stairs so as not to disturb Vivian?
Also, you interject first person thoughts from Vivian into first person narration by the main character, which is confusing.

The mind-reading part doesn’t flow very well either.

Since you’re 11 it’s pretty good…. just a lot of dialogue and kind of a slow plot line.

My Dream House

My dream house will be a masterpiece, full of beauty. It will contain a grand family room, a gorgeous dining room, connected to a stainless steal appliance kitchen and the master suite, which will be my favorite room.

My family room is grand. My brick fireplace, placed in from of my comfy cream rap round couch. Above my fireplace, hanging on the cream colored wall is a forty-inch Samsung flat screen TV. In the corner of the family room is my blue fluffy and comfy recliner, which was bought for my father when he comes to visit. The best thing about this room is the popcorn Machine, you can pop some popcorn before you watch a movie and then you can sit down with a big bowl of it. Connected to my flat screen is my V.C.R my D.V.D player and my movie projector. This allows us to play any type of movie, at any given time. The speakers built into the walls, and underneath the couch allows the surround sound to shake the house and to invite you into whatever movie you are watching. The flooring of the family room is a oak hardwood, with brown and beige area rugs, which I would place in front of the couch. On the left wall there is a window about three feet by three feet, with beige, cream, and brown curtains. This window allows just enough light in to lighten up the room. My family room will feel welcoming as soon as I open up the front door to let you in, you will feel warm, and comforted by the love my home will bring.

My gorgeous dining area is a romantic place to eat, while it contains a beautiful chandelier above the chestnut ding table, which can place up to eight people. Most of the light comes from an enormous six-foot window with cherry red curtains, which is located at the fare end of the room, facing the back yard. My old faded chestnut grandfather clock was bought from an antique auction; I placed it opposite of the archway in, which you come into the dining room from the kitchen. The kitchen is a fun stainless steal appliance kitchen with stainless steal counters too. The details in my kitchen will be extravagant with hand towels having pictures of apples on them, and my fridge even having apple shaped magnets. The cream tiled flooring is heated throughout, so when you making a pot of coffee in the morning your little toes will still stay warm. The best thing about my kitchen will be the window above the sink with curtains that contain apples on it. But if you don’t want to take your time to decorate and set up the table in the dining room you can just sit down and enjoy dinner, lunch, breakfast, in your kitchen at you finished oak table that holds a family of four, and the lighting overhead is a ceiling fan with an oak finish and energy conserved lights.
The master suite is full of relaxing in my Jacuzzi and lighting the fireplace to enjoy a warm bathroom. In my master bathroom I have heated cream tiled floors with light blue area rugs. There are no windows in my bathroom because my bathroom is all-full of privacy. The fireplace in my bathroom is wonderful; it is one of the ways it keeps my bathroom warm in the winter. The toilet and shower are on the same wall, and my Jacuzzi is right on the other side of the wall, which contain s the two bathroom sinks and gigantic mirror in which I placed a light fixture above. My bed is right there too the best thing is, is that you can locate my bathroom from the hallway and my bedroom. So, my bed is king sized with oak finished nightstand, dresser, and the frame for my bed. While I lay there at night I can watch TV on the flat screen, and listen with my surround sound. My fireplace is placed right under my flat screen, and my cream area rug right in front of that. The lighting in my room are the lamps, and the ceiling light. They are LED so then I can save a little money and have a brighter room.
So I think that the master suite is my favorite place to be, cuddled up in my covers all day long with a fire goi

It cut off but it sounds nice and cozy.

Okay, so it’s a preface to a new book/story I’m writing. Please tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

Where I am is somewhere cold, somewhere lonely. Where I am is Providence, Rhode Island, wrapped in my own arms, hoping that if I close my eyes and wish hard enough that maybe I can get away from this place. The clock ticking on the painted red plaster wall behind me is the only thing keeping me pegged to my bed instead of drifting gently into mental insanity.
My pseudo-relaxation is brought to a swift end by my mother slamming open my bedroom door and ripping back the drapes covering my windows, allowing a harsh light to pour in and fill the room. I meekly observe my surroundings, clothes piled on the floor. ‘It never used to be such a mess.’ I think to myself.
“Ellie,” my mother once again interrupts my thoughts, “I don’t know just what’s been happening to you over the past summer, but you’d better get your ass back in gear. Smile and the world smiles with you, cry and you cry alone.” She gives me her dime-a-dozen cliché and leaves my room again. I look down to my digital clock, it tells me that it’s 3:48PM, but I beg to differ.
I slump back onto my pillow and shut my eyes. Lately, I’ve been living more in my head than in the real world. I’m thinking back four weeks ago, then even further before that. Back to times when I was a normal person, a warm, happy young lady. But living in memories is no life at all. I need to move on, look toward the future and whatnot. I need to forget this summer, and most importantly I need to forget everything that happened to me in Allendale County.
BeautyBlitz- Thanks. I was kind of on the fence about that "whatnot". And the only reason I’m writing this as a preface instead of an actual first chapter is because I want to give the reader an view of how the story is going to go. This happened after the story, like it’s being told to you rather than happening as you go. But I really appreciate your critique and I’ll make those changes.

Your first two sentences really need some work. Where I am is…Where I am is…is repetitive and not that catching.

What I wish is that people would stop writing prefaces and prologues and just write the darn story. If you find, after you have written the story, that it would benefit from having a prologue, then go for it.

In your last paragraph, I would cut the word "whatnot." It sounds horrid. I would just have my sentence say "I need to move on and look toward the future.

What I think about this….I think you should start writing the story rather than the preface. Focus your energy where it counts.

One more note: Go through and cut any word or sentence that isn’t necessary. Less is more, especially when writing. You have to say as much as possible using the fewest words you can. This is an example:

I’m thinking back four weeks ago, then even further before that. Back to times when I was a normal person, a warm, happy young lady.

I would change it to:

I think back to four weeks ago when I was a normal person, a warm happy young lady.

It says the same thing your sentences do, but in fewer words.

Good Luck and Happy Writing. =)

EDIT: I was not trying to be mean, only honest. This my friends, is what a real critique looks like, and this is the condensed version. A critique is not "wow, I’m hooked already."

I have a Schoolhouse Regulator Wall Clock. I have followed the directions to get it to chime right but it just keeps going and going. It will stop once in awhile for maybe a minute and then it starts again. I have let it go and go but how long do I need to?? Its starting to get annoying!

When setting the time,did you stop at each hour and let it chime? I would stop the clock after it chimes on the hour.The next day or if you can do the same time in the pm,start it up again.