Pointless Statistics and Facts Thread

[Syterion]

Got any useless statistics or facts that have no purpose in real conversation? Post them here!

On average, you consume 70 insects over the course of your life during sleep.

Dollar bills have cocaine in them.

There are 4 times as many depressed women than men, yet there are 4 times as many male suicides than women.

That starts it off!

 

[Archer 007]

A meter is 1/10000000 the distance from the North Pole to the Equator.

 

[YNCS]

The smallest bones in your body are in your ears.

40% of people killed by falling off a horse were drunk.

The distance between a Boeing 747's wingtips is longer than the Wright Brothers' first flight.

The average tongue of an adult has 9,000 taste buds.

 

[onejayhawk]

You can hold more grains of sand in your hands than you have hair on your head (actually I had an uncle that could do this on the end of his finger).

The average animal has on the very close order of 1,000,000,000 heartbeats in a batural lifetime. Man is a major exception, even among primates, nearing 2,000,000,000 beats.

Polar bears have black skin, and translucent hair.

The world is rounder and smoother than a polished 1/4" ball bearing.

You are more likely to be killed by a drunk driver than you are to be elected to office.

Based on data from 1,000,000 births in 1900, the most common age at death is 79. Most dangerous time of life, statistically, is the first three days. The age where the mortality is steepest is 92.

Woman are as violent as men at all levels of violence. Women are much more likely to use a weapon than men.

The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119. The shortest is Psalm 117. The center of the Bible by verse count is Psalm 118:4,5.

J

 

[privatehudson]

Napoleon's supporters once made the claim that the man in the iron mask was the legitimate son of Louis the 13th, and that Louis the 14th was illegitimate. This legitimate son escaped his imprisonment and fled to corsica, then under Italian control. His grandson became Napoleon's father.

Interesting reading for those who like to think of Napoleon as champion of the revolution, when he and his supporters liked to claim that he was in fact just another royal

 

[Suppersalmon]

There are approximately ten million bricks in the Empire State Building

A South Korean movie theater owner decided that the movie The Sound of Music was too long. His solution? He shortened the movie by cutting out all of the musical scenes!

Cows and horses sleep standing up.

Dolplins are the only other mamals besides humans that have sex for fun

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

Most people think they are above average drivers.

 

[IceBlaZe]

Most people believe they are smarter than the average person.

 

[Mescalhead]

Most people are smarter than the average person.

 

[stratego]

Back in 1983 a meter was redefined as 1/(3e8) th of the distance light travels in a second, because scientists know more about the speed of light than the actual definition of a meter.

 

[taper]

Originally posted by onejayhawk



The world is rounder and smoother than a polished 1/4" ball bearing.



J

False. The earth is actually an oblate spheriod, wider across the equater than across the poles.

 

[Andrewz]

Most people are smarter than the average person.

Actually, I find that one pretty interesting and so true !

 

[Loaf Warden]

-England and Portugal have never been at war with each other.

-The original name of Los Angeles was 'El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Pocinuncula'.

-Sharks are immune to cancer. They also have no bones, instead having skeletons made up entirely of cartilege.

-Four of the chemical elements are named for the small Swedish village of Ytterby; they are erbium, terbium, yttrium, and ytterbium.

-Except for a five-year period of Nazi occupation during World War II, the throne of the Netherlands has been held continuously by women since 1890.

-From 1513 to 1972, the throne of Denmark was held only by men named Christian or Frederick. Christian II ascended the throne in 1513, followed by Frederick I in 1523, then Christian III in 1534, and Frederick II in 1559. The line of succession continued in this fashion, with names alternating with every king, until Frederick IX was succeeded by Margaret II in 1972.

-At no time in the twentieth century did the United States have a president with a beard, and the last president to have noticeable facial hair at all, while in office, was William Howard Taft, whose term ended in 1913.

-Because of the threat of Napoleonic invasion, the capital of Portugal was moved in 1807 from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, where it remained for thirteen years. This was the only time in history when a European country was ruled from a city in the Americas.

-90% of everyting is crap, including a few items I've seen already in this thread, and possibly a few items in my own post (though it's all accurate as far as I can determine). Anyone who wants to filter the crap from the real stuff can visit http://www.snopes.com/ or http://www.urbanlegends.com/ for a good start.

 

[stratego]

Dolplins are the only other mamals besides humans that have sex for fun

I've read that somewhere, but then when you think about that means all other animal would have sex only for reproductive reasons. How then do you explain homosexual monkeys?

 

[The Yankee]

Come on, most statistics are made up. 94% of all people know that......

 

[superslug]

Originally posted by Syterion
There are 4 times as many depressed women than men, yet there are 4 times as many male suicides than women.

Women lead in the number of suicides attempted, but men lead the number in suicides completed, due to being prone to more violent attempt methods.

 

[Superevie]

93% of communication is non-verbal. (actually this one is kinda useful *scribbles it down*)

 

[Benderino]

Originally posted by Syterion

Dollar bills have cocaine in them.

That's cotton, not cocaine.

 

[Mescalhead]

Originally posted by Suppersalmon
Dolplins are the only other mamals besides humans that have sex for fun

Not entirely true.


Penguins at the point.

 

[Loaf Warden]

Originally posted by Benderino


That's cotton, not cocaine.

Actually, it's cocaine, amazingly enough:
http://www.snopes.com/business/money/cocaine.asp