- The only major religion not to endorse abstinence from food on special occasions is Sikhism. (New Yorker, 3rd September 2007)
- The 7th July London bombings accounted for 7 per cent of all homicides in England and Wales in 2005/6. (Home Office)
- Transport for London employs 232 people on more than £100,000 a year. The home office employs 43; the treasury seven. (Boris Johnson)
- There are more tigers in the US than in any other country. ( QI: the Book of General Ignorance, by John Mitchinson and John Lloyd)
- The Finns spend more on ice cream than any other European nation, averaging $110 a head in 2005— just beating the Italians. Britons spend less than half that figure. (Euromonitor)
- In the three months to 22nd July, America and its allies dropped at least 407 bombs on Afghanistan—over four times the amount dropped in Iraq. (economist.com, 4th August 2007)
- 53 per cent of births in London are to immigrant mothers. In Kensington and Chelsea the figure is 68 per cent. (Newsweek, 6th August 2007)
- Despite its oil reserves, 99 per cent of Norway's electricity is produced by hydroelectric sources. (Encarta)
- The 2006 World Cup final had a higher US television audience than the 2006 baseball World Series. (New Republic, 17th July 2007)
- In the US, the top 25 hedge fund managers earn more than the CEOs of the S&P 500 companies combined. (Marginal revolution, 22nd July 2007)
- British families spend as much time eating together today as they did in the 1970s. (Economic and Social Research Council)
- The production of a kilogram of beef emits the same amount of CO2 as the average European car driving 250 kilometres. (New Scientist, 21st July 2007)
- During the first year of the Nazi invasion, the Red army issued 800,000 death sentences to its own soldiers. (No Simple Victory" by Norman Davies)
- In Chicago and New York, among other US cities, full-time female employees in their 20s earn more than males. (Queens College, New York)
- After the end of donor anonymity, there are now only 205 sperm donors registered in Britain. (BBC News online, 16th May 2007)
- In 2002, Bangladesh became the first country to ban plastic bags. (The Guardian, 12th May 2007)
- In 2006, 177 British men had cosmetic surgery to reduce their breast size. (Harper's, May 2007)
- About 25 per cent of American workers in the private sector get no paid holiday at all. (New Republic, 30th July 2007)
- Windscreen wipers, laser printers and bulletproof vests were all invented by women. (British association for the advancement of science)
- About 80 per cent of all news on the internet originates from print newspapers. (New York Review of Books, 16th August 2007)
- Four of the five richest Americans—Bill Gates, casino owner Sheldon Adelson, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen—are college dropouts. ( All the money in the world: how the Forbes 400 make—and spend—their fortunes, by Peter W Bernstein and Annalynw Swan)
