In Britain, of the 200,000 books on sale last year, only 10,000 sold over 3,500 copies. Of the 1.2m titles sold in the US in 2004, only 2 per cent sold more than 5,000 copies. ( The Times, 16th February 2008)
Kabul's population has increased from 300,000 in 2001 to 3m today. ( Financial Times, 11th February 2008)
Marlboro cigarettes took their name from Great Marlborough Street—the location of the Philip Morris factory that first produced them. (londonist.com, 18th February 2008)
In 2007, total European stock market capitalisation exceeded that of the US for the first time since 1945. (Paul Kennedy lecture, LSE, 6th February 2008)
Harry S Truman had no middle name—his advisers insisted he insert an initial to gain credibility with voters. (BBC Magazine Monitor, 1st February 2008)
Over the past five years, 2.9m rooms have been "lost" in British homes as a result of open-plan conversions. ( Daily Mirror, 29th January 2008)
In 40 per cent of weddings in Britain in 2005, at least one person was getting married for at least the second time.
( The Observer, 3rd February 2008)
In Britain, between 1991 and 2005, deaths directly attributed to alcohol almost doubled. ( British Medical Journal, December 2007)
As poet laureate, Andrew Motion receives "a butt of sack per annum" in payment—110 gallons of Spanish sherry, or about 630 bottles, each year. ( Prospect research)
Worldwide, the number of mobile phone users will overtake the number of non-users this year for the first time. In 2000, only 12 per cent of the global population had a mobile phone. (AP, 6th February 2008)
No British university will offer a women's studies undergraduate course from this summer, when the course at London Metropolitan University closes. ( Times Higher Education, 31st January 2008)
Amazon.com's number one reviewer, Harriet Klausner, has averaged 45 reviews a week since 2002. ( Slate, 22nd January 2008)
The Arts Council typically spends around 90 per cent of its annual music budget on opera. ( Prospect research)
- In New York city, January 2008 was the first essentially snowless January in the last 75 years. (LiveScience, 30th January 2008)
Nearly 35,000 nurses—enough to staff the entire health service in Wales—have emigrated from Britain in the past four years. ( The Times, 28th January 2008)
Cumbria has the lowest number of homicides in England and Wales—none last year compared to 168 in London. (Home Office)
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing. (BBC online)
47 per cent of British men and 35 per cent of women would give up sex for six months in exchange for a 50-inch plasma HD television. But only 17 per cent of men would stop watching football for the TV. ( The Register, 11th February 2008)
In 2006, Britain spent £497m on cosmetic surgery—more than any other European country. (BBC News Online, 15th February 2008)
Smoking is responsible for 25 per cent of all male deaths in the developed world. (World Health Organisation)
Brazil has more people of African descent than any country outside Africa. (BBC)
