In 1989, Vincent Van Gogh was the world's most expensive artist. In 2008, he was 394th on the Artprice auction turnover list. (Breakingview.com, 12th May 2009)![article body image]()
- The number of millionaires in Britain has nearly halved in size during the recession, from 489,000 in 2007 to 242,000 now. (The Guardian, 27th May 2009)
- If Sonia Sotomayor is confirmed, six of the nine justices of the US supreme court will be Roman Catholic, two will be Jewish and one a Protestant (John Paul Stevens, 89). (Salon, 31st May 2009)
- Three babies have been born on the London Underground. The first was in 1924, on a Bakerloo line train at Elephant & Castle. The second was in 2008 in Kingsbury and the third was on 27th May 2009, in the staff room at London Bridge station. (Evening Standard, 28th May 2009)
- Worldwide, newspaper sales grew 1.3 per cent in 2008 to 539m daily, a rise of 8.8 per cent over the past four years. (AFP, 27th May 2009)
- Formula one racing driver Jensen Button failed his driving test first time round. (The Guardian, 6th June 2009)
- 51 per cent of Japanese men between the ages of 30 and 60 urinate sitting down. (Japan Times, 10th May 2009)
- Out of 850 Oxford students, 41 per cent of homosexuals achieved a first in exams, compared to a third of heterosexuals. (Cherwell, 28th May 2009)
- Preston, Lancashire, is Britain's safest place for burglary, with a rate of 66.6 per cent below the national average. (Daily Telegraph, 13th April 2009)
