In fact

In China, women can only marry at age 20 and men at age 22. The Times, 28th August 2009

“Definitely” is the most commonly misspelt word in the English language, with Britons regularly writing it as “definately.” Daily Mail, 15th June 2009

Sales of extra-large condoms in Tesco are higher in Glasgow than anywhere else in Britain. Daily Express, 2nd September 2009

Britain produced 91,723 scientific papers in 2009—just under 8 per cent of the world’s total, and third only to the US and China. BBC News website, 2nd October 2009

While a cub reporter in Essex, Ruth Rendell wrote up a tennis club dinner without attending it. As this meant she missed the after-dinner speaker dying mid-speech, she resigned before she could be fired. The Guardian, 7th September 2009

Greenland has the world’s highest suicide rate—each year 100 people per 100,000 take their own lives. Slate, 9th October 2009

According to in-house estimates at the Times, Jeremy Clarkson is responsible for 25 per cent of timesonline.co.uk traffic. Vanity Fair, November 2009

The annual retail spend of Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street is £5.5bn—more than Manchester and Birmingham combined. The Times, 3rd November 2009

22 per cent of men “regularly include a kiss on texts to their male mates.” The Register, 4th November 2009