In fact

 
March 20, 1999

If Europe were to eliminate nuclear generated electricity and revert to fossil fuel power, the extra greenhouse gases created would be equal to doubling the number of cars on the road. [Prospect, page 24]

Four out of ten people will meet their husbands and wives at work. [Management Today, February 1999]

In 1882, there were 268 "designated ancient monuments" in Britain. Today there are 12,900. [Theatres of Memory, Raphael Samuel]

To cover the ?1.25m cost of his January visit to Mexico, the Pope had 25 official sponsors, including Pepsi. [The Independent, 23rd January 1999]

In Britain, 93 per cent of young people can master a computer game while only 38 per cent can bake a potato. [Centre for Food Policy]

Last year, GM spent $3.1 billion on advertising and sold 4.7m cars-$655 for each car sold. [Advertising Age]

On the opening day of the Premiership in 1992-93, there were 11 foreigners in the starting line-ups of the 22 clubs. This season that figure had risen to 92, nearly 40 per cent of players. [Evening Standard, 19th January 1999]

Three months ago, the 74 most widely followed stocks of the internet sector had a combined value of 2.3 per cent of the total market value of the Dow Industrials. Today they are worth more than 9 per cent. [MSNBC, 19th January 1999]

In the US, the percentage of two-and-a-half year olds still in nappies has risen from 10 per cent in 1961 to 78 per cent in 1997. [Time, 25th January 1999]

In the past year, 79 per cent of Frenchmen, 76 per cent of Germans and 72 per cent of Britons have read a book, compared to 57 per cent of Italians. [Committee on Intellectual Correspondence]

Only 20 per cent of Spaniards regularly have a siesta. [El Pa?-s]