Forty per cent of Britons would exchange the material benefits of the 1990s for the stability and certainties of the 1950s. [John Browne, Chief Executive of BP/Amoco]
This century, democratic government has turned into authoritarian rule more than 70 times. [Foreign Affairs, May/June 1999]
Indonesian politician Megawati Sukarnoputri has seen Beauty and the Beast 50 times. [Today Programme, BBC Radio 4]
In Britain, the NHS budget has doubled from ?23.5 billion in 1988 to ?45 billion in 1998. [The Rise & Fall of Modern Medicine, James Le Fanu]
In New York's Central Park, crime has fallen by 80 per cent in the past six years. [National Review, 14th June 1999]
In Britain, there are about 3,000 man-made chemicals in household products, packaging and food, of which only 7 per cent have been tested for toxicity. [Prospect, page 51]
Homosexual behaviour occurs in more than 450 different kinds of animals. [Biological Exuberance, Bruce Bagemihl]
In the US, more than 1m elections are held over every four-year period. [Bring Home the Revolution, Jonathan Freedland]
In South Africa, one woman in three loses her virginity to a rapist. [The Economist, 29th May 1999]
More explosive power was dropped on Serbia than during the entire Vietnam war. [Evening Standard, Robert Fox]
In Britain, 63 per cent of children have a television in their bedroom. [LSE Magazine, Summer 1999]
In China, the farm population has declined from 92 per cent in 1975 to less than 40 per cent in 1994. [The Ecologist, May/June 1999]
In south Wales, 50 per cent of the primary carers of children are men. [Clive Soley MP]
