- Ukraine's population is expected to fall by 43 per cent from its current level by 2050. [The Economist, 7th January 2005]
- In 2001 American industry spent more on civil litigation than on R&D. [Washington Post, 6th December 2005]
- The following events in German history all took place on 9th November: the abdication of the kaiser and the proclamation of the Republic (1918); the failure of the Munich beer-hall putsch (1923); Kristallnacht (1938) and the fall of the Berlin wall (1989). [The Virtual Stoa]
- The US population reached 100m in 1915, 200m in 1967 and will reach 300m this year. [New York Times, 13th January 2006]
- In 2005 45,000 cars were burned in France, an average 125 every day. But until the riots at the end of October, the daily rate had been 104. The beginning of 2006 has seen car-burnings up 23 per cent compared to the same time last year. [Prospect research]
- Three times as much money is invested by rich Africans in foreign bank accounts than is sent to the continent as remittances by overseas African workers. [Prospect, p44]
- 95 per cent of all patent applications in the US are approved, compared with just 65 per cent in Europe and Japan. [New Yorker, 26th December 2005]
- Vietnam, Beijing and Kosovo are the three most optimistic places in the world, according to a recent survey. Bosnia is the most pessimistic. [Gallup International Voice of the People survey]
- Following the 1964 American presidential election, Karl Hess, Barry Goldwater's chief speechwriter, looked for a new job. After being rejected by every senator and congressman he approached, he applied to become the Senate lift attendant. When this failed, he went on a welding course and took a job on the night-shift in a machine shop. [The Times, 7th December 2005]
In fact
February 26, 2006
