The gong struck at the beginning of Rank films was made out of papier mâché. [The Guardian, 19th August 2006]
1,248 books on 9/11 have been published. [The Independent, 11th September 2006]
Of the trillions of cells in a typical human body, only about one in ten is human. The rest are microbial. [New York Times magazine, 13th August 2006]
The average Japanese has sexual intercourse 45 times a year, compared with the global average of 103. [Japan Times, 22nd June 2006]
40 per cent of Americans polled in May said they had no plans to take a summer holiday. [Conference Board]
The most expensive year of your life is age 34. [The Guardian, 19th August 2006]
Each year Ireland generates 869kg of waste per head, 25 per cent more than Denmark, its nearest EU rival. Britain's figure is 600kg. [The Economist, 2nd September 2006]
"Lula" means "squid" in Portuguese. [Fortune, 1st November 2004]
Half of British women own over 30 pairs of shoes. [The Guardian, 19th August 2006]
Women in almost every culture speak in deeper voices than Japanese women. American women's voices are lower than Japanese women's, Swedish women's lower than American women's, and Dutch women's lower than Swedish women's. [The Human Voice by Anne Karpf]
Last year the Texas House passed the "booty bill," prohibiting "overly sexually suggestive" performances by cheerleaders. [The Economist, 2nd September 2006]
Late August marked 1,000 days of peace between nations—the longest period since the second world war. [Christian Science Monitor, 30th August 2006]
One in three Italians finds a job through a relative. [New York Times, 23rd August 2006]
