- The bestselling fictional work in the US in 1977 was The Silmarillion, by JRR Tolkien. [Prospect, page 43]
- The British rail system receives almost £5bn a year in public subsidy—almost four times as much as it did when privatised in 1994. [The Economist, 2nd December 2006]
- An average avatar in the virtual reality world Second Life consumes about the same amount of electricity per year as a Brazilian. [Rough Type]
- In recent elections, around half of the French electorate have either not voted or voted for a far left or far right party. [The Nation, 13th November 2006]
- Last year the 54 billionaires in Britain paid a total of £14.7m in income tax. Of this, £9m was contributed by James Dyson. [Sunday Times, 3rd December 2006]
- Oslo is about the same distance from Rome as it is from the northernmost point of the Norwegian land mass. [Prospect research]
- There are no plurals in Chinese. [Wired, December 2006]
- Just 1.4 per cent of Iran's population attend Friday prayers. [OpenDemocracy, 14th February 2006]
- Nearly half of the carbon dioxide emitted by humans since the beginning of the 19th century has been absorbed by the oceans. [New Yorker, 20th November 2006]
- The top 100 bestselling albums in British history include no Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan or Sex Pistols. [The Guardian, 16th November 2006]
- An average 1,500 immigrants a day enter Britain planning to stay for a year or more. [Office for National Statistics]
- 40 per cent of heterosexual British men say they would be justified in hitting their partner if she was unfaithful, and 20 per cent if they thought she was neglecting their children. ["Does Criminal Justice Work?" by Richard Garside, Crime and Society Foundation]
