In the US, 30 per cent of men aged 18 to 34 shave their chests. [The New York Times, 22nd September 2002]
The word "cunt" appears more frequently in the Guardian than in any other newspaper in the world. An average edition of the paper contains at least two articles containing the word "fuck." [The Guardian, 23rd September 2002]
In Britain, 70 per cent of people drive to work. [Horizons, September 2002]
English wine accounts for one third of 1 per cent of all the wine consumed in Britain. [The Independent, 5th October 2002]
No academic book in Britain has sold better than Terry Eagleton's 1982 Literary Theory. [The Guardian, 17th January 2002]
By 2022, NHS spending will be 20 times higher in real terms than it was in 1948, when the service was founded.[Prospect, page 42]
In 2000, new cars emitted less pollution while running than 1970s-era cars did while turned off (a lot of gasoline vapour leaked). [McKinsey Quarterly, No 3]
Condoleezza Rice was named after con dolcezza, the Italian musical direction for "with sweetness." [National Review, 30th August 1999]
A metre is defined as the distance light travels through a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. [The New Yorker, 14th October 2002]
In Hollywood, box office revenue accounts for less than a quarter of a film's total take. [The Washington Post, 7th October 2002]
The 500,000 letters lost daily by the Royal Mail equate to only 0.1 per cent of the daily total.[Harvey Cole, economics consultant]
In the US, 81 per cent of people feel that they have a book in them.[The New York Times, 28th September 2002]
