The world record for going without sleep was set in 1965 by 17-year-old high school student Randy Gardner, who stayed awake for 264 hours, or 11 days.
He spent it playing pinball.
A Natural Troll
Like mermaids, trolls probably joined the culture when people misperceived perfectly natural phenomena. This one “lives” on the coast of the island of Hamarøy in Norway.
Death Tolls
- 300 million – smallpox, worldwide, 20th century
- 200 million – bubonic plague, worldwide, 1300s
- 62 million – World War II
- 60 million – Mongol conquests, 13th century
- 19 million – AIDS, worldwide to date
- 1 million – Irish potato famine, 1846-1849
- 830,000 – Shaanxi earthquake, China, 1556
- 650,000 – Deaths in the Roman Colosseum for public entertainment, 80-404
- 36,000 – Krakatoa eruption, Indonesia, 1883
- 15,000 – Holy Inquisition, 1184-1800
- 1,517 – RMS Titanic, 1912
- 300 – Great Chicago Fire, 1871
- 270 – Pan Am Flight 103, Lockerbie, Scotland, 1988
- 36 – Hindenburg disaster, Lakehurst, N.J., 1937
- 7 – Space shuttle Challenger, Florida, 1986
- 4 – Kent State shootings
Fraser Spiral
An optical illusion. There’s no spiral, just concentric circles.
Stature
Tallest U.S. presidents:
- Abraham Lincoln 6’3.75″
- Lyndon B. Johnson 6’3.5″
- Thomas Jefferson 6’2.5″
- Chester A. Arthur 6’2″
- George H.W. Bush 6’2″
- Franklin D. Roosevelt 6’2″
And shortest:
- John Adams 5’7″
- John Quincy Adams 5’7″
- William McKinley 5’7″
- Benjamin Harrison 5’6″
- Martin Van Buren 5’6″
- James Madison 5’4″
Top Languages
The world’s most popular languages, by number of native speakers:
- Chinese, 937 million
- English, 335 million
- Spanish, 332 million
- Hindi/Urdu, 291 million
- Arabic, 193 million
- Bengali, 189 million
- Malay/Indonesian, 176 million
- Portuguese, 170 million
- Russian, 165 million
- Japanese, 125 million
“The great thing about human language,” wrote Lewis Thomas, “is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand.”
Wear Oven Mitts
Unquote
“Years ago it meant something to be crazy; now everybody’s crazy.” — Charles Manson
Heimlich Candidates
Famous people who have died by choking:
- Tommy Dorsey, Nov. 26, 1956 (age 51)
- Jimi Hendrix, Sept. 18, 1970 (27)
- Bon Scott, Feb. 19, 1980 (33)
- John Bonham, Sept. 25, 1980 (32)
- Tennessee Williams, Feb. 25, 1983 (71)
Free Falling
A falling person reaches a top speed of around 120 mph. After that, all falls are equally dangerous: If you survive the lack of oxygen, a fall of 10,000 feet won’t necessarily hurt you any more than 2,000 feet.
During World War II, at least three airmen survived free falls of around 20,000 feet without a parachute. All three lost consciousness, and two of them landed in deep snow.
In 1972, a Yugoslavian flight attendant fell from 33,330 feet when terrorists blew up her DC-9 over Czechoslovakia. She broke both legs and was paralyzed from the waist down, but only temporarily.