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FACT-OF-THE-DAY ARCHIVE
"Our life is what our thoughts make it."
- Marcus Aurelius

MAY 2010


Previous Archives

DATEFACT OF THE DAY
5/1/10     Pi is the most recognized mathematical constant in the world. Scholars often consider Pi the most important and intriguing number in all of mathematics. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
5/2/10     Since the Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937, more than 1,200 people have jumped to their deaths, making it the number one spot in the world for suicides. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/3/10     Kissing at the conclusion of a wedding ceremony can be traced to ancient Roman tradition where a kiss was used to sign contract. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
5/4/10     The world's first nuclear reactor was built in a squash court beneath a Chicago football stadium on December 2, 1942. While it only generated enough power to light a flashlight, it proved that nuclear power was feasible. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/5/10     In the average adult, the skin covers 12-20 square feet and accounts for 12% of body weight. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
5/6/10     ‘Dollar’ is the most common currency name, followed by ‘franc,’ ‘pound,’ ‘dinar,’ ‘peso,’ and ‘rupee.’ - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/7/10     Vitamin D is unusual because it is the only vitamin that can be synthesized in the body. Sunlight is the main source of Vitamin D, though sunscreen lotions with high SPF can prevent vitamin D formation. Vitamin D is also the only vitamin that is a hormone. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
5/8/10     The world's smallest state, the Vatican city is 0.2 square miles and has a population of 770. The tiny country which surrounds St. Peter's Basilica is the spiritual center for the world's Roman Catholics. The Vatican City is surrounded by Rome, Italy. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/9/10     The best way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories and increase exercise. Experts suggest aiming for a weight loss goal of one pound per week. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
5/10/10     Canada has the world's longest coastline of 202,080 kilometres (125,567 miles) and Monaco has the shortest coastline of 5.632 kilometers (3.5 miles). - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/11/10     A person will eat an average of 35 tons of food in his or her lifetime or 1500 pounds of food a year. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
5/12/10     Introduced by Adam Osborne in 1981, the Osborne I is regarded as history's first mass-produced portable computer. Weighing in at over 23 pounds, the $1,795 Osborne I featured a built-in 5-inch monochrome display, a pair of floppy disc drives, 64Kb of RAM, and it used the CP/M operating system developed by Gary Kildall and John Torode. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/13/10     According to 2007 population projections, in 25 years, the number of older Americans eligible for social security will have nearly doubled, from 38 to 72 million. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/14/10     India and Pakistan went to war in 1947 over the area of Kashmir; the dispute continues today and is one of the oldest unresolved conflicts in the world. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/15/10     In 2008, 6.5 percent of the U.S. population failed to obtain needed medical care due to cost at some time during the year. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/16/10     Indonesia has counted 17,508 islands within its territory. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/17/10     Steve Eves broke two world records April 25, 2009, when his 1/10th scale model of the historic rocket - built in his garage near Akron, Ohio - lifted off from a field on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The 36-ft.-tall rocket was the largest amateur rocket ever launched and recovered successfully - and at 1,648 pounds, also the heaviest. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/18/10     The president's aircraft, Air Force One, has a doctor on board at all times and has a medical suite that can function as an operating room. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/19/10     In 2009, U.S. national health expenditures per capita are $8,160 and are projected to be $13,100 in 2018. They were $2,814 per capita in 1990. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/20/10     Residential property burglaries accounted for 67.9 percent of all burglary offenses in 2007 in the U.S. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/21/10     There were an estimated 2,179,140 burglaries in the United States in 2007. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/22/10     There are about 10,000 bird species in the world. About 925 have been seen in the U.S. and Canada. About 1,000 have been seen in Europe. By far the largest concentration of bird species are found in South America. Over 3,200 species have been seen there. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/23/10     The 100-watt incandescent light bulb will be banned in the U.S. starting Jan. 1, 2012, under energy legislation signed by President Bush. The law bans 75-, 60- and 40-watt bulbs by 2014. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/24/10     In July 1776, an estimated 2.5 million people lived in the United States. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/25/10     In 2007, $4.7 million worth of American flags were imported by the United States, the vast majority of that amount ($4.3 million) from China. The U.S. exported $2.4 million in U.S. flags that year, with half going to Mexico. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/26/10     The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that from 2000 to mid-May 2010, it had received more than 6,200 complaints involving sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles. The reports include 89 deaths and 57 injuries over the same period. - Provided by Associated Press
5/27/10     The most precipitation to fall in one year in the U.S. is 739 inches, which was recorded in Kukui on the Hawaiian island of Kauai from December 1981 to December 1982. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/28/10     In 2007, 31.1 percent of national health care expenditures were for hospital care; 21.4 percent went to physician/clinical services. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/29/10     Sixty-one percent of the non-elderly population in the U.S. - or 159 million people - have health insurance provided by their employers. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/30/10     The largest recorded lobster, caught off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1934, weighed 44.4 pounds and was at least 100 years old, according to scientists. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010
5/31/10     As of September 30, 2009, there were 23.2 million military veterans in the United States. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010


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