FACT-OF-THE-DAY ARCHIVE
"Our life is what our thoughts make it."
- Marcus Aurelius
SEP 2015

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DATE FACT OF THE DAY 9/1/15      By the end of the twentieth century, one out of eight American workers had at some time been employed by McDonald's and 96% of Americans had visited McDonald's at least once. It was also serving an estimated 22 million Americans every day and even more abroad. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/2/15      Over 90% of all cases of eating disorders occur in women, and nearly seven million women in the U.S. currently suffer from anorexia nervosa or bulimia. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/3/15      The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between three and five million people worldwide get a serious case of the regular flu each year; tens of millions get milder cases. Between 250,000 and 500,000 people globally die of the flu every year. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/4/15      Levels of a brain transmitter called serotonin is considered a possible predictor of suicide. Some researchers found that people with low levels of serotonin are six to 10 more times likely to commit suicide than are people with normal levels. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/5/15      After the Holocaust, the U.N. formed the Commission of Human Rights in June 1946. In December 1948, the Commission approved two historic agreements: the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/6/15      A McDonald's Big Mac has 85 mg. of cholesterol and a Wendy's Classic Double With Everything has 175 mg. of cholesterol. A single cup of ice cream has more cholesterol than 10 glazed donuts. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/7/15      There were 157 million people 16 and older in the nation's labor force in June 2015. - Provided by U.S. Census Bureau 9/8/15      WWI introduced the widespread use of the machine gun, a weapon Hiram Maxim patented in the U.S. in 1884. The Maxim weighed about 100 pounds and was water cooled. It could fire about 450-600 rounds per minute. Most machine guns used in WWI were based on the Maxim design. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/9/15      The claws on the cat's back paws aren't as sharp as the claws on the front paws because the claws in the back don't retract and, consequently, become worn. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/10/15      A pair of breeding pandas needs more than 11 square miles of land. One giant panda usually needs between 2.5 to 4 square miles of land to survive. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/11/15      Fifteen of the 19 accused hijackers of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, came from Saudi Arabia. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/12/15      Individuals with bachelor's degrees earn an average of 60% more than people with only a high school diploma, which adds up to more than $800,000 over a lifetime. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/13/15      While in the White House, President Rutherford Hayes banished alcohol from the premises and held gospel sing-alongs every night. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/14/15      For the seventh year in a row, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) leads U.S. institutions in international student enrollment, with New York University in New York City coming in second. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/15/15      A person weighing 150 pounds on Earth would weigh 4,200 pounds on the sun because the sun's gravity is 28 times that of Earth. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/16/15      Scientists believe that the mind forgets in order to avoid information overload, to think more quickly, assimilate new information easier, and to avoid emotional hangovers. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/17/15      Current supporters of medical marijuana believe the drug has significant medical value for patients who suffer from AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and chronic pain. Several studies have been published to support and document this belief. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/18/15      Twenty-five million people die each year from contaminated water. That is the entire population of Canada. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/19/15      Even with today's powerful antibiotics, bacterial pneumonia is the most common complication of the flu, and most flu-related deaths are due to it. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/20/15      In response to the nuclear crisis after the 2011 tsunami, the Japanese government dumped 11 million liters (2 million gallons) of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. A few days later, radioactive fish were found 50 miles offshore. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/21/15      A solar eclipse happens every one or two years, but total eclipses can be seen by those within the moon's shadow only every few hundred years. The shadow cast by the moon races across Earth at hundreds of miles per hour, so the eclipse is over within a couple of minutes. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/22/15      A dog most likely interprets a smiling person as baring their teeth, which is an act of aggression - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/23/15      In 2008, almost 1.8 million people (20% of the entire population) were living in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/24/15      The world's largest stockpile of gold can be found five stories underground inside the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's vault and it holds 25% of the world's gold reserve (540,000 gold bars). While it contains more gold than Fort Knox, most of it belongs to foreign governments. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/25/15      The top seven oil consumers combined use more than half of the world's total. The United States alone uses more than a quarter. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/26/15      Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/27/15      The Chinese invented paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/28/15      Between 30% and 60% of cocaine users combine the drug with alcohol. This concurrent use is the cause of nearly 75% of cocaine-related fatalities in the U.S., and a cocaine user is 25 times more likely to experience sudden death when combining it with alcohol. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/29/15      Not all bears hibernate. Asiatic black bears, American black bears, some brown bear species, and pregnant polar bears hibernate. Sloth bears live in warm places with abundant food, so they don't need to hibernate. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/30/15      Italy's San Marino is the world's oldest republic (A.D. 301), has fewer than 30,000 citizens, and holds the world's oldest continuous constitution. Its citizens are called the Sammarinese. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

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