Fast Facts
November 8, 2006
The Kansas City Railroad used to stop trains to allow the passengers to shoot at passing buffalo.
People in China sometimes use firecrackers around their homes as fire alarms.
The average person looks at eight houses before buying one.
Each of us generates five pounds of garbage a day; most of it is paper.
Playing cards were issued to British pilots in World War II. If a soldier was captured, the cards could be soaked in water and unfolded to reveal a map for escape.
The foundations of many great European cathedrals are as deep as 40 to 50 feet.
The largest employer in the world is the Indian railway system, employing more than 1 million people.
Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.
O.J. Simpson had a severe case of rickets and wore leg braces when he was a child.
By weight, the sun is 70 percent hydrogen; 28 percent helium; 1.5 percent carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen; and 0.5 percent all other elements.
The scientific name for a gorilla is Gorilla gorilla gorilla.
It is physically impossible for pigs to look up at the sky.
To keep cool, ostriches urinate on their legs; it then evaporates like sweat.
More than 10 percent of all the salt produced annually in the world is used to de-ice American roads.
