h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I like reading fun and/or funny facts/statistics, such as, "There are more people killed every year in the U.S. by vending machines than shark attacks." (I heard that on the news). If you know any facts that are funny or weird, post 'em.

hi
this question would be more suited to <./>Askh2g2</.>
more people will see it there
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87% of statistics are made up on the spot.

Agood place to get funny facts which are usually pretty topical is the bbc's news magazine's 10 things we didn't know this time last week at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3083720.stm

> 87% of statistics are made up on the spot.

I heard that that figure was 95.8%.

Rho

It was 88.2% of statistics are made up on the spot.

This statistic was used in the Guiness "not everything in black and white makes sense" advertising campaign, and was attributed to Vic Reeves.

Vic Reeves's real name is Jim Moir.

Statistically, you could get on a jet airliner at random once a day, every day, for 26,000 years, and expect to be involved in just one crash - which you'd more than likely survive. This says as much about how many flights there are as how safe jet travel is.

If you ate the liver of a polar bear you'd die from an overdose of vitamin E.

Harry S Truman, 33rd president of the USA, had no middle name. The S didn't stand for anything.

The most fecund mammal is the tenrec, which can bear up to 38 live young at a time.

The loudest rock band on earth were The Who.

Hotblack Desiato is a real estate agents, and they're still in business - look! www.hotblackdesiato.co.uk/

I really should do some work...

H.

While we're talkiing about presidents initials...

Ulysses S Grant's original initials were HUG, being Hiram Ulysses Grant. He hated his initials, and was embarassed by them. One day, he got a piece of mail (I think) which had his middle name as Simon, which formed Ulysses S Grant

So the S in Truman and the S in Grant aren't supposed to be there

" the S in Truman and the S in Grant" reminds me of a gag.

How do you fit an elephant in Safeway bag?
You take the "s" out of "safe", and the "f" out of way.
...
...
...

...
...
...
There is no "f" in "way".
...
EXACTLY.

Ay theng yo.

H.

lol
I couldn't remember the figure for the statistics made up on the spot, so I made it up on the spot, which I thought was the point!

a man, a plan, a canal, panama. Such a palindrome. What a cunundrum.

I read that you're more likely to be killed by a cork from a champagne bottle than from a spider bite...

Drinking can be bad for you

Caper Plip

apparently, you're more likely to be killed by a coconut falling on your head than by a shark bite, although if you're actually swimming with sharks, i think the statistics could change a bit
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