Mary Jo Bellner Swartzberg
Isn’t it great to learn something new, even though you were not looking to learn something at all? This is when reading “useless” information gives us pause to reflect on all of the things that we do not know. Here are some interesting factoids that can be categorized under the heading of Gee, I didn’t know that!
Mosquitoes: Only female mosquitoes bite. The males do not. The reason for this is that blood is loaded with vital proteins, iron and amino acids which are required for the mosquito eggs to develop. Both male and female mosquitoes get their daily energy needs from flower sap and plant nectar.
Knit One, Pearl Two: Joan Crawford was an avid knitter, as are Meryl Streep, Sarah Jessica Parker, Amanda Seyfried, and Julia Roberts.
A Capital Dinner: FDR loved savory jellied meat loaves, Richard Nixon liked cottage cheese topped with ketchup, George W. Bush craved cheeseburger pizza, and William Howard Taft favored baked possum.
Lip Service: Over $3 billion in revenue for lipstick and lip gloss is generated in the U.S. annually.
A Tall Story: On average, Americans are getting shorter. Americans once were among the tallest world-wide but heights have been declining since the late 1980s.
Reach For The Star (Bucks)!: Starbucks operates 41,129 stores globally, with the two largest markets being in the U.S. (17,000 stores) and in China (8,000 stores). Bucks ($) indeed!
Does Size Matter?: The smallest country in the world is Vatican City at 19 square miles; the largest country in the world is Russia at 6.6 million square miles, followed by Canada, the U.S., China, and Brazil.
A Very Worthy Cause: Roughly $2.5 billion dollars are donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital annually.
A Big Mac Attack!: In 1994, when the company realized the 99 billion burgers sold point, McDonald’s stopped keeping track of the number of burgers it sells every year. However, it is estimated that McDonald’s sells 6.5 million burgers every day in the U.S. and a total of more than 2.3 billion burgers each day, globally.
Courting The Pickle(Ball): In the summer of 1965, the first pickleball court was built on Bainbridge Island, Wash. at the summer home of Joel Pritchard. Pritchard and two friends devised the game. While the Pickleball name is widely credited as being named after Pritchard’s dog, the moniker was given to the game by Pritchard’s wife because Pickle reminded her of the pickle boat in crew where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of other boats.
Listen People!: Over 100 billion single-use plastic bags are tossed each year in the U.S. The recycling rate for these bags is less than 10%.
Why Knot?: While location and guest list size vary, the average cost of a wedding in the U.S. is somewhere between $34,000 and $36,000—excluding engagement rings and honeymoons.
The Stars Have It: The country with the most Michelin starred restaurants is France, followed by Japan, Italy, Germany, and Spain.
The Original Paper Chase: Over 42 billion pieces of First-Class Mail are processed and delivered each year by the U.S. Postal Service, which employs about 624,000 employees.
By The Way: These factoids may come in handy at your next cocktail party!