Fastfacts
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Tuesday, May 4, 2004
Things you always never wanted to know
At the turn of the century, nearly 2 million children helped to turn the wheels of U.S. commerce and industry. Some worked in chemical vats at 2 a.m. ÷ without wearing a stitch of clothing.
At the time of the U.S. War of Independence, Philadelphia was second only to London as the largest English-speaking city in the world.
Coal and diamonds are made of the same chemical element ÷ carbon.
The annual harvest of an entire coffee tree is required for a single pound of ground coffee. Every tree bears up to 6 pounds of beans, which are reduced to a pound after the beans are roasted and ground.
Bamboo is not a tree. It is a wood grass.
Grace Kelly was the first motion-picture actress to appear on a postage stamp. In April 1956, she was featured with her husband, Prince Rainier III of Monaco, on a stamp that commemorated their wedding.
President Taft weighed 352 pounds.
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Monroe all died on the Fourth of July.
Gephyrophobia is the fear of crossing bridges.
Phobos, one of the moons of Mars, is so close to its parent planet that it can't be seen by an observer standing at either of Mars' poles. Phobos makes three complete orbits around Mars every day.
Most American automobile horns beep in the key of F.
The American lobster can move through the water at a rate of 25 feet per second.