Fast facts


Arizona Daily Wildcat
Tuesday, January 20, 2004

Things you always never wanted to know

  • A dog was the first in space, and a sheep, a duck and a rooster were the first to fly in a hot air balloon. A dog was also the first to parachute.

  • If California were a country, it would have the fifth largest economy in the world.

  • In 1816, Frenchman J.R. Ronden tried to stage a play that did not contain the letter "a." The Paris audience was offended, rioted and did not allow the play to finish.

  • There are 7 million millionaires in the world.

  • Industrial hemp contains less that 1 percent of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana.

  • A common housefly lives only 14 days.

  • The world's smallest breed of dog is the Chihuahua, which means "tiny dog in the sky."

  • The heart of a blue whale is the size of a small car, and its tongue is as long as an elephant.

  • In 1934, the world's largest crustacean, a lobster, was caught. It weighed approximately 42 pounds.

  • Americans on average eat twice as much meat as Europeans, consuming about 110 pounds per capita.

  • That tall white hat chefs like to wear is called a "toque."

  • China sacrifices 25 million trees to make the 45 billion chopsticks it uses per year.