Fast Facts


Arizona Daily Wildcat
Friday, October 28, 2005

Things you've always never wanted to know

Albert Einstein's youngest son was schizophrenic.

The White House receives about 6,000 visitors a day and has six floors (two are basements), 132 rooms, 32 bathrooms, 147 windows, 412 doors, 12 chimneys, three elevators and seven staircases. It takes 570 gallons of white paint to cover the outside.

The childhood word game "Hangman" was the inspiration for TV's "Wheel of Fortune."

Each year, the average American consumes nearly two 14-ounce bottles of ketchup. Ketchup is found in 97 percent of U.S. households, beating out salt, pepper and sugar.

In 1931, Lili de Alvarez was the first woman to wear shorts at Wimbledon.

America purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million - about 2 cents an acre.

There was only one pointer, the hour hand, on the first clocks made in the 14th century. The minute and seconds hands were added in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The name of the game "cricket" is believed to have been derived in the late 1500s from the Middle French word criquet, meaning "goal post."

The practice of naming hurricanes began in the early 20th century when an Australian weather forecaster decided to insult politicians he didn't like by naming devastating tropical storms after them.

Children born in May are on average 200 grams heavier at birth than children born in any other month.

A skunk will not bite and throw its scent at the same time.

The Hope diamond was acquired by King Louis XIV in 1668. It was worn 120 years later by Marie Antoinette and it now resides in the Smithsonian Institution. This natural blue diamond weighs 44.5 carats.

There are about 250,000 sweat glands in your feet, and they sweat as much as 8 ounces of moisture per day.