Fast facts
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Friday, December 3, 2004
Asses include any of several hoofed mammals of the genus Equus, resembling and closely related to horses. Donkeys are domesticated asses. A jack is a male donkey. Zebras crossed with donkeys are referred to as either Zonkeys or Zebrasses.
Cracker Jack caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts were perfected and given their name in 1896 by F.W. Rueckheim and Brother. They had been selling its forerunner (popcorn, peanuts and molasses) since 1893. In 1912 Cracker Jack started the tradition of giving a "prize in every box."
On average, each American consumes 117 pounds of potatoes, 116 pounds of beef, 100 pounds of fresh vegetables, 80 pounds of fresh fruit and 286 eggs per year.
Eighteen ounces of an average cola drink contain as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.
Gin and canasta are both descended from an ancient Chinese game, mah-jongg, which is more than 1,000 years old.
Three billion Christmas cards are sent annually in the United States.
Impotence is grounds for divorce in 24 states.
A wedding ring is exempt by law from inclusion among the assets in a bankruptcy estate. This means a wedding ring cannot be seized by creditors, no matter how much the bankrupt person owes.
In the state of New York it is illegal to shoot at a rabbit from a moving trolley car.
For several decades the well-known Belgian mystery writer Georges Simenon wrote, on average, one novel every 11 days. Besides the more than 230 novels he penned under his own name, Simenon wrote 300 other books under a pseudonym.
It took Henry Ford's Motor Company seven years to manufacture 1 million automobiles. 132 working days after this figure was reached (in 1924), the company had made 9 million more cars.