Fast facts


Arizona Daily Wildcat
Monday, December 6, 2004

  • Vidalia Onions have developed an international reputation as the "world's sweetest onion." Their mild flavor is due to the unique combination of soils and climate found in the 20-county production area.

  • The ashes of the average cremated person weigh nine pounds.

  • The poison-arrow frog's poison has a potency that is 2,200 times the amount needed to kill one person.

  • Orville Wright was active in the promotion of scouting and sat on the Dan Beard Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He was the scouting adviser for the Aviation Merit Badge.

  • The first soda pop made in the United States was Vernor's Ginger Ale, created in Detroit in 1866. Coca-Cola, Hires Root Beer and Dr Pepper were all introduced in the same year. Americans today drink more than 13 billion gallons of soft drinks each year.

  • Generally, women become more intoxicated than men on the same amount of alcohol, even when they weigh the same. This is because women have less of the muscle tissue containing bodily fluid that dilutes alcohol and because women's bodies more quickly process alcohol through the stomach and into the bloodstream.

  • Ice cream cones were first served in 1904 at the World's Fair in St. Louis.

  • Identity theft is expected to cost consumers, businesses and government organizations $2 trillion by the end of 2005. A clever hacker can clear $4,000 to $10,000 by stealing someone's identity. Everyday robbery would get about $200.

  • In 2000, there were 106,000 red-light running crashes that resulted in 89,000 injuries and 1,036 deaths. Overall, 55.8 percent of Americans admit to running red lights. Yet 96 percent of drivers fear they will get hit by a red-light runner when they enter an intersection.