Every year, I read Tom Whitwell’s 52 Things list, where he shares interesting facts he learned over the course of the year - one for every week of the year. This year, I decided to keep my own list, and while I fell a little short of 52, I have loved keeping this list. I got better and better at recognizing how often a fact stopped me in my tracks - either from surprise or disgust or delight - and recording it so I could keep up with all the little “hmmmm” moments.
Enjoy!
Indian Prime Minister Modi was banned from coming to the U.S. before becoming prime minister.
The dung beetle uses the Milky Way to navigate.
London had a population decline in the 18th century because everyone was addicted to gin.
The fourth finger of the left hand believed to possess a vein that runs securely to the heart, has traditionally been ringed. This Vein of Love, or more amorously called the Vena Amoris, 1 originated in ancient Egypt, where it was first described by Macrobius in 395–423 AD.
The word Bluetooth traces its origin to 10th Century King of Norway and Denmark Harald “Bluetoot” Gormsson, who is believed to have lived in Denmark around 910-940 AD and is credited for uniting the then-warring Scandinavian tribes.
Nearly half of the U.S.'s homeless population resides in California.
Roughly 40 percent of voters in Mississippi are black, a greater share than any other state.
India's judicial system has 50 million pending cases.
The CDC was located in Atlanta (rather than Washington, DC) because the South was the area of the country with the highest malaria transmission.
In Germany, drivers are required to have $8.2 million of bodily injury insurance coverage. In America, the average is $100,000, with some states only requiring $25,000.
Most provinces in China include skipping rope tests (measuring skips per minute) in their versions of the high-school entrance exam, known as the zhongkao.
Lexington, KY, covered the creek that ran through its downtown after multiple cholera outbreaks in the 1800s.
According to data from the Pew Research Center, the 10 countries with the biggest differences in the world between the leader’s age and the median age of the population are all in Africa.
The share of Americans being cremated went from 21% in the mid-1990s to 61% today.
3% of Ukraine's total military spending has come from crowdfunding since the war began.
Lyndon Johnson wanted the Civil Rights Act to be his legacy, but his refusal to seat the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party at the National Convention caused a fissure in the Civil Rights movement, and cynicism towards the Democratic Party is still felt today.
Teddy Roosevelt's mother, Mittie, is believed to have inspired Scarlett O'Hara. His maternal uncles were exiled to Britain after the Civil War as traitors.
Jacqueline Kennedy pressured the Kennedy administration to convince Congress to approve $10 million to save the Temple of Dendur from flooding after the construction of the Aswan Dam.
The Olympics once had medals for art. The gold medal sculpture at the 1924 Paris Olympics was won by a Greek artist named Costas Dimitriadis for his nude, arching, 7-foot “D” sculpture “Discus Thrower.”
Where weed remains illegal, in states like Texas, much of what dealers sell is now grown legally elsewhere and smuggled in. In nine states, weed taxes now raise more revenue than liquor taxes.
A reality show called “The Conclave” Put Belgium's political rivals together in a medieval château for a weekend.
On March 6, 1890, a wealthy socialite named Eugene Schieffelin released one hundred common starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) into Central Park in New York City. The release was part ofSchieffelin's decidedly eccentric effort to introduce to the United States all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's works.
In the top inch of forest soil, biologists found an average of 1,356 living creatures present in each square foot, including 865 mites, 265 springtails, 22 millipedes, 19 adult beetles, and various numbers of 12 other forms.
Every year, a given tree creates ninety-nine percent of its living parts from scratch. Water lifting up tree trunks can climb one hundred and fifty feet an hour; in full summer, a tree can and does heave a ton of water every day.
The average size of all living animals, including man, is almost that of a housefly.
Half of children with very restricted diets (including no more than two food groups) are indeed from poor families, the other half are not and poor eating habits are to blame.
Of Taylor Swift's reported $1.3 billion wealth, approximately 75% of it has been made in the past five years.
Only 17% of people now say that it is very important for being truly British to have been born in Britain, down from 48% in 1995.
The eyes have their own immune system.
Google pays Apple $20 billion annually to be the iPhone's default search engine.
Viruses can make people feel more social during the communicable stage of infection.
In 1960, 8% of Americans aged 25 and older had a college degree. Today, 40% do.
Wild boars can run up to 30 mph.
Parasitic insects comprise ten percent of all known animal species.
In 1995, a young black officer was viciously beaten by his own colleagues who mistook him for a suspect during a foot chase. Afterward, when his assailants realized their mistake, he was abandoned in the street. The officers responsible covered up their crime. Today, the officer once attacked by his colleagues, Michael Cox, is the city's police commissioner.
Growth of oranges in Florida has dropped 92% in the past 20 years.
The energy used to train OpenAi's ChatGPT-4 model could have powered 50 American homes for a century.
In one survey, 87 percent of admissions officers and high-school college counselors said the U.S. News rankings force schools to take measures that are “counterproductive” to their educational mission.
50 billion of Elon Musk's wealth is tied up in China.
Black girls are now more likely to graduate from high school than white boys. More Black women aged eighteen to twenty-four are enrolled in college than white males of the same age, and Black women in their late twenties are more likely than their white male peers to hold a master's degree.
Finland requires medical tests for driver’s license applicants age 45 or higher.
When making Hannah and Her Sisters, Woody Allen cast Mia Farrow's actual mother and children and filmed in her actual apartment.
In 2025, Saturn's rings will “disappear.”
Old sports photos have a blue haze because there was smoking inside the arena. (H/t Tom Whitwell)
Even after adjusting for today's larger population, the recent immigration surge is slightly larger than that during the peak years of Ellis Island traffic, when millions of Europeans came to the United States.
Between 1995 and 2005, cable providers doubled the number of channels in the average cable package and raised prices at three times the rate of inflation.
According to Swiss bank UBS, there were 7.64 million millionaires in the United States in 2000. By 2023, we saw that number nearly triple.
This week, Sarah and Beth have been wrapping up the year in preparation for 2025.
This week, Beth reflected on what we covered on More to Say together this year
Sarah finished off our news brief with a Good News Blow Out
And Sarah and Beth finished up our new premium content together with another discussion of the Good News of 2024
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This was such a a fascinating list. Thank you!!
I love this practice.