by
Leigh Simpson and Jeremy Topping
- Hamsters can have sex up to 75 times a day. This is strange given that hamsters are solitary creatures that fight if not kept in separate quarters. If you’re a hamster-lover, check out Oruchuban Ebichu, the Japanese adult-themed cartoon featuring Ebichu, the housekeeping hamster.
- Forty-one million Americans (about 14 percent of the population) belong to the nation’s 27,000 health clubs. A gym member’s average annual income is $81,300—with half of all members making over $79,000 per year.
- Albert II of Monaco—bachelor extraordinaire, Olympic bobsledder and son of Grace Kelly—was enthroned as the ruling Prince of Monaco after his father’s death in July 2005. Albert’s sister Caroline became next in line for the throne following a recent change in Monaco law that allowed for female succession. Albert’s 2-year-old illegitimate son is not being considered for the throne.
- The first coffee decaffeination process was developed in 1905, wherein coffee beans were steamed before being soaked in hot benzene, now a known carcinogen. Coffee is only grown in one U.S. state—Hawaii—and over 50 percent of Americans consume coffee every single day.
- John Browning designed the first lever-action repeating shotguns—the Winchester Model 1887/1901 series—though he preferred pump-action guns. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator carried a slightly modified Winchester in T2: Judgment Day.
- Before earning the nicknames “Il Brutto” and “Le Monstre Sacre” in Europe, actor Charles Bronson was born Charles Dennis Buchinsky. By his death in 2003, his prolific career included roles as policemen, gunfighters, vigilantes, boxers and mafia hit men. Quentin Tarantino dedicated both Kill Bill movies to Bronson because of the impact Death Wish had on the revenge film genre.
- A good typist can tap out about 70 words per minute (wpm) while the average person types somewhere between 35 to 50. Barbara Blackburn, the world’s fastest typist, has been clocked at an unbelievable 212 wpm. She credits her trusty Dvorak keyboard (laid out differently than a standard QWERTY) for her lightening-fast fingers.
- Most commonly used as fuel in drag racing, nitromethane (or “nitro”) burns less oxygen than gasoline, making it more efficient and more than twice as powerful as gasoline alone. Nitro burns so readily because its molecular structure already contains the oxygen needed for combustion.
- In Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, the largest class action suit in history, Wal-Mart employee Betty Dukes filed a sex discrimination suit against the discount giant. The plaintiffs now include 1.6 million women, who claim that female Wal-Mart employees are denied equal pay and advancement opportunities.
- Cheetahs, the fastest animals on land, can reach speeds of 46 mph. The fastest humans run about 18 mph. Sloths, with feet shaped to hang from trees, easily take the slowpoke title. It would take them a month to walk one mile—an incredible .0014 mph.
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