by
Jeremy Topping
- After winning Nathan’s International July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest six years in a row, Japanese champion Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi was unseated in 2007. American Joey Chestnutt set a new record by putting away 66 hot dogs (and buns) in 12 minutes.
- Treating it like any other imperfection, Glamour staff airbrushed out the famous gap between Madonna’s teeth on their December 1990 cover. This annoyed Madonna so much she refused the award when the magazine tried to name her Woman of the Year.
- With more than 2 million visitors per year, La Sagrada Familia is one of Spain’s most popular attractions. The Barcelona cathedral’s construction timeline is a slow one; building began in 1882 under designer Antoni Gaudi and is expected to wrap in 2026 on the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death.
- In one week of weightlessness, astronauts can lose 3 percent of their bone mass due to the lack of gravitational stress on their skeletons. Crew members of the International Space Station lose an average of 11 percent of the bone density in their hips, a condition that makes even the fittest NASA astronauts susceptible to grandma-style fractures.
- The Louisiana Purchase, which comprises 23 percent of the present United States landmass, cost $15 million when it was purchased in 1803. Americans were hoping to buy New Orleans for $10 million but leapt at the opportunity when the French offered the full 530-acre deal.
- When the Ocean’s Thirteen trio—Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon—left their footprints in cement in front of Hollywood’s famed Grauman’s Chinese Theater, they purposefully wore oversized shoes to leave a larger-than-life imprint. Clooney suggested the ample footwear after noticing that Clark Gable’s prints seemed small.
- In 1978, the average American home covered 1,650 square feet. By 2005, average home size had ballooned to 2,500 square feet. Each year, Americans tear down 75,000 houses and replace them with larger structures, a “McMansion” phenomenon that has city councils pushing for anti-mansionization ordinances.
- After the PBS television special Cosmos aired in 1980, Carl Sagan was often satirized for his “billions and billions” catchphrase, though he never actually uttered the phrase on the show. Johnny Carson actually coined the tag, and Sagan took it all in stride by making it the title of his final book.
- The summer of 1969 was a happening time—man walked on the moon, hundreds of thousands flocked to Woodstock, and the very first Gap store opened in San Francisco. There are now more than 3,100 Gaps worldwide, making more than $16 billion per year. Despite the urban legend, Gap does not stand for “gay and proud.”
- Women are twice as likely as men to be afflicted with agoraphobia. Although you wouldn’t expect it in their line of work, Kim Basinger, Daryl Hannah and Rose McGowan are all afraid of crowds and open spaces.
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