I Bet Ya Didn't Know

Yuma, Arizona has the most sun of any locale in the U.S. - it averages sunny skies 332 days a year.

The Sears Tower contains enough phone wire to wrap around the earth 1.75 times and enough electrical wiring to run a power line from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Mr. Jeffries, a basset hound, has the longest dog ears in the world--11.5 inches each--recognized by the GUINESS WORLD RECORDS 2004. They are insured for $48,000.

Italy has 6 volcanoes which, while they have not erupted since 1302, still rumble menacingly. It has been shaken by many earthquakes, one of which on July 28, 1883, destroyed 3 towns and killed 2,300 men, women, and children.

Joseph Smith said an angel, Moroni, gave him The Book of Mormon in upstate New York. The book, Smith said, is a divinely-revealed history of ancient Americans descended from he Israelites, written in an unknown language Smith translated. It was published in 1830.

Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith was murdered by an anti-Mormon mob in 1844. An Illinois mob killed Smith and his brother, and Brigham Young became leader.

The tomb of the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet in Lhasa is covered with 300,000 ounces of solid gold, valued at $10,500,000.

People in the United States spend more than $95 million each year on over-the-counter sleep aids. They spend another $50 million on caffeine pills to help them stay awake.

Romanus, a Byzantine soldier, while confined to the guardhouse, dreamed he was sitting beside Byzantine Empress Eudokia. When he reported the dream to a guard, he was tried and sentenced to death. However, the empress heard the story, arranged for his pardon, and two years later when Emperor Constantine X died, she married the soldier, who became Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes.

If you visit, bring sun block: Neptune's summer is 40 years long.

A loaf of French bread, 50 feet long and weighing 120 pounds, was baked in St Charles, IL, in a drain spout.

There are 6 pounds of pennies in the average American home.

Flea-repelling plants that can help prevent fleas from being brought inside from outside are marigolds, pennyroyal, painted daises, and chrysanthemums.

Women buy 83% of all bedding. U.S. consumers keep their mattresses an average of 11 years. Conventional innerspring mattresses account for 95% of mattress sales with waterbeds, futons, and other types of bedding making up the rest.

A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle; a group in the air is a skein.

Nylon was developed by scientist William Hume Carothers in 1935.

The average person sleeps about 2,920 hours each year. Figured on a 70-year life span, that's about 204,400 hours or about 23 years.

On June 10, 1943, Hungarian-born journalist Laszlo Biro and his brother George received a patent for the ballpoint pen. The Biro, as it was called, contained in its tip a tiny ball-bearing that rotated, picking up ink from a cartridge and applying it to paper. The pen made its debut in October 1945, when Gimbels department store in New York sold 10,000 in one day.

The Garfield Hut in Long Branch, N.J., is built with the ties used on a special railroad spur constructed by 2,000 residents of the community so that the fatally-wounded President Garfield could travel over it from the regular rail line to the Presidential Cottage. The spur, 5/8ths of a mile in length, was built between 6 P.M. on Sept. 4, 1881 and 1 P.M. the following day.

Theft of a geranium bush in England is still punishable by 5 years in prison.

As early as the 14th century, divers in the Persian Gulf used goggles made of clear, polished tortoise shell.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: A 36-year-old man who fell asleep in a garbage bin was loaded into a truck and compacted before being rescued and treated for multiple fractures. Ouch!

The Pagoda Bridge on the Grand Canal in An Hwei, China, has on it a temple pagoda at which every pedestrian crossing the span pauses to pray for safety from traffic accidents.

The coat of arms of Chelles, France, commemorates the fact that in ancient times 2 ladders lashed together served the town as its gallows.

The octagonal street lamps in Trafalgar Square, London, originally were used as lanterns on Admiral Nelson's flagship in the battle of Trafalgar.

Niagara Falls was purchased by Jean de Cou from the Indians in 1788 for $5 and a blanket. He hoped to use its water power to operate a mill, but his investment was a failure.

The water flea is not a flea at all. It is a crustacean, and there are 1,000,000 females for each male.

95% of the creatures on Earth are smaller than a chicken egg.

The "Committee of Five" appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence consisted of John Adams, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman.

Thomas Jefferson was chosen as the author of the Declaration of Independence. He was the youngest (33) of the five but considered the most eloquent writer. The committee's only Southerner, he represented politically powerful Virginia.

In a survey which asked what famous person would make a good father, actors were named twice as often as politicians. Bill Cosby topped the list, which also included Tom Hanks, John Wayne, & Pres. Lincoln.

Ramdas Bodhano of Dakor, India, planted a sweet basil seed in his palm, and a 4-inch plant grew from his hand.

Robert Todd Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, was ambassador to Britain and Secretary of War. He also ran the Pullman Car Co., one of America's largest corporations.

1884: Dow and Jones Published First Average of U.S. Stocks Journalists Charles Dow and Edward Jones published the first average of U.S. stocks. The first Dow-Jones average included mostly railroads because they were the biggest and sturdiest companies at the time. Dow and Jones founded their financial news company next to the New York Stock Exchange, on Wall Street.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died within hours of each other on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Before 1785, Spanish pesos were used as currency in America. Some believe the dollar sign evolved whan an "S" was written over the "P."

Earworms are songs that crawl into your head and stay. 98% of us have had a song stuck in our heads. Six of the worst offenders are "It's a Small World," "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," "Don't Worry; Be Happy," "Macarena," "Gilligan's Island" theme, and "Y.M.C.A."

Smoldering embers? 29% of us think about a former love at least once a week.

In 1984, Americans served 91 meals to guests in their home. In 2001, just 52 were served.

The odds of becoming a shark snack are one in 3.7 million; the odds of dying in a car crash are one in 88.