- The number of post offices in the US peaked in 1901. (cite
- Burpees, the exercise in which you alternate between a squat, a pushup position, and a jump, are named after physiologist Royal Huddleston Burpee Sr. (cite)
- The average lifespan of domesticated pet cats has doubled since 1980 (cite).
- The global bond market (105T) is larger than the global equity market (95T)(cite).
- 25% of American men are taller than 6’ 0”, but just 0.383% are taller than 6’ 6”.
- The Fibonacci sequence (3,5,8,13,21,34,55…) very closely approximates the conversion from miles to kilometers: 3 miles is approximately 5 km; 5 km is approximately 8km; 8mi is approximately 13km, etc. (cite)
- None of the phrases in the original Wikipedia article for the “Ship of Theseus” remain (cite)
- Yo-yos are older than christianity (cite)
- About one in five US families has a net worth greater than one million (cite).
- The writer of the popular Christmas song “Winter Wonderland” was Jewish (cite).
- No one’s name was changed at Ellis Island (cite, h/t cite)
- “Male” and “Female” are etymologically unrelated, descending from “mas” and “femina”, respectively (cite),
- American ballet companies generate around 40% of their annual ticket revenues from performances of The Nutcracker. (cite)
- Trademarking a color has been legal in the US since 1985. Well known trademarked colors include T-Mobile’s magenta, Reeses’ orange, UPS’s brown, and Tiffany’s blue. (cite)
- The last player to play a full MLB season of complete games (162) was in 2004 (cite)
- The worst 30 year stock market return over the past 100 years was 8% annual (cite)
- Ireland is the only country in the world with fewer people now than 180 years ago (cite)
- In 1859, New York City funded 63.5% of the entire federal government's revenue (cite).
- Lebron James has played against more than 1/3 of all players in NBA history (cite)