18 November 2007
ACE FACTS
The People
AMAZING NUGGETS OF INFO TO MAKE YOU LOOK SMART
Bats always turn left when they fly out of a cave
The most common pretend weapon used by crooks is a banana
Amazing but true: Spice Girl Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice") is 103rd in line to the British throne.
Florence Nightingale, circa 1855. Looked after British soldiers in the Crimean War.
Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi - Britain's most No1 meal is Chicken Tikka Masala invented in.....Birmingham
Sir David Jason as Del Boy (circa 1985) in classic BBC comedy series Only Fools and Horses
British soap opera Coronation Street, set in Manchester, was first shown in 1960 and was originally meant to run for just 13 episodes. It is now consistently the best-loved show on British television
ACE FACTS
The People
AMAZING NUGGETS OF INFO TO MAKE YOU LOOK SMART
Bats always turn left when they fly out of a cave
The most common pretend weapon used by crooks is a banana
Spice Girl Emma Bunton is the great-great-great-great-great-great-grandniece of Archduke William Pinkley-Hogue of Staffordshire, making her 103rd in line to the throne.
Amazing but true: Spice Girl Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice") is 103rd in line to the British throne.
Insects outnumber humans one billion to one.
You should keep your toothbrush at least six feet away from the toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush...or you could just put the lid down.
Polar bear fur is not white, it's see-through but the light shines through the hairs to make them look white against the bear's black skin.
In the original Monopoly, tactically the best properties to buy are the orange ones: Vine Street, Marlborough Street and Bow Street.
The avocado has the most calories of any fruit.
In BBC soap operaEastEnders, the name WALFORD is a mix of Walthamstow and Stratford.
Adolf Hitler left school with no qualifications.
Strictly Come Dancing presenter Tess Daly got her first showbiz break while still a teenager, appearing in two Duran Duran videos in 1990.
Florence Nightingale, circa 1855. Looked after British soldiers in the Crimean War.
Nurse Florence Nightingale always travelled with her pet owl in her pocket.
Restaurant is the most misspelled word in internet searches.
One fifth of everyone living in Britain will eat a curry this weekend.
Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi - Britain's most No1 meal is Chicken Tikka Masala invented in.....Birmingham
The shortest sentence in the English language is "I am".
007 STAR Daniel Craig is the first Bond actor to have been born AFTER the Bond series began.
A foreign driver is let off a speeding ticket every six minutes because it's not worth the authorities doing the paperwork.
Taking afternoon naps can cut the risk of heart disease.
If each of the UK's ten million office workers used one fewer staple a day, 120 tonnes of steel would be saved every year.
Researchers say the average woman puts on more than 15 stones during her life and then diets it off again.
Batman was the first film in the UK to be given the new 12 rating.
The average mother spends 13 DAYS preparing for Christmas.
And after that the average Christmas dinner lasts little more than two hours.
The first mobile phone cost £2,000 and was the size of a briefcase.
A MARRIED couple is divorced in the UK every three minutes.
Osama Bin Laden has the same birthday as James Earl Ray (who murdered Martin Luther King).
Both were born on March 10.
The average human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps to squirt blood 30 feet.
About 15 million iPods are sold each Christmas yet sadly it's also your most likely gadget to be stolen.
ONEof the UK's favourite actors, Sir David Jason, won awards for his gymnastic skills at school. He who dares wins, Rodney.
Sir David Jason as Del Boy (circa 1985) in classic BBC comedy series Only Fools and Horses
Every time we take a step we move 54 muscles.
A prisoner in Australia wrapped himself in a parcel and posted himself to freedom. He unwrapped the parcel when clear of the prison and jumped off the back of the postal truck. The bubblewrap broke his fall.
Only 13 per cent of us now go out on a Saturday night.
Mickey Mouse was the first non-human to win an Oscar.
Hens apparently lay more eggs when Radio 2 is played to them.
Conkers stored behind heavy furnishings deter moths.
The average age when a child gets a mobile phone is eight.
An anagram of top chef Gordon Ramsay's name is "so angry or mad".
Honey on toast for breakfast is the best New Year's Day hangover cure, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Eating a bag of watercress is also a good cure.
Restaurant is the most misspelled word in internet searches.
One fifth of everyone living in Britain will eat a curry this weekend.
The shortest sentence in the English language is "I am".
007 STAR Daniel Craig is the first Bond actor to have been born AFTER the Bond series began.
A foreign driver is let off a speeding ticket every six minutes because it's not worth the authorities doing the paperwork.
Taking afternoon naps can cut the risk of heart disease.
During the first five days of the hit television show 24, counter terrorist agent Jack Bauer killed 114 people.
Telly favourite Coronation Street was originally intended to run for just 13 episodes. It is now approaching episode 6,700.
British soap opera Coronation Street, set in Manchester, was first shown in 1960 and was originally meant to run for just 13 episodes. It is now consistently the best-loved show on British television
If you press firmly when spreading butter on toast it's more likely to fall butter side up if you drop it, because the knife creates an indentation.
Jack and Jessica are still the most popular names for newborn babies but Preston is climbing the list fast.
A four-DAY food and wine festival in Birmingham turned dry when organisers forgot to apply for an alcohol licence.
Sixty-FIVE per cent of children don't know how to boil an egg, with millions of parents not passing on even the simplest of cooking skills.
The over-50s are responsible for more carbon emissions than any other age group because of high car use, holidays abroad and eating out.
Camels have three eyelids to protect their eyes from blowing sand.
A standard golf ball has 336 dimples.
Ever wanted to be one of those people who can drop fascinating yet utterly pointless facts into their conversation to amaze everyone?
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Radio 2 star Steve Wright's new book Further Factoids* is jammed full of things you didn't know but can use when the moment arises. SARAH JELLEMA picked the best to impress...
*Steve Wright's Further Factoids (HarperCollins, £9.99)
people.co.uk