141: The number of seasonal former IRS employees rehired by the agency between 2010 and 2013 despite having botched or failed to file their own tax returns, according to a February report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. 8.8 Million: The number of tons of plastic waste dumped into the oceans every year, according to a study in the journal […]
Read more
Americans drink far less today than our predecessors did. In 1830, the average American drank the equivalent of 7.1 gallons of pure alcohol per year. In 2013, by comparison, the average American drank the equivalent of 2.34 gallons of pure alcohol.
Read more
A Middle Eastern company has unveiled a fetching new line of Lycra leotards for racing camels to improve their performance on the track. Camel racing is popular across the Arab world, and Abu Dhabi based firm Al-Shibla says its compression suits can give an animal an edge by boosting blood flow to muscles. But the company is also pitching its […]
Read more
The riskiest hour of the week for fatal traffic accidents is 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Saturday. The safest day for driving: Tuesday.
Read more
Pope Francis accidentally cursed in Italian while delivering his weekly blessing at the Vatican, using the word cazzo, the equivalent to the F-bomb, rather than caso, which means “example.”
Read more
The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked more than 130 cities from most to least expensive, according to a survey of prices across 160 goods and services. Here’s a sampling: 1 – Singapore 2 – Paris 9 – Seoul 22 – New York City
Read more
Jamie Fox, a 22-year-old from Great Britain with a degree in music, was given a job as a human scarecrow on a farm. Fox will make $400 a week scaring off partridges by playing an accordion, ukulele, and cowbell.
Read more
The almost-bankrupt Italian city of Naples began DNA-testing dog feces on its poop-covered sidewalks, so it can prosecute residents who don’t pick up. “I know some people find it funny that with all the problems the city has, we would focus on dog poop,” said an official.
Read more
Number of reported cases in the past decade of an Antarctic fur seal having sex with a king penguin: 4 Then eating it: 1
Read more
All fruit isn’t created equal when it comes to preventing diabetes. A Harvard University study that tracked the diets of more than 185,000 people over 12 years shows that eating strawberries, oranges, peaches, plums, and apricots has no impact on a person’s likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes. But grapes, apples, grapefruit, and blueberries do help ward off the disease. […]
Read more