Prisoners Exonerated
Number of U.S. prisoners exonerated last year: 125 Percentage of those exonerations in which no crime had occurred: 44
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Renaming Pork
The pork industry is renaming various cuts of meat to give them “consumer-friendly” names. The National Pork Board has been given approval from the USDA to rename pork chops “porterhouse chops,” “ribeye chops,” and “New York chops,” depending on the cut, while pork butt—which is from the shoulder—will be labeled “Boston roast”.
Read moreKids And Electronic Devices
Average number of hours a U.S. child aged 8 to 18 spends using an electronic device or watching television each day: 7.6
Read moreWartime bomb defused
Residents were evacuated, trains diverted, and flights briefly suspended this week as police experts defused a 220-pound bomb left over from World War II. The Soviet ordnance was found at a construction site near Berlin’s main train station, which is located in a relatively sparsely inhabited quarter close to the former dividing line between East and West Berlin. Such finds […]
Read moreUnruly Passengers
Reported incidents of unruly passenger behavior on airplanes soared from 339 in 2007 to 8,217 in 2013.
Read moreTHE GLOBAL SPACE RACE
The European Space Agency’s incoming director general, Jan Worner, wants to build a village on the moon. Other nations have similarly out-of-this-world ambitions: Japan Launched a probe to mine an asteroid in 2018 China Plans to build a huge solar-power station in space Russia Hopes to send probes to Jupiter, Mars and Venus India Is exploring sending a rocket to […]
Read moreMen and Women
“You never see a man walking down the street with a woman who has a little pot belly and a bald spot.” – Elayne Boosler
Read moreInteresting States
PENNSYLVANIA Longest-running gas station (since 1909) RHODE ISLAND First U.S. circus performance SOUTH CAROLINA Largest sculpture garden (more than 1,400 works) SOUTH DAKOTA Most well-rested state TENNESSEE First self-service grocery store TEXAS Largest bat colony UTAH Highest per capita consumption of Jell-0 VERMONT Highest percentage of cat owners
Read moreFORCED TO LEAVE HOME
A record 38 million people were displaced in their own countries at the end of 2014, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council. Here’s a sampling: Syria – 7.6 million Colombia – 6 million Democratic Republic of Congo – 2.8 million Pakistan – 1.9 million Turkey – 1 million
Read moreSLAVES AMONG US
Nearly 30 million people worldwide are exploited and treated as property. These victims—adults and children—are forced to work, marry, serve in wars or provide sex.
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