Deaths Caused By Traffic Accident
Number of deaths in traffic accidents for every 100,000 vehicles on the road in developed nations: 11 In Ethiopia: 3,865
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U.S. Shark Attacks
52: Number of unprovoked shark attacks in the U.S. last year (compared with 20 elsewhere in the world). None were fatal. 28: Number of attacks in Florida, the most of any state. Runners-up were Hawaii (seven), South Carolina (five), California (four) and North Carolina (four). 65%: Percentage of attacks involving surfers (or people doing other board sports); 32% involved swimmers. The rest involved […]
Read moreBad News Bears
A family of Norwegian bears broke into a holiday cabin and threw an epic, alcohol-fueled party. The cabin’s owner, Even Nilsen, returned to the cabin to find that the bears had eaten all the food and bitten into more than a hundred cans of beer, sucking down the contents. One bear evidently became so intoxicated that it passed out on […]
Read moreWatch Your Step in Naples
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 moreOscar Romero on path to sainthood
Pope Francis has declared Oscar Romero a martyr of the faith, paving the way for the murdered Salvadoran archbishop to be beatified, a step toward sainthood. A right-wing death squad executed Romero in a hospital chapel in 1980 while he was celebrating Mass just a day after he preached a sermon asking government soldiers to stop their repression. No one […]
Read moreMilitary Bases
The Department of Defense has 562,000 military bases and facilities located around the world, which collectively cover 24.7 million acres—nearly the size of Virginia. Much of that space is now unused, but Congress has barred the Pentagon from conducting a detailed assessment out of fear that bases in home districts would be closed.
Read moreAverage American Income
The average American’s income declined almost 1 percent in 2014, to $64,432.The income of the poorest fifth of the population fell by 3.5 percent, to $9,818, while the income of the wealthiest fifth rose by nearly 1 percent, to $166,048.
Read moreTwo Horns Were A Problem
The world’s most pierced man has been refused entry to Dubai over fears that he might be an evil sorcerer. Rolf Buchholz, who has 453 piercings on his face and body as well as fake horns implanted in his forehead, had just arrived in the conservative Islamic country to perform in a show when airport authorities detained him, saying they […]
Read moreFrom The Pope’s Mouth
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 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 […]
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