Today’s Style Invitational in the Washington Post features the results of a contest where entrants were asked to submit interesting but unimportant facts. This is not the funniest contest to have graced page 2 of the style section, but I have to admit, some of the facts are truly interesting! For your edification, I’ve done a bit more research and added “more info” links for each interesting fact.
The record for pole-sitting, 196 days, is held by a Pole. (Daniel Baraniuk, from Gdansk, did it in 2002.) (Milo Sauer, Fairfax) [more info]
Color additive E120 in Cherry Coke is made of dried-up cochineal insect bodies. (Kathy Flynn, Olney) [more info]
The order of Life Savers in a five-flavor roll is always orange, red, white, green, yellow, red, white, green, orange, red, yellow. (Bob Elliott, Washington) [more info]
The amount of blood in the average human body is roughly equivalent to a case of beer. (Mark Young, Washington) [more info]
The Wright Brothers’ first flight could be performed in its entirety inside the cargo bay of a C-5A transport aircraft. (Elden Carnahan, Laurel) [more info]
Duct tape is widely revered for its usefulness, but in 1998 a Department of Energy study revealed that duct tape is not that effective at repairing ducts. (Dan Steinberg, Falls Church) [more info]
The largest organism on Earth is a mushroom covering 2,200 acres in Oregon. (Paul Kocak, Syracuse) [more info]
