Dirt

Fact- On average, it takes about 500 years for 1 inch of dirt to be added to the soil.

SSN

Fact- Social Security Numbers were introduced in 1936 as a part of The New Deal. 25 Million numbers were issued in just 3 months

Communist Manifesto

Fact- The Communist Manifesto, a book you can claim changed the world, is only 54 pages long

Jeans

Fact- you can make about 200 pairs of jeans from a single bale of cotton

Ticket

Fact- According to Forbes magazine, the car that is most likely to get a ticket is the Mercedes-Benz SL- class

For the full list: http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/13/cars-that-get-ticketed-most-police-speeding-lifestyle-vehicles-violations_slide_2.html

Depressing

Fact- 17% of those in nursing homes never have any visitors

Although this sounds very sad, it was attached to a news story about a new invention that will allow the elderly to remain close to their families and independent longer. The new invention has been nicknamed..."the granny pod"

Never Good

Fact- a Times poll has 24% of Americans believing that President Obama is a Muslim.

An extra interesting tidbit, this is an increase from the number of Americans who believed he was Muslim during campaign season

Frightening

Fact- An estimated hundred thousand Americans have gotten away with murder in the last 30 years.

Behind the Scenes- This one really captured my interest, so it gets a behind the scenes plug. I got this fact from NPR, they were talking about a new book which I am off to the library to get. Its called "The Murder Room" by Michael Capuzzo. Its about a cold case club located in Philadelphia called the Vidocq Society.

The Vidocq Society is composed of the world's foremost experts in forensics and investigating. They meet every month to discuss and attempt to solve the most puzzling cold case files.

It is named after the French detective who first influenced the Surete to use the psychology of a criminal to catch murderers. It probably helped his success that he was a former criminal himself.