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     The Blue Spruce, American Holly and Douglas Fir are the official state trees of Colorado, Delaware and Oregon, respectively. 
          — 2008 Blum's Farmer's and Planter's Almanac 

     Billionaire Ted Turner's first name is actually Robert. 
          — 2007 Forbes 400

     Alaska has almost twice as many reindeer (caribou) as people.
           — 2008 Farmers' Almanac

     A new study done by researchers at the University of Leeds suggests that Neanderthals were not wiped out by climate change. 
          — November BBC Focus

     The sugar maple is the official state tree of New York, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Vermont. 
          — 2008 Blum's Farmer's and Planter's Almanac

     Female bats don't have babies until they're two-years-old and they generally have only one baby a year. 
          — 2008 The Almanac for Farmers & City Folk

     Pikes Peak State Park is in Iowa. 
          — Sept/Oct. Midwest Living

     The warthog can reach speeds of 35 mph. 
          — 2008 Old Farmer's Almanac

     The best time to fish this Hallowe'en will be at 5:48 am. 
          — 2008 Blum's Fisherman's Almanac

     There are currently at least 1,870 Wiccans serving in the U.S. military.
           — July Harper's

     Asian martial arts movie star Maggie Q shortened her name from Margaret Quigley. 
          — August Empire

     When milking a cow by hand it's a good idea to secure the cow's tail to keep it from being swished in one's face. 
          — July Reminisce

     A liger is the offspring of a male lion and a female tiger. A tion is the offspring of a male tiger and a female lion. 
          — August Outside

     At 27.3 miles long, Chicago's longest street, Western Avenue, is as long as 266,112 Superdawg hot dogs laid end-to-end or 26,208 Oprahs. 
          — July 26 Time Out Chicago

     Some caterpillars have 4,000 muscles, five times as many as humans, who have fewer than 800.
           — July Birds & Blooms Extra

     In the average year there are 36,000 chainsaw accidents in the U.S. 
          — August Popular Mechanics

     Neanderthals went extinct in Europe 24,000 years ago. 
          — July BBC Focus

     At least two books in Harvard University's libraries are bound in human flesh. 
          — Sept. Harper's

     Next year the Hunter's Moon will appear on October 25th. 
          — 2007 Harris' Farmer's Almanac

     Armadillos can leap eight feet in the air when startled. 
          — 2007 The Almanac for Farmers & City Folk

     The daisy gets its name from a word that means "day's eye", because it closes at night. 
          — 2007 Old Farmer's Almanac

     Elvis Presley, Vivian Leigh, Judy Garland, Jim Morrison and Catherine the Great all died in the bathroom. 
          — Aug. 21 SUN

     Since 1960, 55 films have featured evil albino characters. 
          — August Harper's

     The second man to successfully go over Niagara Falls in a barrel died fourteen years later after slipping on an orange peel. 
          — July/Aug. Mental Floss

     In Pac-Man, the movement of the blue ghost is based on your position versus the red ghost. 
          — Spring Oxford American

      There are nearly 18,000 bowling-related injuries in the U.S. annually. 
          — July/Aug AARP the Magazine

     The average state is forested over 44.6% of its area, but North Dakota is only 1% forest. New Hampshire, on the other hand, is 83% forested. 
          — July/Aug Midwest Living

      Coots, voles, muskrats, Ohio horsemint, and Hine's emerald dragonfly can all be found in Illinois' Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve. 
           — Summer Chicago Wilderness

     The world's smallest guitar is only 10 micrometers long.
           — Apr/May Seed

     An estimated 77% of women in U.S. prisons & jails are single mothers. 
          — June Harper's

     Round bales of hay, recycled milk jugs without lids, and wooden electrical spools all make excellent toys for goats. 
          — May/June Dairy Goat Journal

     Today, digital cameras outsell film cameras fifteen to one. 
          — May BBC Focus

     Americans receive roughly 100 BILLION pieces of junk mail each year. 
          — June Discover

     Three of the four top-selling vehicles in the United States are pickup trucks.
          — May/June Mental Floss

     There are at least 56 ranches in Texas where one may shoot a zebra. 
          — May Harper's

     A new study shows that between the ages of 25 and 80 men's brains generally shrink while women's brains remain about the same size. 
          — Apr/May Scientific American Mind

     Everyone farts. 
          — April BBC Focus

     Paul McCartney owns the rights to the "I Love Lucy" theme. 
          — May/June AARP the Magazine

     Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner is Chicagoland's richest resident with a cool $4.4 billion, 3 billion more than Oprah.
          — April Chicago

     Grey squirrels have four toes on each front foot and five toes on each hind foot. 
          — March BBC Wildlife

     Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, was named after U.S. President James Monroe. 
          — Mar/Apr Mental Floss

     90 percent of the world's ice is found in Antarctica. 
          — January BBC Focus

     One is more likely to be killed by an asteroid impact than a mountain lion attack. 
          — March Discover

     The banana split was invented by David "Doc" Strickler in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1904. He sold them in his drugstore for a dime. 
          — Feb/Mar Eating Well

     Chimpanzee Today Show co-host, J. Fred Muggs, once bit a guest, the late comedienne Martha Raye. 
          — Jan/Feb Mental Floss

     The first bear killed during Maryland's hunting season last fall was killed by an eight-year-old girl. 
          — January Harper's

     It's illegal for Adult males in Shamrock, TX to go beardless on St. Patrick's Day without first buying a license. 
          — Winter 2005-06 Route 66

     The oldest tree on Earth is a 4,800-year-old bristlecone pine growing in the White Mountains of California. 
          — Harris' Farmer's Almanac 2006 Seasonal Gardening Guide

     Last year, American spent over $2,000,000,000 dollars on fantasy football. 
          — November Harper's

     The South Pole is 30º C colder than the North Pole. 
          — Autumn BBC Focus

     Unlike most dog breeds which mature at one year, the Labrador Retriever is considered a puppy for the first 3 years of his life. 
          — Pups: The Official Nintendogs Companion

     The official uniform of the World Champion Chicago White Sox includes black socks. 
          — Nov. 3 Time Out Chicago

     American candy companies manufacture 9 billion kernels of candy corn for Hallowe'en. 
          — October Harper's

     Looping the drawstrings of your leaf bag around the handles of your wheelbarrow will hold the bag open for you while you rake. 
          — November Martha Stewart Living

     Wham-O, the company that popularized the Hula Hoop, got its name from the sound made by their original line of merchandise — slingshots. 
          — 2006 Old Farmer's Almanac

     Pumpkins are full of the healthful antioxidant, beta-carotene. 
          — 2006 Farmers' Almanac

     Work on Mt. Rushmore ended on Hallowe'en, 1941. 
          — 2006 Harris' Farmer's Almanac

     Mt. Rushmore was named after NY lawyer Charles E. Rushmore long before the carving was conceived. 
          — October Travel America

     No hurricane or any other tropical storm has ever been observed crossing the equator. 
          — July / August Weatherwise

     Bruce Willis proposed to Demi Moore at Pink's, a hot dog stand in Los Angeles. 
          — July/Aug National Geographic Traveler

     Actor Michael Caine was born Maurice Micklewhite. 
          — July /August Movieline's Hollywood Life

     In 2004, Delta Airlines shipped 42,175 corpses. 
          — August Harper's

     The Pechanga Casino in Temecula, CA has hired a feng shui master to promote a healthy flow of chi in their high-limit gaming area. 
         — July Strictly Slots

     No planet outside the solar system was discovered until 1995 — 145 more have been discovered since. 
          — July Harper's

     For every 16 point jump in IQ a man's chances of getting married increase 35% and a woman's chances decrease by 40%. 
          — May Australian Cosmopolitan

     There are 500 species of eucalyptus in the world. Koalas will eat only 6 of them and nothing else.
           — June Focus

     The Bill Murray comedy Stripes was originally conceived as a vehicle for Cheech and Chong. 
          — July FHM

     Al Capone collected lucky elephant figurines. 
          — Bizarre #98

     Ed McMahon's middle name is Leo. 
          — Vol. XXVII, no. 2 Emmy

     Inventor Thomas Edison was almost entirely deaf. 
          — May-June Mental Floss

     The word hormone was first introduced on June 20, 1905. 
          — June Discover

     After a 12-hour binge with fellow actor Colin Farrell on Easter Sunday, Jamie Foxx has given up drinking. 
          — April Modern Drunkard

     Comedian Jackie Gleason smoked five packs a day until the day he died. 
          — March Modern Drunkard

     The top-selling CD in Belgium is by Captain Freebee. 
          — April 23 Billboard

     Actor Fess Parker (Davy Crockett) is now a respected winemaker. 
          — Apr. 21 Time Out Chicago

     In the Star Wars movies, the Wookies come from a planet called Kashyyyk. 
          — May Premiere

     The presser foot, throat plate, and handwheel are all parts of a sewing machine. 
          — HomeCare Hints and Tips

     The insect repellent Deet doesn't actually repel mosquitoes — it confuses them. 
          — April Discover

     The museum portion of the brand-new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum will open on April 19^th in Springfield, IL 
          — April Chicago

     2.1 inches of rain fell in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 28th-29th last year. 
          — Mar/Apr Weatherwise

     The state prescribed maximum hair length for men in North Korea is 5 centimeters. 
          — April Harper's

     Two of Cleopatra's sisters were also named Cleopatra.
          — Mar/Apr Mental Floss

     At 106.7 decibels, the African cicada's calling song makes it the world's loudest insect. 
          — January Focus

     Actor and sometime recording artist William Shatner has put out a new CD appropriately entitled "Has Been." 
          — Jan/Feb Comedy Entertainment Magazine

     It gets colder at night on Mercury, the closest planet to the sun (-300°), than it does on Earth's moon (-250°).This is because a night on Mercury is about 3 months long. 
          — February Discover

     Smoking may be related to erectile dysfunction. 
         — Time A to Z Health Guide

     There are 20,000 alligators in the Okefenokee swamp. 
          — Vol. II No. 4 American Road

     Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz is second only to Elvis Presley on the 2003 list of top-earning dead celebrities. 
          — December/January Giant

     There are about 105,000 stay-at-home dads in the United States. 
          — December Psychology Today

     At night, the Wrigley Building in Chicago is bathed with white, yellow and green lights that represent their 3 main lines of chewing gum: Doublemint, Juicy Fruit & Spearmint. 
          — Jan./Feb. Midwest Living 

     Californians speak 95 languages.
          — The World in 2005    

      Genghis Khan had 500 wives. 
          — December Discover

     The only rainforest in the U.S. National Parks system is El Yunque in Puerto Rico. 
          — Dec. Caribbean Travel & Life

     The largest raindrops in the world are 8 millimeters in diameter. 
          — October Focus

     Adult Americans bought an average of 52 items of clothing in 2002. 
          — December Harper's

     Santa Claus will be on hand when they light up the Banyan trees in Lahaina on December 4th. 
          — Fall Maui nō ka 'oi

     Global warming is improving the quality of the wine made from grapes grown in Oregon. 
          — Sept./Oct. Weatherwise    

     Heroin was marketed as a cough remedy from 1898 to 1913. 
          — October National Geographic

      A tapeworm can grow up to 85 feet long inside one's intestine without its host even showing symptoms. 
          — November Outside

     The sound mosquitoes make registers as an A above high C. 
          — 2005 Almanac for Farmers & City Folk

     Jelly, unlike jam, contains fruit juice(s) but no fruit pulp. 
          — 2005 New Millennium Farmers Almanac

     Some fisherman believe that the more cows that are standing in a pasture (as opposed to laying down) the better the fish will bite that day. If they're eating, better still. 
          — 2005 Old Farmer's Almanac

     While filming the Sermon-on-the-Mount scene, Jim Caviezel, the actor who played Jesus in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, was struck by lightning. 
          — Sep./Oct. Phenomena

     The word "velcro" comes from "velour" and "crochet", which are the French words for "velvet" and "hook". 
          — 2005 CA Farmer's Almanac

     In the 18th century the Average American man was 3.1 inches taller than the average Brit. Today, the average Brit is .4 inches taller than the average American man.
           — July Harper's

     It took 20,000 people 22 years to build the Taj Mahal. 
          — Time Great Buildings of the World

     It was recently discovered that King Tut was entombed with jars of red wine. 
          — June Discover

     According to Premiere magazine's annual Power 100 list, in Hollywood, Steve Jobs is now more powerful than Steve Spielberg and Tom Hanks is more powerful than Tom Cruise. 
          — June Premiere

     The term "hatchet men" came from hired Chinese assassins in 1850s San Francsico who killed their victims with cleavers.
           — June True West

     Last winter there were 86 below-freezing days in Hell, Michigan. 
          — January Harper's

     A blue whale can weigh up to 400,000 pounds. 
          — November Focus

     More than 43 million pounds of avocados are eaten on Super Bowl Sunday. 
          — Jan. 31 TV Guide

     Hawaii and Alaska are the only two states in the union whose temperatures have never exceeded one hundred degrees. 
          — 2004 The New Millennium Farmers Almanac

     The Sundance Kid's real name was Harry Longabaugh. 
          — vol. 2, iss. 5 Mental Floss

     Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. 
          — 2004 Blum's Farmer's and Planter's Almanac

     The average peapod contains eight peas. 
          — 2004 Country Accents Farmer's Almanac

     Driftwood doesn't rot because the salt in seawater preserves it. 
          — August Focus

     The blood of lobsters is blue. 
          — 2004 Almanac for Farmers & City Folk

     Fish can drown if the water they're in doesn’t contain enough oxygen. 
          — May Ralph

     Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who appears on the U.S. dollar coin, was called 'Janey' by her American friends. 
          — 2004 Harris Farmer's Alm.

     Collectors of matchbook covers are called phillumenists. 
          — v.2, i.4 Mental Floss

     The father of Spiderman actor Tobey Maguire was a convicted bank robber. 
          — Summer Radar

     In the U.S. more people die as a result of medical errors than from motor vehicle accidents. 
          — July Discover

     Rolling Stone Mick Jagger turns 60 years old on July 26th. 
          — July Vanity Fair

     Mother Teresa’s real name was Agnes. 
          — Wise Women

     Wal-Mart has 1.3 million employees. 
          — 2003 Fortune 500

     In Hawaii, goose bumps are called “chicken skin.” 
          — May / June Hawaii

     Despite inventing the Olympics, Greece ranks 28th overall in modern Olympic medals. 
          — vol.2 iss.3 Mental Floss

     36% of motorists admit to changing clothes while driving. 
          — Spring Route 66

     Don Gorske of Fond du Lac, WI has eaten over 19,000 Big Macs. 
          — February Bizarre

     “Chicago,” this year’s Best Picture at the Academy Awards, was filmed in Toronto. 
          — Entertainment Weekly Academy Awards Special

     70% of all the fresh water in the world is in Antarctica — where it makes up an ice sheet 7,200 feet thick. 
          — vol.2 issue2 Mental Floss

     The word psychedelic means “mind-revealing”. 
          — February Discover

     International TV Turnoff Week is April 22-28. 
          — Jan/Feb Adbusters

     The state of Wisconsin plays host to 400 different species of birds. 
          — February Wisconsin Trails

     Wilco is a radio operator’s slang term for “will comply.” 
          — February 20 Rolling Stone

     Shaquille O’Neal has starred in 3 feature films. 
          — 2002-03 Lakers Off’l Yrbk.

     172 colleges currently have organizations to elect Evanston-born actor John Cusack to the U.S. presidency in 2004. 
          — November Harper’s

     Among the 31 known orders of insect are jumping bristletails, scorpionflies, and thrips. 
          — Nov. Scientific American

     The first two animals of the Lincoln Park Zoo were a pair of swans sent from the Philadelphia Zoo in 1863. 
          — Oct./Nov. History Magazine

     President Bush’s twin daughters Barbara and Jenna are named after their grandmothers. 
          — People The Greatest Weddings of All Time     

     There are 500 cranberries to a pound. 
          — November Traverse

     There is a whole fleet of seven Oscar Mayer Weinermobiles. 
          — October Wisconsin Trails

     Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, was allergic to carrots. 
          — 2003 Blum’s Farmer’s and Planter’s Almanac

     The plastic letter indicator that comes with a Ouija board is called a planchette. 
          — Autumn Happy Halloween Magazine

     One day on the planet Jupiter lasts 9 hours and 55 minutes. 
          — Skywatch ‘03

     The proper term for the pound sign (#) is an anoctothorpe. 
          — vol.1, issue 5 Mental_Floss

     Otters are pregnant for 285 days — longer than humans. 
          — 2003 New Millennium Farmer’s Almanac

     A female guinea pig is called a sow. 
          — 2003 Critters USA

     A Mongolian wild ass can run 8 m.p.h. faster than a reindeer. 
          — 2003 Country Accents Farmer’s Almanac

     Next August, Mars will be the closest to earth that it’s been in 73,000 years. 
          — 2003 Farmers’ Almanac

     Bird watching is the nation’s fastest-growing outdoor activity. 
          — October Midwest Living

     Saturday Night Live came about when, in 1974, Johnny Carson demanded that NBC stopped showing Tonight Show reruns on weekends. 
          — September Vanity Fair

     Chocolate is rated one of the 10 most dangerous foods to consume while driving, by Hagerty Classic Insurance, a Michigan-based car insurer. 
          — Summer Route 66 Magazine

     Roughly 12,000 umbrellas are lost every year on the London Underground. 
          — August Focus

     Dollar bills cost about four cents apiece to produce. 
          — January Reader’s Digest

     Exactly 12 humans have set foot on the moon. 
          — January Focus

     A sheep can remember another sheep’s face for two years. 
          — March Harper’s

    The tenth most historic-looking small town in the U.S. is Quincy, IL.
           — February Utne Reader

     Jasper Newton (Jack) Daniel wore size four shoes. 
          — Winter American West

     Arizona has the smallest percentage among the 50 states, of obese people. 
          — Feb. Scientific American

     Legally Blonde actress Reese Witherspoon was born in 1976, two hundred years after her ancestor John Witherspoon signed the Declaration of Independence. 
          — Feb/Mar Adam

     There are no stoplights in Winter, Wisconsin. 
          — February Wisconsin Trails

     Vanilla is derived from a type of orchid. 
          — January North Shore

     Urbana, IL will host the 19th annual ‘Insect Fear Film Festival’ on February 23rd. 
          — February Midwest Living

     When he was six years old, Ringo Starr spent two months in a coma. 
          — Life The Beatles

     Boy Band ‘N Sync recently performed at the Bat Mitzvah of one very lucky 13-year-old Maryland girl. 
          — February Talk

     Lemurs are left-handed. 
          — January Discover

     The late, great, lion Tamer extraordinaire, Gunther-Gebel Williams was only 5’4”. 
          — January 7 People

     The pecan was named the ‘Official Health Nut of Texas’ by the state’s senate. 
          — January Texas Monthly

     Romania is planning to spend $20 million to build a Count Dracula theme park.
           — October Harper’s

     Univ. of Wisc. Geochemist Ilya Bindeman predicts a volcanic eruption in Yellowstone Park that could have 1,000 times the force of the Mt. St. Helens eruption and plunge the earth into winter for years. When? Sometime in the next 100,000 years.
           — November Discover

     Abraham Lincoln didn’t grow a beard until he was 51 years old. 
          — Mental Floss #2

     For $3 you can buy “Invisible Jim”, which is really just an empty doll box. 
          — August Harper’s

     Hastings, Nebraska is the birthplace of Kool-Aid. 
          — August Midwest Living

     Kassan Island in British Columbia is for sale at $19,000. 
          — August Talk

     Most mosquitoes live only two weeks. 
          — August Discover

     Actor Danny DeVito went to hairdressing school. 
          — August Biography

     Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas didn’t only debate each other — the both dated Mary Todd, the future Mrs. Lincoln. 
          — April Las Vegas Style   

     When cleaned and cooked, the prickly pear cactus tastes a lot like green beans. 
          — May Discover

     Easter can come as early as March 22nd or as late as April 25th.
          — April Focus  

     Clippit, the animated paper clip helper in Microsoft Office will be eliminated from future versions.
          — May On

     There are 300 lb. jaguars running wild in Arizona.
          — May Arizona Highways

     One third of adult Americans have diarrhea at least once a month.
          — March 5th New Yorker

     Actor Willem Dafoe (Shadow of the Vampire) was born in Appleton, Wisconsin.
          — Academy Movie Special Edition

     A cumulonimbus cloud can weigh up to a million tons.
          — January Focus

     The average American consumes 20 pounds of chemical food additives each year.
          — Jan./Feb. FHM

     Fortune is among the top ten U.S. magazines by advertising revenue, but is not among the top 100 U.S. magazines by circulation.
          — 2001 NY Times Almanac

     William Shatner, the actor who played Capt. Kirk on Star Trek, can’t program a VCR.
          — December Bizarre

     The Raiders and the Rams played their last games for Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, 1994.
          — December Los Angeles

     A swindler named Victor Lustig sold the Eiffel Tower for scrap, twice —once for $100,000.
          — December Maxim UK Edition