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Twitter facts
  • If Twitter was a country, it’d be the 12th largest in the world

clock facts
  • On a Roman numeral clock face, the number 4 is written as ‘IIII’ instead of ‘IV’ as it should be. The reasons for this include:
    • In the olden times, ‘IV’ was the sign of Jupiter, so the Romans wrote  “IIII” so that the time wouldn’t show as “1 2 3 GOD 5…”
    • The ‘IIII’ numeral is to balance out the weight of the clock. The heavier numbers on the left side of the clocks needed to be balanced by the heavier ‘IIII’ rather than the light ‘IV’
    • There is a story that a famous clockmaker had constructed a clock for Louis XIV, king of France. The clockmaker had naturally used IV for four. When the clock was shown to the king, he remarked that IIII should have been used instead of IV. When it was explained to him that IV was correct, he still insisted, so that there was nothing to do but change the clock dial. This introduced the custom of using IIII for four. This is probably only a story, however, as IIII occurs long before the time of Louis XIV. And this same story is also told in connection with other monarchs. (Time & Timekeepers, W. I. Milham, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1947, p. 196)

      Social media facts
      • In 2009, social gamers bought $2.2 billion in virtual goods; Predicted to increase to $6 billion by 2013 (NPD Group)
      • 3 million new blogs come online every month (Technorati State of Blogosphere 2011)
      • A third of bloggers work in media, journalism or are professional / freelance writers
      • Over 5 million images are uploaded on instagram every day (Instagram press centre).
      • On Google Plus, the number one occupation is “Student” (Google blog)
      • 42% of Google + users are single (Google blog)
      • Google +1 button is clicked over 5 billion times a day
      • One in 5 couples meet online; 3 in 5 gay couples meet online. (Stanford)

      Hurricane Sandy facts
      • Hurricane Sandy is the largest tropical storm to hit the Atlantic and is over 900 miles across
      • Hurricane Sandy was born in Jamaica
      • The storm is so large, that it affected 6 countries at the same time
      • Windspeeds of over 110mph were recorded (guardian.co.uk)
      • NYC’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority subways were flooded because of Hurricane Sandy. Problem is, some of the pumps were so old, there were bought second-hand from the Panama Canal project… which completed in 1914

      Emma Watson facts
      • Emma Watson, also known as Hermoine Grainger, is the “most dangerous” celebrity to search for online because many sites use her name to trick people intodownloading malicious software or to steal personal information

      toughest sportsmen facts
      • New Zealand All Blacks captain Wayne Shelford, in his debut test match against France, took a boot to his crotch which ripped open his scrotum, leaving his testicle hanging. In the process, he also managed to lose 4 teeth. Instead of quitting, he calmly asked the physio to stitch things back up and continued playing. He only stopped after a blow to the head left him unconscious. Until this day he has no recollection of the game.
      • Abebe Bikila, an Ethiopian runner found out at the last minute that he did not have a shoe his size for the 1960 Rome Olympics Marathon… and he decided to run the 26 miles barefoot. Not only did he bring home the gold, he went on to break the world record. His greatest feat came in 1970, after being tragically paralysed from the waist down, he trained hard to win gold in the 25km cross country slegde competition in Norway
      • Ronnie Lott, an American footballer for the 49ers, almost amputated a finger in a game. Instead of opting for surgery to restore its used, he opted to have it chopped off in order to be ready to start the new season
      • In 2001, WWF wrestler ‘Triple H’ completely tore off his quadriceps mucle in his leg. He continued on to finish the match, only after which he was rushed off to hospital
      • Colin Meads of the New Zealand All Blacks fractured his arm in a tackle but stayed resolved to finish the game on his feet. A game which they won. Upon finding out that he had broken his arm, he said “at least we won the bloody game”.
      • In contrast, boxer David Hayes claims he lost to Wladimir Klitschko because of a broken toe nail and proceeded to retire from the sport

      Eminem facts
      • Eminem is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the fastest selling hip hop artist
      • Eminem originally wanted to become a comic book artist
      • Eminem used to be called “Mickey” because he had big ears that looked like mickey mouse
      • Eminem repeated 9th grade 3 times before dropping out

      Soya sauce facts
      • Outside of Asia, soya sauce was first sold in the Netherlands
      • The Kikkoman soy sauce bottle design was invented by a Japanese sailor.
      • The designer, Kenji Ekuan was awarded the 2003 Lucky Strike Designer Awards and is displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
      • Soya sauce contains 10 times the anti-oxidants found in red wine
      • Soya sauce takes 6 months to make

      statues facts
      • When you see a statue of a man on a horse, think of this. If the horse has both front legs in the air, the man died in battle. If one front leg is in the air, the man died from wounds received in battle. If all legs are on the ground, the man died of natural causes
      • Singapore has a statue of a mythical beast as its nation’s emblem. It is the merlion, head of a lion, body of a fish. It is ironic because lions have never lived in Singapore (Singa meaning lion in Malay, and pura meaning city in Sanskrit)

      Burj Dubai facts
      • The burj is so tall that you can see the sun set twice. Once at the bottom and again if you then take an elevator right to the top of the tower.
      • The elevators will have the world’s longest travel distance from lowest to highest stop
      • The hot water that condensates on the building is collected to water the building’s flora and fauna. It creates about 20 Olympic sized swimming pools per year of water
      • The amount of steel used for the tower if laid end to end, would extend over a quarter of the way around the world.
      • The tower uses enough electricity to power over 360 million light bulbs
      • There will be 200 metres of dancing fountains at the foot of the Burj Dubai.
      • The Burj Dubai spire will be visible from as far away as 95 kms.
      • The curtain wall of Burj Dubai will be equivalent to 17 football fields
      • The total glass requirement is 142,000 square meters

      Petabyte facts
      • 1024 GIGABYTES is 1 TERABYTE. 1024 TERABYTE is 1 PETABYTE
      • 1 petabyte is worth 13.3 years of HD movies
      • 20 petabytes is the amount of data google processes daily
      • 50 petabytes equates to mankind’s entire written work since the beginning of recorded text… written in all languages
      • In order to process the world’s data needs, worldwide data centers consume the same amount of energy as Sweden
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