Thread: 33 Facts about America that you probably didn't know

Although I'm not sure about number 15 or why 33 is even in there.




#1 The amount of cement that China used from 2011 to 2013 was greater than the total amount of cement that the United States usedduring the entire 20th century.

#2 In more than half of all U.S. states, the highest paid public employee in the state is a football coach.

#3 It costs the U.S. government 1.8 cents to mint a penny and 9.4 cents to mint a nickel.

#4 Almost half of all Americans (47 percent) do not put a single penny out of their paychecks into savings.

#5 In 2014, police in the United States killed 1,100 people. During that same year, police in Canada killed 14 people, police in China killed 12 people and police in Germany didn’t kill anyone at all.

#6 The state of Alaska is 429 times larger than the state of Rhode Island is. But Rhode Island has a significantly larger population than Alaska does.

#7 Alaska has a longer coastline than all of the other 49 U.S. states put together.

#8 The city of Juneau, Alaska is about 3,000 square miles in size. It is actually larger than the entire state of Delaware.

#9 When LBJ’s “War on Poverty” began, less than 10 percent of all U.S. children were growing up in single parent households. Today, that number has skyrocketed to 33 percent.

#10 In 1950, less than 5 percent of all babies in America were born to unmarried parents. Today, that number is over 40 percent.

#11 The poverty rate for households that are led by a married couple is 6.8 percent. For households that are led by a female single parent, the poverty rate is 37.1 percent.

#12 In 2013, women earned 60 percent of all bachelor’s degrees that were awarded that year in the United States.

#13 According to the CDC, 34.6 percent of all men in the U.S. are obese at this point.

#14 The average supermarket in the United States wastes about 3,000 pounds of food each year.

#15 Right now, more than 200 million people around the planet are officially considered to be unemployed. Meanwhile, approximately 20 percent of the garbage that goes into our landfills is food.

#16 There is a city in Bangladesh called Dhaka where workers are paid just one dollar for every 1,000 bricks that they carry. Meanwhile, the “inactivity rate” for men in their prime working years in the United States is hovering near record high levels.

#17 According to one recent survey, 81 percent of Russians now have a negative view of the United States. That is much higher than at the end of the Cold War era.

#18 Montana has three times as many cows as it does people.

#19 The grizzly bear is the official state animal of California. But no grizzly bears have been seen there since 1922.

#20 One recent survey discovered that “a steady job” is the number one thing that American women are looking for in a husband, and another survey discovered that 75 percent of women would have a serious problem dating an unemployed man.

#21 According to a study conducted by economist Carl Benedikt Frey and engineer Michael Osborne, 47 percent of the jobs in the United States could soon be lost to computers, robots and other forms of technology.

#22 The only place in the United States where coffee is grown commercially is in Hawaii.

#23 The original name of the city of Atlanta was “Terminus“.

#24 The state with the most millionaires per capita is Maryland.

#25 There are more than 4 million adult websites on the Internet, and they get more traffic than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined.

#26 86 percent of men include “having children” in their definition of success. For women, that number is only 73 percent.

#27 One survey of 50-year-old men in the U.S. found that only 12 percent of them said that they were “very happy”.

#28 The United States has 845 motor vehicles for every 1,000 people. Japan only has 593 for every 1,000 people, and Germany only has 540 for every 1,000 people.

#29 The average American spends more than 10 hours a day using an electronic device.

#30 48 percent of all Americans do not have any emergency supplies in their homes whatsoever.

#31 There are three towns in the United States that have the name “Santa Claus“.

#32 There is actually a town in Michigan called “Hell“.

#33 There are 60,000 miles of blood vessels in your body. If they were stretched out in a single line, they could go around the planet more than twice.

Interesting bit of trivia, harry...Number 19 worries me...

I think the title should read 32.

^Agreed...But the Chinese are everywhere, now...

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

police in Germany didn’t kill anyone at all.

No but their pilots take first prize.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

#5 In 2014, police in the United States killed 1,100 people. During that same year, police in Canada killed 14 people, police in China killed 12 people and police in Germany didn’t kill anyone at all.

Quite staggering, really . . .

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Although I'm not sure about number 15 or why 33 is even in there.






#4 Almost half of all Americans (47 percent) do not put a single penny out of their paychecks into savings.

#5 In 2014, police in the United States killed 1,100 people. During that same year, police in Canada killed 14 people, police in China killed 12 people and police in Germany didn’t kill anyone at all.

#25 There are more than 4 million adult websites on the Internet, and they get more traffic than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined.

Regarding #4...Many Americans had to spend thousands a year on healthcare until recently, hence no savings.

Regarding #5...Proliferation of handguns doesn't make America safer, the opposite is true. Do we really need to regurgitate 'Americans with guns' thread???

Regarding #25..I read somewhere that some town in the UK holds the record for online porn watching...there's only so much Coronation Street you can watch. That friggin theme music does me 'ead in...

#34 United States of America – 45.8 million immigrants.

The United States has long been seen as the “land of opportunity”, the home of the American Dream. With the largest national economy in the world, well-developed infrastructure and high educational and social mobility, it is not hard to see its appeal. It hosts almost 20% of the world’s migrants, and boasts a huge mix of races, cultures and traditions. Despite government policies clamping down on illegal immigration, it still accepts far more international migrants than anywhere in the world, and the trend looks set to continue.

In 2014..... police in China killed 12 people

Only twelve?

a few of those seem like complete BS to me.

how about a link?

Originally Posted by raycarey

a few of those seem like complete BS to me.

how about a link?

a link

Originally Posted by patsycat

Anyone who cannot hold a knife and fork normally

WTF are you talking about?

Originally Posted by Humbert

Originally Posted by patsycat

Anyone who cannot hold a knife and fork normally

WTF are you talking about?

Americans appalling table manners one assumes.

Bloody hell...What happened to your ears, patsy?...

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Americans appalling table manners one assumes.

A pressing concern of old fags and spinsters.

#27 One survey of 50-year-old men in the U.S. found that only 12 percent of them said that they were “very happy”.

The rest are on TD?

Originally Posted by Humbert

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Americans appalling table manners one assumes.

A pressing concern of old fags and spinsters.

More a pressing concern of people with good manners.

In Harper's recently:

According to the Federal Reserve, 52 percent of Americans are unable to lay their hands on as little as $400 (about 13,000 baht) in an emergency.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by Humbert

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Americans appalling table manners one assumes.

A pressing concern of old fags and spinsters.

More a pressing concern of people with good manners.

It may be trivial in the grander scheme of things, but . . . how difficult is it to keep the fork in the left hand after cutting up some food. No need to put down the knife and transfer the fork to the right hand only to re-transfer it after food has been thrown down the throat.

The left arm when not being used to hold a fork . . . why is it dangling under the table or elbows on the table?

I know, petty, but my parents were very strict with table manners . . . as we are with our kids.

Anyway, please continue

They have better teeth than the Brits

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

They have better teeth than the Brits

Uh huh....

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

They have better teeth than the Brits

Uh huh....

And their refrigerators are bigger than the Brit's too.

Brit


American

Originally Posted by OckerRocker

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

#5 In 2014, police in the United States killed 1,100 people. During that same year, police in Canada killed 14 people, police in China killed 12 people and police in Germany didn’t kill anyone at all.

Quite staggering, really . . .

Yes - comparative civility and reflective of the more respected and truer police states.

#34
According to a study conducted in late April by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy, 32 million adults in the U.S. can't read. That's 14 percent of the population. 21 percent of adults in the U.S. read below a 5th grade level, and 19 percent of high school graduates can't read.Sep 6, 2013
<LI class=g>The U.S. Illiteracy Rate Hasn't Changed In 10 Years

www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/illiteracy-rate_n_3880355.html