FACT-OF-THE-DAY ARCHIVE
"Our life is what our thoughts make it."
- Marcus Aurelius
SEP 2014

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DATE FACT OF THE DAY 9/1/14      There were 155.6 million people 16 and over in the nation's labor force in May 2014. - Provided by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 9/2/14      Heart transplant surgery can last from four to 10 hours, and patients may go home within seven to 16 days. Patients are required to take immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of their lives to avoid organ rejection. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/3/14      During the first few weeks of life, a babbling baby utters almost every sound of every known language. Later, the ability to make some sounds vanishes, which is a case of neural pruning. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/4/14      Haitian families who live in the country spend almost 60% of their income on food. The poorest groups spend more than 70%. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/5/14      The earthquake that caused the 2011 Japan tsunami is the world's fifth-largest earthquake since 1900. It has been 1,200 years since an earthquake of this magnitude struck the plate boundary of Japan. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/6/14      After the Shah of Iran was ousted in 1979, Iran reverted from a legal system to Islamic law. Women under this law are not considered mentally or legally the equal of males. Additionally, children are perceived as the "substance of the male" and merely incubated by the female body. In the case of divorce, women lose all custody of children. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/7/14      Gold is chemically inert, which also explains why it never rusts and does not cause skin irritation. If gold jewelry irritates the skin, it is likely that the gold was mixed with some other metal. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/8/14      The first Hollywood movie star is arguably Mary Pickford (1893-1979), who along with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith formed United Artists Corp (1919). At the peak of her popularity, she made a record-breaking $10,000 a week (over $196,000 in 2008 USD). - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/9/14      Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the first president to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/10/14      A row of corn always has an even number. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/11/14      Harry Potter books made the American Library Association (ALA) list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books for five consecutive years. A challenge is a formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/12/14      Severe drought and dust storms exacerbated the Great Depression because it dried out farmlands and forced families to leave their farms. On May 9, 1934, a dust storm carried an estimated 350 million tons of dirt 2,000 miles eastward and dumped four million tons of prairie dirt in Chicago. The drought and dust killed tens of thousands of animals. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/13/14      Approximately $6 billion in revenue is lost by American businesses as a result of decreased worker productivity linked to marriage hardship. Employees in a happy marriage, in contrast, tend to increase a company's bottom line. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/14/14      The Atlantic hurricane season typically lasts from June 1 to November 30, though most hurricanes form during the fall. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season is from May 15 to November 30. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/15/14      Researchers found that every two hours spent watching television was associated with a 14% increase in diabetes risk. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/16/14      In Iran, men who do not marry stay with their natal family their entire life and are described as na-mard (not-men). - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/17/14      According to a Time Magazine article published in 1945, the longest pregnancy on record is 375 days (as opposed to the usual 280 days). Amazingly, the delivered baby was only 6 pounds, 15 ounces. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/18/14      Haiti has been ranked as one of the five most corrupt countries. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/19/14      The regent of England, currently Queen Elizabeth II, is the Canadian head of state. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/20/14      The agent that gives Twinkies their smooth feel, cellulose gum, is also used in rocket fuel to give it a slightly gelatinous feel. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/21/14      The little tufts of hair in a cat's ear that help keep out dirt, direct sounds into the ear, and insulate the ears are called "ear furnishings." - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/22/14      In Europe, milk was not pasteurized until the 1890s and was avoided, particularly for infants, because people believed their child would grow up to resemble the animal. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/23/14      More people are killed by bee stings and lightning than by shark attacks. Worldwide about 30 people die each year from shark attacks, which means a person has a one in 300 million chance of being killed by a shark. A shark attack most often occurs when a shark mistakes a person for a seal or other animal. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/24/14      The single deadliest flu pandemic in history was the Spanish flu pandemic during 1918-1919. Occurring in three waves of increasing lethality, the Spanish flu killed more people in 24 weeks than AIDS did in 24 years. It also killed more people in one year than smallpox or the Black Plague did in 50 years. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/25/14      Polo was played in Iran as early as the 6th century B.C., mainly as training for the cavalry. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/26/14      On November 17, 1970, the Soviet robot Lunokhod 1 was the first vehicle to travel on the moon. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/27/14      Gay teens are three times more likely than heterosexual teens to report having been bullied. In contrast, gay teens were about 80% less likely than heterosexuals to say they had bullied someone else. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/28/14      It is against Michigan state law to tie a crocodile to a fire hydrant. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/29/14      Retailers rely on several psychological triggers to attract consumers into their store, such as placing limits on items, offering "gifts" with purchase, employing visual tricks, and declaring that sales are ending soon (when in fact discounts are common throughout the season). - Provided by RandomHistory.com 9/30/14      Red carpets traditionally marked the ceremonial and formal routes of leaders and politicians. The first reference to a "red carpet" is Agamemnon (458 B.C.) by Aeschylus. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

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