The week is up, but it’s never too late for the Completely Useless Facts of the Week. Read on to go behind the scenes to understand the nitty-gritty behind these useless facts.
Let’s go ahead and start by bursting bubbles for those who like to hit up their local convenience store in search of being the next instant millionaire. Not to be a buzzkill, but you are more likely to become President of the U.S. or risk being crushed by a vending machine than you are in winning the lottery. So what are the odds? Well, for the latest Mega Millions jackpot the odds are 1 in 259 million. The U.S. population is about 317 million, so you get the picture. You also have a better chance of being injured by a toilet (1 in 10,000) or dying from a bee sting (1 in 6 million). Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but hey, you can run the country instead.
The next useless fact will make you realize that having a baby is no easy task. From birth to being able to use a toilet, a baby’s diaper will have to be changed an average of 8000 times. That’s a lot of stink. It also becomes a little rough on the wallet. 333, 24-pack count diapers would be purchased for a total of around $2,990. Add that total to the cost of formula, clothes, crib, stroller, wet-wipes, diaper genie, baby food, burp cloths–you name it–and you’ll be cancelling that long-awaited trip to the Caribbean.
Speaking of stink, ever wonder why there are so many lawyer commercials during the day? It’s because two-thirds of the world’s lawyers live in the United States. I guess that explains some things. It might also explain why we love to sue and why Congress is so inept.   In 2011, new law degrees came in at around 44,000 for the year. Thirty-five years ago, new law degrees were being produced at the rate of 34,000 per year. The overall number of lawyers back then was over 450,000. Today that number stands at 1.22 million. With all this growth, the bubble may be bursting. Jobs in an actual law firm are now hard to come by, online legal advice and tools are subverting the need to seek an attorney’s advice or pay attorney’s fees, and the median salary of a new lawyer has dropped dramatically. Some students must be getting the picture that we are up to our eyeballs in lawyers because since 2012 there has been an 11% decrease in the enrollment of first year law students.
From the world of science comes a fascinating fact that will make you think twice before you enter or exit a room. Brass doorknobs disinfect themselves in about eight hours, aluminum or stainless steel knobs never do. This is called the oligodynamic effect–the toxic effect of metal ions on living cells. Some other metals that show this antimicrobial effect are, copper, iron, lead, zinc, bismuth, mercury, and especially gold and silver. Your jewelry is cleaner than you think.
Feeling hungry? Head to the east coast to get your eat on. There are so many restaurants in New York City that one person could eat out every night for 54 years and never return to the same restaurant. Just in case you didn’t feel like doing the math, that’s about 19,710 different restaurants that you could visit.
Check back again next week for the next issue. Feel free to expand on these facts below and remember to annoy those around you with this week’s facts. They’ll appreciate you for it.
