If Europe were to eliminate nuclear generated electricity and revert to fossil fuel power, the extra greenhouse gases created would be equal to doubling the number of cars on the road. [Prospect, page 24]
Four out of ten people will meet their husbands and wives at work. [Management Today, February 1999]
In 1882, there were 268 "designated ancient monuments" in Britain. Today there are 12,900. [Theatres of Memory, Raphael Samuel]
To cover the ?1.25m cost of his January visit to Mexico, the Pope had 25 official sponsors, including Pepsi. [The Independent, 23rd January 1999]
In Britain, 93 per cent of young people can master a computer game while only 38 per cent can bake a potato. [Centre for Food Policy]
Last year, GM spent $3.1 billion on advertising and sold 4.7m cars-$655 for each car sold. [Advertising Age]
On the opening day of the Premiership in 1992-93, there were 11 foreigners in the starting line-ups of the 22 clubs. This season that figure had risen to 92, nearly 40 per cent of players. [Evening Standard, 19th January 1999]
Three months ago, the 74 most widely followed stocks of the internet sector had a combined value of 2.3 per cent of the total market value of the Dow Industrials. Today they are worth more than 9 per cent. [MSNBC, 19th January 1999]
In the US, the percentage of two-and-a-half year olds still in nappies has risen from 10 per cent in 1961 to 78 per cent in 1997. [Time, 25th January 1999]
In the past year, 79 per cent of Frenchmen, 76 per cent of Germans and 72 per cent of Britons have read a book, compared to 57 per cent of Italians. [Committee on Intellectual Correspondence]
Only 20 per cent of Spaniards regularly have a siesta. [El Pa?-s]
