In fact

Thai laughter, "happy" watches and Stalin
February 20, 2013

Josef Stalin was Time magazine’s person of the year twice—in 1939 and 1942. Time, 14th December 2012

The three most common PIN number combinations are 1234, 1111 and 0000. They account for 18.6 per cent of all PINs used, despite there being 10,000 possible 4 digit combinations of 0-9. The Guardian, 28th September 2012

Some words that Brits regard as typically American, including “candy,” “the fall,” and “diaper,” were originally British but dropped out of use in Britain between about 1850 and the early 1900s. BBC, 27th September 2012

Watches in watch adverts almost always show the time as 10 past 10. This is an industry standard and gives the watch a pleasing aesthetic “happy” face. QI, November 2012

In Thailand, to indicate laughter in online communication, speakers often write 5555 instead of hahahaha. The Atlantic, 12th December 2012

Britain has invaded all but 22 countries in the world (although the current names and borders of those countries may not have applied at the time they were invaded). Telegraph, 4th November 2012

There are at least 800 distinct languages in Papua New Guinea, representing around 15 per cent of the world’s total. New Scientist, 8th December 2012

A lifespan of an animal is approximately equal to 1.5bn heartbeats. Discover, 1st September 2011