wug7a The recent water crisis in the greater Boston area, brought about by a massive rupture in a central water main, imposed many hardships on the two million people forced to boil water—or circle supermarkets hoping to spot a truck bringing in the bottled kind. With the taps shut off all across the city and throughout nearby suburbs … Read more
Can exercise land you in the hospital, or even worse, the morgue? In 2008, Max Gilpin, a 15-year-old offensive lineman for his high school football team, was running sprints up and down the field at a practice held in blistering Kentucky August heat. Coach David Jason Stinson was so relentless that one player collapsed and another … Read more
Oldest annually run marathon on Earth—first held in 1897 with 15 entrants. William McKinley was president. Second Boston Marathon was won by a man named Ronald MacDonald. Current course record: 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 17 seconds, set in 2006 by four-time champion Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, of Kenya. Comedian Will Ferrell ran the Boston Marathon … Read more
Book of Odds has recently addressed a much chewed-over Internet topic: what is more likely, to die from a shark attack or a vending machine accident? In terms of total victims, vending machines are deadlier. The odds a person will die from a vending machine accident in a year are 1 in 112,000,000, while the odds … Read more
It’s another 90-plus degree scorcher and the beach sounds awfully nice. Sapphire waves beckon—people young and old are playing, swimming, surfing, and having the most refreshing time imaginable. But Shark Week was on TV last night, and the thought of 15-foot-long hungry swimming tubes with teeth is enough to keep any sane person’s feet firmly planted in … Read more
For the first time in 27 years, an American male just might snatch the laurel leaf at Monday’s Boston Marathon. An unlikely combination of factors have come together to increase those odds. A massive cloud of dangerous ash, issuing from a volcano in Iceland, has closed much of European airspace, forcing an estimated 500 to … Read more
Accidents & Death / Death Rates Like Me Interesting 1 in 251,800,000 The odds a person will die from a shark attack in a year are 1 in 251,800,000 (US, 1999 – 2005). SEND IT E-mail ADD IT New List BUY IT Buy Now SHARE IT Facebook Digg Stumbleupon CONFIDENCE– STATS– People viewed this statement … Read more
March Madness kicks off every Spring, and within a few hours of the start of the NCAA Basketball Tournament millions of fans across America will be despairing over their already-ruined brackets. Americans fill out 40 million March Madness brackets every year, trying to correctly predict the winners of each of the 63 games in the tournament. Many … Read more