AWESOME FACTS ABOUT EVERYTHING CLXXII

1. Half the mass of the earth's crust is made up of Oxygen.

2. Abraham Lincoln was our tallest US President at 6 feet 4 inches. 

3. Surveys have confirmed that the favorite ice cream flavor of 56% of adults is vanilla.

4. The only two gymnastic events in which both men and women compete are the floor exercise and the vault.

5. The London Eye is a gigantic cantilevered observation wheel on the south bank of the River Thames. It contains 32 capsules that can hold 25 people each for a 30-minute rotation that provides 360 degree panoramic views of London. 

6. Sleeping Beauty's name is Aurora,  although Briar Rose is the name the good fairies gave her to protect her while she was hiding form Maleficent. She speaks only 18 lines of dialogue  in the film - the fewest of any Disney princess.

7. The wine industry uses 60-70% of the world's cork production for bottle stoppers. Cork comes from the outer bark of the cork oak tree, found in the western Mediterranean basin - especially Portugal. Harvesting the bark does not harm the trees, as it re-generates over time. 

8. Four of the most densely populated cities in the world are in the Philippines, with the capital Manila being by far the most densely populated city in the world - a staggering 112,953 people per square mile. By comparison, Dhaka, Bangladesh has a population density of 87,000 per square mile, Mumbai, India - 53,000, Male`, capital city of The Maldives - 49,000, New York - 29,000, Tokyo - 16,000.

9. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is so named because that is the temperature at which paper will burn. In the novel, "firemen" burn books - a reflection of the heavy censorship and paranoia of the early 1950's. It is an iconic dystopian novel and remains a perennial best-seller. Bradbury wrote the first draft of the novel in nine days at a rental typewriter in the basement of the UCLA Powell Library. [Note from JA: I went to UCLA (1963-1968) and at one time used one of the rental typewriters in the library basement.]

10.  The 1959 Mini Cooper was the first model of a revolutionary British car, designed by Alec Issigonis as a response to fuel shortages and traffic congestion. Known for its innovative transverse engine and front-wheel drive, it maximized interior space and was surprisingly maneuverable. In 1999, The Mini Cooper was voted the most influential car of the 20th century, after the Model T, by the Global Automotive Elections Foundation.