golfkat Travel Blog

Think about this:  Which letter does not appear on the Periodic Table?  According to English for Students, which examined the frequency of letter usage in the entire Concise Oxford Dictionary, “J,” “Q,” and “Z” rank as the least-used letters in the English alphabet. Samuel Morse, the inventor of Morse Code, would add “X” to that list. However, all of these letters occur on the periodic table, apart from one. “Z” appears in the metal Zinc, atomic number 30, and Zirconium, atomic number 40. “X” appears in the noble gas Xenon, while “Y” appears in several, including the single letter for transition metal Yttrium. Even “Q” appears in atomic number 114, Ununquadium, the temporary name for the eka-lead radioactive chemical, Uuq. “J,” on the other hand, appears in no elemental symbol of the periodic table.

Everyone knows that the $100 bill is the highest denomination of U.S. currency. What the $100,000 bill presupposes is … maybe it isn’t? The note, which featured an image of Woodrow Wilson on the obverse, was never issued for public use or circulated into the general economy. Rather, the gold certificate was created at the height of the Great Depression (1934, to be precise) by the BEP for Federal Reserve Banks to make transactions with one another. Only 42,000 were made, and they can’t be held by collectors due to legal reasons, but institutions like the Smithsonian and the Museum of American Finance are allowed to exhibit them. (from Michael Nordine)

Alex Bellos, whose new book is entitled The Grapes of Math, claimed he received over 30,000 responses within a few weeks of launching the survey (to determine the most popular number), with total responses currently standing at 44,000. Out of all the submissions, almost half of the votes cast were for the numbers between one and 10 (seven was most popular). The least favorite number turned out to be 110, which was the lowest number to receive no votes.  The writer suggested that the reason for seven’s popularity is its prevalence in global culture, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, to the existence of seven days in a week.

The most popular color in the world is blue. The second favorite colors are red and green, followed by orange, brown and purple. Yellow is the least favorite color, preferred by only 5% of people. Another interesting fact on color popularity: both men and women increasingly dislike orange as they age!  Hint:  The yellow jersey at the Tour de France means you are the leader!!!

The least popular food, and I would agree, are beets.  It is followed by, surprisingly, olives, then cilantro, mushrooms, and tomatoes.  I would have figured durian, lima beans, bitter melon, or anchovies.

The worst selling soda?  Crush Pineapple, never heard of it.    On its heels is Sunkist Pineapple.  Must be something about putting some fizz into a pineapple, the world’s most dangerous fruit, according to George Costanza.

Aren’t you glad you asked?