Evening star., 1962-05-04

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Book Of World Records" by
Norris and Ross McWhirter
(Sterling Publishing Coz il
to stop bar arguments. I'm
only half way through and
already three Of my friends
aren't speaking to me. One,
q second cousin twice re-
moved from Q job, ended his
dispute by asking: "Ahh, how
do you know that book knows
what it's talking about?"
Still. some Of the facts are
fascinating. For example:
The largest star is Epson
Aurigae B, which has q diam
eter Of $500 million miles.
Our sun and six planets could
be buried inside it. The
farthest star from US is In
Andromeda. The light It
sheds started from the star
2,S00.000 years ago. =
The most expensive per-
fume In Patou's JOY: $48 an
ounce. The most poisonous
substance Is Clostridium bot
ulinum type b. One four
thousandth Of one ounce
could kill everyone in the
world. The most precious
stone Is not q diamond. It's
q ruby. They are becoming
rare and q 6-karat ruby was
sold for $33,600.
THE BIGGEST GEM ever
found was an aquamarine at
Marambaia, Brazil, in 1910.
1t weighed $40, 900 karats.
The largest gold nugget was
taken from Hin End, New
South Wales, In 1872. It
weighed 1850 ounces. There
are SO million cameras In the
United States. The highest
number ever used is centil-
lion, which Is 10 followed by
900 zeroes, There is q prirni-
tive tribe called Yancos, on
the Amazon. which has never
been able to count beyond
three.
The thinnest cut ever made.
was by DR.. Fernando Moran
in Venezuela. He used o
diamond knitted microtome
to get . slice fifty thousandth
Of an inch thick. The IBM
electric brain 7090 Is said to
be able to read six novels per
second and is able to write
them back on magnetic tape
in the same length Of time.
Around the world. 11,475
persons are born every hour
and 6,075 die. The largest
town 10 Kiruna. Sweden.
which. embraces 5,45S square
miles. longest life expect
ancH Is Norway: II years for
men, rs for women. Most
bathtubs per capita: Panama,
with over 80 per cent Of all
homes equipped.
Most doctors: Russia, with
380,000. Most psychiatrists:
United States with l3.425.
Shortest reign Of q king:
Jean. ] Of France, who was
monarch ct birth and died
At the age Of 120 hours.
Highest paid legislators:
United States Senators: Base
salary. $22.5O0; tax exenp-
ton, 5000; office help al
lowance, $3.50. 900. Also free
trevel. telephones, mail.
medical care, kilograms,
flowers and haircuts.
Closest election: January
II, 1861, in Zanzibar. when
the Afro-Shirazi Party won
by one seat. which they
gained by one vote. In the
past 3.456 years. man has
been at peace exactly $50
years. Biggest battleship:
The japanese Yamato. "a, 200
tons. Biggest carrier: USS.
Enterprise, $3.50 tons,
Fastest warship: French
destroyer Le Terrible, 45.25
knots. Longest naval service:
Admiral Provo willis Of Eng
land, who went to sea In
1904 and served nearly 81
years. u
SMOkTEST WILL: a man
named Thorn wrote it in
1906: "All for mother"
Highest murder rate: Mexico,
with ~ per day. Happiest
failure was John Lee, sem
fenced to die for killing .
woman in 1884. He survived
three attempts to hang him.
was freed In 1917. and lived
until 1888.
Longest time in prison was
Martin Baltin, 81. q murderer
Who died after 50 years in
Rhode Island State Prison.