9/87Number of the 142 nominations to the Supreme Court since 1789 that were not confirmed: 34

God Save This Honorable Court, by Laurence H. Tribe (New American Library)

    Number of the six Supreme Court nominations made by John Tyler that were not confirmed: 5

God Save This Honorable Court, by Laurence H. Tribe (New American Library)

    Number of the four made by Millard Fillmore: 3

God Save This Honorable Court, by Laurence H. Tribe (New American Library)

9/87Average age of federal judges appointed by President Reagan: 49

U.S. Dept. of Justice

9/87Percentage of Americans who say that parents should not be allowed to choose the sex of their child: 69

The Ethan Allen Report: The Status and Future of the American Family, 1986 (Danbury, Conn.)

9/87Number of geep, a cross between a sheep and a goat, that have been genetically engineered: 2

Dept. of Animal Science (University of California at Davis)

9/87Percentage of U.S. hospitals that have applied for patents on inventions using human tissues and cells: 50

U.S. Office of Technology Assessment

9/87Average price of an artificial arm (operation included): $25,000

Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City)

    Of an artificial blood vessel: $15,000

Meadox Medicals (Oakland, N.J.)

9/87Number of Cessna 172s that can be bought for the price of one ground-launched cruise missile: 122

Center for Defense Information (Washington, D.C.)

9/87Number of states that have paid more in taxes to finance SDI than they have received in SDI contracts: 43

Council on Economic Priorities (New York City)

9/87Percentage of the National Security Council’s staff that were military officers in January 1981: 18

Power and Principle, by Zbigniew Brzezinski (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)

    Percentage in November 1986: 40

White House

9/87Total number of vetoes cast by the United States in the U.N. Security Council: 50

United Nations

    Number of those that have been cast since 1980: 28

United Nations

    Number of vetoes that have been cast by the Soviet Union since 1980: 2

United Nations

9/87Number of countries that have a lower rate of infant mortality than the United States: 16

Children’s Defense Fund (Washington, D.C.)

9/87Soup kitchens in New York City in 1980: 30

Food and Hunger Hotline (New York City)

    Today: 560

Food and Hunger Hotline (New York City)

9/87Chances that a bride or fiancée whose picture appeared in the Sunday New York Times in June wore pearls: 3 in 5

Harper’s research/New York Times

9/87Letters to the editor received each day by Pravda: 2,000

Ellen Mickiewicz, Dept. of Political Science, Emory University

    By the New York Times: 400

Harper’s research/New York Times

9/87Percentage increase, since 1986, in the number of fashion pages in Vogue and Elle featuring black models: 64

Harper’s research/Vogue/Elle

9/87Percentage of public school students in Manhattan who are white: 9

New York City Board of Education

    Percentage of private school students in Manhattan who are not: 14

National Association of Independent Schools (Boston)

9/87Number of honorary degrees awarded to Bob Hope: 52

Bob Hope (Toluca Lake, Calif.)

9/87Portion of residential telephone numbers in Los Angeles that are unlisted: 1/2

Pacific Bell (Los Angeles)

9/87Number of citizen’s arrests made in Los Angeles in 1986: 4,322

Los Angeles Police Dept.

9/87Days in 1986 on which no one was murdered in New York City: 8

New York City Police Dept.

    Number of those days that were Wednesdays: 4

New York City Police Dept.

9/87Americans killed by sharks since 1983: 2

Argus-Mariner Consulting Scientists (Corvallis, Ore.)

    By pit bulls: 20

Humane Society of the United States (Washington, D.C.)

9/87Amount that two Sioux arrows used in the Battle of the Little Big Horn brought at auction: $17,000

Riba-Mobley Auctions (South Glastonbury, Conn.)

9/87Amount the New York Mets spend each season for tape to wrap Gary Carter: $5,000

New York Mets

9/87Number of the 161 players in baseball’s Hall of Fame who wore glasses while on the field: 2

National Baseball Library (Cooperstown, N.Y.)

9/87Pairs of elastic sock garters George Bush received as gifts in 1986: 34

George Bush’s Financial Disclosure Statement/Junk for Joy (Los Angeles)

9/87Percentage of cat owners who say they confide in their cats about important matters: 57

Compendium on Continuing Education for the Practicing Veterinarian (Lawrenceville, N.J.)

9/87Proposed fine for selling or eating dog meat in Manila: $100

Associated Press

9/87Percentage of the members of the Texas Restaurant Association that serve chicken-fried steak: 90

Texas Highway Cookbook, by Joanne Smith (University of Texas Press)

9/87Paces at which the crunch of a pickle should be audible, according to Pickle Packers International: 10

Pickle Packers International (St. Charles, Ill.)