6/86Number of schools that have invited Lee Iacocca to speak at their graduations: 150
Number that have invited Mario Cuomo: 160
5/87Number of times the word “fuck” appears in Nails, the autobiography of the Mets’ Lenny Dykstra: 160
10/95Price of a six-day how-to course in prostitution from Amsterdam’s Prostitute Information Centre: $160
2/98Gallons of liquor George Washington distributed to his district’s voters before his first election to office in 1758: 160
11/06Number of State Department foreign-service members whose jobs require them to know Arabic: 160
Number of them who actually do: 64
Number that have one today: 161
11/94Number of U.S. soldiers certified as fluent in Haitian Creole: 161
10/96Number of countries whose GNP last year was less than the amount spent worldwide at Wal-Mart: 161
6/96Number of U.S. news stories published since 1991 containing the words “princess” and “colonic irrigation”: 162
6/86Number of weddings performed each day in 1985 at Las Vegas’s Little Church of the West: 163
2/87Percentage increase, in the first six months of 1986, in cases of penicillin-resistant gonorrhea: 163
5/03Number of words that the Times devoted to 1998’s U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa per resulting death: 163
10/85Percentage change in acres of forest in New York State since 1880: +164
11/97Days after Mexico’s drug czar was arrested this year for corruption that his lawyer was arrested for bribing jurors: 165
1/99Value of each 20,000-yen government-issued “ shopping voucher” to be received this year by 35 million Japanese: $165
12/01Price of a 12-hour do-it-yourself anger-management course from an online vendor: $165
11/03Attendance at last year’s largest annual conference on “establishing the truth behind” JFK’s assassination: 165
Minimum number of such conferences held worldwide each year: 3
8/05Number of U.S. cities that have agreed to meet the Kyoto Protocols on global warming: 166
Number introduced during the current session: 167
11/05Percentage change since 2004 in the number of NFL teams that require all fans to get full pat-downs: +167
7/06Average number of extra calories children consume for every hour of television they watch: 167
12/07Number of bills, amendments, and resolutions sponsored by Fred Thompson during his eight years in the Senate: 167
1/93Retirement benefits that will be paid to George Bush in 1993, expressed as a percentage of his previous salary: 169
12/93Percentage change, since 1980, in the number of U.S. physicians specializing in emergency medicine: +171
11/02Number of colleges that have organizations to elect John Cusack as U.S. president in 2004: 172
10/05Estimated amount of African wealth held in foreign accounts, expressed as a percentage of African GDP: 172
1/09Percentage change since 2001 in the average amount U.S. workers spend on out-of-pocket medical expenses: +172
5/88Number of jokes told about the Republican candidates on late-night network television in January and February: 173
About the Democratic Candidates: 110
6/90Average number of U.S. companies that filed for bankruptcy each day last year: 173
7/93Price of a “Hillary Wig,” with detachable hairband, from New York City’s Jacquelyn Wigs: $175
10/00Percentage change since last year in the number of deaths in Britain due to the human form of mad cow disease: +175
12/01Minimum number of anthrax hoaxes reported in the United States in the three years before September 11: 175
12/89Number of designs submitted by Soviets for a national memorial to those who died under Stalin: 176
9/04Minimum number of ex-senior government officials who have worked for a major U.S. defense contractor since 1997: 176
7/01Minimum number of people who have been trampled to death at soccer matches in Africa since April: 177
5/07Number of British men last year who had cosmetic surgery to reduce the size of their breasts: 177
11/03Percentage change since 2000 in the number of U.S. surgeries performed each year to treat morbid obesity: +178
11/87Cases of child pornography investigated by the federal government in 1982: 82
11/84Number of police officers and Secret Service agents at the wedding of Ronald Reagan’s daughter Patti: 180
9/91Weight of the ovarian cyst removed in May from a West Virginia woman, in pounds: 180
6/92Percentage change, since 1990, in the mortality rate for Iraqi children under the age of five: +180
3/90Number of times WXTB, a Florida radio station, played “Stairway to Heaven” consecutively on December 31, 1989: 181
8/99Rank of broccoli and peaches, respectively, among U.S.-grown produce with the highest residual pesticide levels: 18,1
5/88Pounds of mud for rubbing baseballs bought by major league teams each year from Burns Bintliff of Delaware: 182
4/05Number of U.S. residents convicted of “international terrorism” between fall 2001 and fall 2003: 184
5/87Percentage increase in the number of traps set by Maine lobstermen since 1965: 185
Percentage increase in the number of lobsters caught by Maine lobstermen since 1965: 13
Square feet of roads under construction in the occupied territories in the 1990s per settler: 185
3/90Estimated amount of oil spilled off the coast of Morocco in December, expressed as a percentage of the Valdez spill: 186
3/00Estimated percentage change since 1979 in the number of birds killed annually by U.S. communications towers: +186
7/02Military budget of Israel in 1967 expressed as a percentage of the budgets of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria combined: 58
9/00Percentage change since 1990 in the number of deaths from accidental poisoning among elderly Americans: -10
Percentage change since then in the number of such deaths among Americans between the ages of 45 and 64: +188
10/96Number of state and federal court opinions written since 1977 that have included a reference to Elvis Presley: 189
8/06Number of new skin-whitening products that have been introduced to Asian and Pacific markets since 2002: 189
4/03Percentage in import duties on Vietnamese catfish sought from the Commerce Department last year by U.S. catfish farmers: 190
4/03Decibels of sound pressure employed by a new “thermoacoustic” refrigerator: 190
6/08Number of men in Madhya Pradesh, India, who have undergone vasectomies this year in exchange for gun licenses: 191
5/90Average ratio of a CEO’s salary to that of a blue-collar worker at major Japanese automobile manufacturers: 20:1
Average ratio at major US. automobile manufacturers: 192:1
5/90Percentage increase, since 1980, in the number of anti-Semitic incidents reported in the United States: 193
10/86Number of new products test-marketed in New York City in the last year: 198
9/02Days before Bolivia’s June election that the U.S. ambassador warned Bolivians not to vote for the Socialist candidate: 4
2/01Number of “prefectures…east of the mountains…growing nothing but thorns,” according to poet Tu Fu: 200
7/89Proposed maximum fine for participating in a dwarf toss in South Carolina: $200
1/90Number of Elvis impersonators hired for the celebration of the centennial of the Statue of Liberty in 1986: 200
5/90Percentage increase, since 1979, in the number of deaths caused by asthma in the United States each year: 200
6/90Number of months after the Valdez spill that George Bush put his oil-barge company holdings in a blind trust: 1
Number of oil spills for which the company’s corporate parent has been responsible since Bush bought the stock: 200
4/91Percentage increase, during 1990, in the number of times the word “recession” appeared in the New York Times: 200
3/93Weight, in pounds, of a hairball removed by maintenance workers from an Alexandria, Indiana, manhole last fall: 200
6/93Number of trees required to absorb the average annual carbon dioxide emissions of an American car: 200
7/93Number of current and former Russian Army officers enrolled in Moscow’s East-West School of Business: 200
12/93Fine levied on each of three children convicted in Texas last fall of assaulting a man dressed as Barney the dinosaur: $200
8/95Percentage change since 1994 in the price of one minute of prime-time TV advertising in Russia: +200
3/96Monthly salary at which Lech Walesa will resume his electrician job in the Gdansk shipyards this year: $200
4/97Total number of pistols Hebron’s 400 Palestinian police officers will be provided with this year: 200
4/97Average number of prayers sent to the Wailing Wall each day via e-mail: 200
7/98Number of words in the 1999 Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary whose “offensive” designation will be italicized: 200
10/98Amount Microsoft offers any computer-science professor who mentions its programs in an academic presentation: $200
11/98Estimated number of American women arrested for child abuse since 1977 after using drugs or alcohol while pregnant: 200
2/01Number of poets scheduled to attend a literary conference in China last year before the government banned it: 200
5/01Number of pairs of Imelda Marcos’s shoes on display in the Philippines ‘ new shoe museum: 200
Percentage change since then in the estimated number of illegal immigrants living in the United States: +57
1/05Meters of the Berlin Wall rebuilt by an entrepreneur last year as a “monument to peace”: 200
8/05Minimum number of people convicted on “ terrorism-related charges” since 2001, according to Alberto Gonzales in April: 200
12/06Number of life-size photo cutouts of troops that Maine’s Army National Guard has given to relatives: 200
Percentage who had been mistakenly identified by eyewitnesses: 77
12/05Percentage change since 1995 in the U.S. trade deficit with China, as a percentage of U.S. GDP: +202
Percentage change with all other countries: +147
7/04Average amount an American spent on pharmaceuticals in 2002: $202.81
3/07Minimum hourly wage last year of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives: $203.95
Minimum wage this year, given new rules that require more hours in session: $139.97
5/92Percentage change, between 1990 and 1991, in the number of crimes committed against Arab-Americans: +205
1/09Number of news stories from 1998 to Election Day 2000 containing “George W. Bush” and “aura of inevitability”: 206
10/98Number of “ Assault Recovery ” insurance policies sold to school employees in the last year: 207
2/89Percentage increase, since 1987, in the number of children killed by guns in Broward County, Florida: 209
12/86Mental disorders recognized by the American Psychiatric Association in 1952: 110
3/95Price of a blood-proof Emergency Medical Services jacket from Anna Sui, a New York City boutique: $210
4/89Average change, since 1977, in the annual federal taxes paid by the richest 1 percent of American families: -$44,440
10/97Percentage change since 1994 in Prozac prescriptions or recommendations for children under the age of 12: +212
1/04Days in 1970 that northern Alaska was cold enough to operate oil-drilling machinery without damaging the tundra: 213
9/08Estimated percentage change since last year in U.S. sales of golf carts for purposes other than golf: +215
Punches he takes: 218
12/91Percentage change, since March, in the Pentagon’s estimate of U.S. deaths in the Gulf War due to friendly fire: +218
11/99Percentage change since 1996 in the number of American adults using the Internet to obtain health-care information: +218
2/00Percentage change in the stock price of Microsoft rival Red Hat in the five weeks after the antitrust ruling: +218
10/04Minimum number of U.S. children killed since 1998 as a result of heat stroke after being left locked in cars: 219
9/96Number of Los Angeles high school students who earned a varsity letter in comedy last year: 220
1/02Number of U.S. colleges and universities that were asked by law enforcement to release student information last fall: 220
6/00Average number of U.S. news stories about Elian Gonzalez published or aired each day of the first 5 months of his stay here: 222
10/92Percentage change, since 1970, in the number of interracial marriages in the United States: +223
9/89Percentage increase, since 1959, in the number of Supreme Court cases that involve the separation of powers: 224
8/90Number of families who have applied to purchase homes at Love Canal this year: 225
12/95Price of a sheet of “undipped” blotter-acid art signed by Timothy Leary, from San Francisco’s ArtRock Gallery: $225
3/01Amount a Danish art museum was fined last year for an exhibition inviting visitors to liquefy live goldfish in blenders: $225
3/93Percentage change, since 1970, in the number of mobile homes in the United States: +230
12/96Number of people on the Omaha, Nebraska, Public Library’s waiting list to check out Madonna’s book Sex: 230
3/98Price paid at auction last August for a letter from Eleanor Roosevelt to an editor of Women’s Wear News: $230
1/00Miles that Leif Eriksson sailed from his father’s home in Greenland before “discovering” North America in 985: 230
6/01Minimum number of accidental releases of chemicals or oil leading to deaths or injuries at U.S. work sites last year: 230
8/85Cost of a week at Solair Nudist Park in Massachusetts for a family of four: $230.25
9/94Average income tax levied by the city of Philadelphia this year on each visiting major league player, per game: $231
7/94Membership of Intemacia Naturista Organizo Esperantista, a club for nudist speakers of Esperanto, in Brussels: 233
4/01Minimum number of such accidents, according to a U.S. General Accounting Office report: 233
5/99Percentage change since 1997 in the number of antitrust investigations opened by the Federal Trade Commission: +234
1/90Percentage increase, since 1981, in use of the term postmodern by the New York Times: 237
5/04Minimum number of misleading statements on Iraq made by the Bush Administration’s top officials since March 2002: 237
Percentage of these that contradicted, made selective use of, or mischaracterized existing government intelligence: 100
10/07Number of different reasons for having sex, as identified this year in a University of Texas study: 237
4/97Number of “difficult, detailed” government-program cuts President Clinton says his new budget contains: 238
Percentage of these his budget director declared too “boring” to list for reporters at a February press conference: 100
2/96Price a New York City company charges for removal, cleaning, storage, and reinstallation of an air conditioner: $239
10/00Number of Americans federally registered as presidential candidates this year: 239
8/02Number of fatalities sustained by the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon during its 24 years there: 239
8/08Percentage change since 2006 in the price of used cooking oil, which can be recycled to make biodiesel fuel: +240
8/05Fine levied last year on a restaurant in southwest China for serving sushi atop naked women: $242
6/96Number of pounds John Candy’s Canadian Bacon body double has lost in the two years since Candy’s death: 243
11/97Number of Fowl Balls, a snack made from deep-fried turkey testicles, sold last year at Denver’s Coors Field: 243
2/04Number of times a Hummer H2 could be driven around the world on the excess calories Americans consume each year: 244
11/85Average number of jokes Henny Youngman delivers in a 40-minute monologue: 245
3/87Number of U.S. corporations whose credit ratings were lowered by Moody’s in 1985: 153
2/89Number of the 41,000 applicants for concealed-weapon permits in Florida in 1988 who were turned down: 246
12/85Estimated number of underground newspapers and magazines published in Poland: 250
2/87Copies of the Meese Pornography Commission’s report ordered by the Waldenbooks chain: 250
8/90Percentage change, since last fall, in the number of riot-control troops on duty in the Soviet Union: +250
5/93Number of FBI foreign counterintelligence agents reassigned to U.S. violent-crime investigations last year: 250
9/94Pounds of butter used by the Iowa State Fair last month to create a life-sized statue of Garth Brooks: 250
9/95Number of California library books of modern American poetry from which pages have been reported stolen this year: 250
10/96Number of convicted drug traffickers executed in China last June to mark World Anti-Drug Day: 250
2/97Amount that image consultancy Double XXposure charges to teach etiquette to hip-hop and rap artists, per class: $250
2/98Gallons of gasoline required to truck Ted Kaczynski’s shack from Montana to California last year: 250
2/99Number of DON’T IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT IF IT INTERRUPTS MY SOAPS! T-shirts printed by Soap Opera Digest last fall: 250
5/03Percentage change since 1988 in the average subscription price of a U.S. scientific, medical, or technical journal: +250
10/05Points a player earns for delivering a parcel of medicine, in the U.N. World Food Programme’s video game: 250
12/05Number of homeless San Franciscans hired to be extras in a movie with Will Smith as a formerly homeless millionaire: 250
Amount they were paid hourly: $8.62
3/08Range, in miles, of a Russian interceptor missile blessed by an Orthodox priest last August: 250