12/85Number of people who attended the International Conference on Spelling Reform held in England last summer: 17
Who say the president always does: 8
10/94Number of countries whose fertility rates have declined at least 50 percent during the last generation: 17
5/86Percentage increase in the number of middle-class black families in the United States since 1970: 17
6/88Percentage of all ties sold last year that were bought for Father’s Day: 17
Number that are American: 0
1/90Average increase, since 1980, in the amount of junk mail an American receives each year, in pounds: 17
8/90Percentage of all outstanding junk bonds that are owned by U.S. life insurance companies: 17
11/91Number of times Senator Tom Harkin used the word ”bullshit” in public speeches last summer: 17
11/91Number of times the phrase “happens to be black” has appeared in the New York Times since January 1990: 17
1/92Percentage of Russians who say they favor a “free-market form of capitalism such as that of the United States”: 17
1/92Ratio of the average productivity of a U.S. automotive engine plant to that of a Mexican plant: 5:4
12/95Number of Exxon Valdez spills it would take to equal the amount of oil spilled into the Mediterranean Sea each year: 17
10/96Ratio of Americans who die from tobacco-related illnesses each year to the number who are murdered: 17:1
1/97Percentage of Americans who are “more comfortable” with a First Lady who keeps the same hairstyle for an entire term: 17
6/97Percentage of Planned Parenthood donors in 1994 who also donated to Operation Rescue that year: 17
5/98Cubic feet in the Navy’s F-18 Super Hornet jet that have been set aside for computer systems not yet developed: 17
Number of times it has won: 15
6/99Percentage of newlyweds who say they consummated their relationship on the first date: 17
10/99Amount of corporate funding or advertising accepted by the Pacifica Radio Network’s five stations since 1949: 0
Number of days last July that Pacifica locked out the entire staff of Berkeley’s KPFA over internal politics: 17
11/00Inches by which Iowa’s tallest corn stalks exceed the average height of an adult Asian elephant’s eye: 17
1/01Percentage change in the maximum size of the ozone hole between 1999 and 2000: +17
10/01Number of network-TV dramas scheduled this fall whose protagonists are employed in law enforcement or the legal system: 17
11/01Number of days a Quebec protester was jailed in April for allegedly catapulting three stuffed animals at police: 17
3/02Number of the world’s 25 civil wars that have been going on for more than ten years: 17
3/03Minimum number of U.S.-led bomb strikes on Iraq in the month after inspections were agreed to last winter: 17
4/03Percentage of Chinese who say they have never heard of AIDS: 17
8/03Number of years San Francisco has given itself to realize the goal of recycling all of its trash: 17
2/04Percentage points by which Ronald Reagan’s approval rating changed in 1983: +17
5/04Days into the 1999 NATO bombing of Kosovo that candidate George W. Bush observed, “Victory means exit strategy”: 17
7/04Number of individual “songs” for sale in Apple’s iTunes Music Store that consist of utter silence: 17
9/04Months before anyone filed an amicus brief supporting a 2002 habeas corpus suit on behalf of the Guantánamo detainees: 10
Number of amicus briefs filed once the case was accepted by the Supreme Court last fall: 17
3/05Minimum number of days that a Florida couple picketed their home in December to get their children to do more chores: 17
4/05Number of the 701 arrests under Britain’s Terrorism Act since 2001 that have led to conviction: 17
3/06Percentage change in the amount of housework done by women after they marry for the first time: +17
Percentage change in the amount done by men: ‒33
7/08Ratio in 1980 of the number of NIH grants given scientists under age 30 to the number given those over age 70: 17:1
Ratio in 2006: 1:13
1/09Months, beginning in 2001, that the federal government’s online condom fact sheet disappeared from its website: 17
11/99Average percentage of revenue on a Wisconsin for-profit welfare agency’s contract this year that will be profit: 17.1
10/98Total bad debt Japan estimates is held by its banks, expressed as a percentage of its GDP: 17.5
Number of Nehru jackets owned by Sammy Davis Jr.: 6
12/91Number of Floridians who are officially registered with the state government as “chemically sensitive”: 18
2/97Percentage of Americans who believe that career preparation should begin in elementary school: 18
10/86Percentage of the 1986 freshman class at MIT that is Asian-American: 18
2/88Percentage of married men and women who say they were worried about sex on their wedding night: 18
4/88Percentage of Japanese cars sold in America last year that were manufactured here: 18
Percentage of cars sold in America by Chrysler last year that were manufactured overseas: 12
4/88Estimated waiting time for a vacancy in a New York City public-housing project (in years): 18
Percentage change, since 1986, in the combined profits of the seven largest multinational oil companies: +18
11/89Number of the 28 states requiring AIDS education in public schools that also require discussion of condom use: 3
Number of states requiring that abstinence be stressed: 18
8/93Percentage of Americans describing themselves as “ultra-liberal” who consider S&M “an acceptable sexual practice”: 6
Percentage of Americans describing themselves as “ultra-conservative” who say this: 18
12/93Number of New York Times articles this year in which Bill Clinton has been compared to Franklin Roosevelt: 18
3/94Amount for which a robber beat a motel security guard to death with a Bible last summer in Georgia: $18
4/94Percentage increase in White House Domino’s Pizza orders each day Hillary Clinton is out of town: +18
7/94Percentage of U.S. hazardous-waste sites that have been cleaned up since the EPA’s Superfund was established in 1980: 18
10/94Height, in feet, of a West Virginia prison wall scaled last June by an escaping inmate using a cord made of dental floss: 18
9/95Number of people injured during a cheese-rolling competition held last May in Cheltenham, England: 18
4/96Estimated percentage of worldwide ozone depletion since 1986 attributable to chemicals produced by Du Pont: 18
10/96Number of times since 1906 that Congress has voted against granting the FDA jurisdiction over tobacco: 18
11/96Miles of asphalt road in the United States the year Strom Thurmond was born: 18
12/97Average number of seconds an American patient is allowed to speak before being interrupted by a doctor: 18
Number of months one co-author spent married to the original Bozo the Clown: 18
8/98Amount by which the decibel level of the scream of the new Godzilla exceeds that of a jackhammer: 18
4/99Number of Ivy League egg “donors” that Options Fertility Registry’s school newspaper ads have found since 1997: 18
8/99Minimum number of Geneva Convention violations of which NATO was accused last May by a lawyers’ group: 18
5/01Years before being nominated as South Carolina’s U.S. attorney in January that Strom Thurmond’s son graduated law school: 3
Average years of legal experience that a current state’s U.S. attorney acquired before taking the job: 18
9/01Percentage of Men’s Health readers who say they have learned most of what they know about sex from television: 18
11/01Percentage of Americans who live within a half mile of nuclear-waste transport routes to a proposed dump in Nevada: 18
11/02Percentage change since 1965 in the number of hog and pig farms in the United States: -92
Percentage change since then in the number of hogs and pigs on U.S. farms: +18
1/04Number of states enrolled in the Justice Department’s Multistate Anti-Terrorism Exchange, or MATRIX, in 2002: 13
Number that have since dropped out or refused to provide DMV records: 5
Months after a data firm was hired to run MATRIX that its CEO resigned, admitting to past drug smuggling: 18
1/04Ratio of the U.S. spending on Iraq approved last November to total AIDS spending in developing countries last year: 18:1
5/05Average number of East Germans who died each year trying to cross to West Germany: 18
5/05Minimum number of Midwestern towns offering free land to new residents: 18
7/05Percentage of Bill Frist ’s medical-school class that sent him a letter accusing him of misusing his degree: 18
9/06Percentage of pharmaceutical trials in 1997 that were performed in the developing world: 3
Percentage today: 18
Percentage change in North America: –26
2/08Number of states where a court has held that women must return engagement rings if the wedding doesn’t happen: 18
6/01Average number of minutes devoted to President Bush on network evening news during each of his first 50 days in office: 9.24
Average number of minutes devoted to President Clinton during each of his first 50 days in office: 18.04
12/05Number of degrees Fahrenheit that temperatures in California ’s wine country have risen since 1971: 1.6
Price paid for the bill: $18.50
6/85Percentage of American men who say they sleep in the nude: 19
Percentage of American women: 6
4/92Number of years since the percentage of Americans describing themselves as “happy” was at its peak: 19
4/96Estimated effect of using negative campaign ads on the percentage of the vote a national candidate will win, in points: +19
Estimated effect of using positive ads, in points: +9
1/87Number of times since 1979 Britain has “refined” its method of counting the unemployed: 19
Number of those refinements that resulted in a lower unemployment rate: 18
7/88Percentage of voters who list their spouse as a “very important” source of information about candidates: 19
1/90Change, since 1980, in the percentage of their income the richest 1 percent of American families pay in federal taxes: -15
Change, since 1980, in the percentage of their income the poorest 20 percent pay in federal taxes: +19
9/91Percentage of farmers who say they’d “do nothing” if they learned their pesticide tank was spilling into a creek: 9
Percentage who say they’d “wait and see if a problem developed”: 19
7/92Number of American states in which more people identify themselves as Hispanic than as African-American: 19
11/94Average number of U.S. industrial accidents occurring each day that result in the release of hazardous chemicals: 19
1/95Percentage of congressional races in the 10 states with the weakest economic recovery that resulted in a Republican gain: 5
Percentage of congressional races in the 10 states with the strongest economic recovery that resulted in a Republican gain: 19
11/95Percentage change since 1992 in the number of Americans who play touch football “frequently”: +19
11/95Percentage of American adults who say they could not “survive” without a television set: 19
1/96Number of articles published since 1990 that mention the danger of standing between Phil Gramm and a camera: 19
3/96Number of PACs that contributed the legal limit last year to Newt Gingrich’s 1996 Georgia primary campaign: 19
10/97Average change in the federal taxes an American earning less than $22,600 will pay under the new tax law: +$19
Average change in the federal taxes an American earning more than $246,000 will pay: -$16,157
5/98Number of countries that have received U.S. military aid since 1995 in preparation for NATO expansion: 19
6/98Rank of ER among prime-time TV shows that are most popular with African-American viewers: 19
8/98Number of years the U.S. trained Pakistani nuclear-research scientists as part of the “Atoms for Peace ” program: 19
5/99Number of states in which families living at or below the federal poverty level are subject to income tax: 19
6/99Number of months after the Civil War ended that slaves in Texas were told of their emancipation: 2
Number of years that Texas has observed a “Juneteenth” state holiday to commemorate the day its slaves were told: 19
8/00Number of states that declared last August 8 “National Admit You’re Happy Day”: 19
11/01Number of high-security federal buildings that undercover U.S. agents entered last year using fake I.D.: 19
3/02Months after George H. W. Bush lost the 1992 election that James Baker began lobbying Kuwait on Enron’s behalf: 5
Days before Enron declared bankruptcy that Baker’s public-policy institute awarded Alan Greenspan its “Enron Prize”: 19
10/02Percentage of seats in Pakistan’s parliamentary elections this month that will be reserved for women: 19
9/05Number of anti-globalization protesters who were tortured last year by Mexican officials: 19
10/05Percentage by which the average amount of anesthetic required by redheads exceeds the average for everyone: 19
10/05Minimum number of centuries in prison served by U.S. convicts for crimes of which DNA evidence later exonerated them: 19
2/07Factor by which the number of U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan since June has exceeded the number in Iraq: 19
Percentage by which the ratings of that night’s show lagged the average: 19
3/09Average number of hours of television watched per week by Americans aged 43 to 61: 19
Average number watched by those aged 26 to 42 and those aged 14 to 25, respectively: 15, 11
10/98Price of a set of How to Build Your Own Casket instructions, from Homemade Caskets of California: $19.50
5/85Percentage of all cases of measles in the United States that occurred on college campuses in 1980: 1.5
6/88Price of Video Dog, a tape offering the “experience of owning a pet without the mess and inconvenience”: $19.95
7/91Price of an American flag necktie that plays “The Star-Spangled Banner,” from a Bradenton, Florida, company: $19.95
5/92Price of Video Catnip, a 25-minute video of birds, squirrels, and chipmunks, from Pet Avision: $19.95
5/93Price of a 2-ounce bottle of Starclone, a cologne made from the sweat of Sammy Kershaw, a country singer: $19.95
6/94Price of one cubic foot of Whitewater dirt, from the Whitewater Development Company, digging not included: $19.95
6/96Price of Forecast for Victory, a Weather Channel video exploring weather’s “intriguing role” in World War II: $19.95
7/05Price for a set of six Harley Davidson ‒brand votive candles: $19.95
In the Soviet Union: 4
In Switzerland: 20
3/85Average number of maggots the U.S. Food and Drug Administration permits per 100 grams of canned mushrooms: 20
6/85Percentage of Americans who say they would rather have a tooth pulled than take a car in for repairs: 20
8/85Percentage of families in New York City with annual incomes over $50,000 that are black: 7
Who are retired today: 20
12/92Percentage by which the average pay at foreign-owned companies in the U.S. exceeds pay at U.S. companies here: 20
4/93Percentage of Americans who are willing to “accept limits on what health care is available to the average person”: 20
3/94Ratio of the amount Americans believe is spent on U.S. foreign aid each year to the amount that is actually spent: 20:1
12/86Estimated number of people in the Netherlands who die at their own request every day: 20
4/88Amount of time, since last April, that Americans spent on hold while calling the IRS (in years): 20
8/89Percentage of men earning more than $50,000 a year who say they have had at least six affairs with co-workers: 20
11/89Estimated percentage increase in sales of horseshoes since George Bush took office: 20
12/89Number of U.S. companies financed with junk bonds that have failed to meet loan obligations this year: 20
Number of developing countries that have failed to meet loan obligations to the World Bank this year: 9
12/89Number of evangelical broadcast ministries that are currently being investigated by the IRS: 20
2/90Percentage of American twenty-one-year-olds who can read a bus schedule: 20
11/90Airtime NBC Nightly News devoted in August to an interview with Omar Sharif about U.S.-Arab relations, in seconds: 20
12/90Amount the Israeli government plans to charge Palestinians in the Occupied Territories for a gas mask: $20
1/91Number of Fortune 500 companies whose personnel departments have employed genetic screening or monitoring: 20
3/91Price of a pound of smut, a fungus that lives on corn kernels, from Grace’s Marketplace in New York City: $20
7/92Number of the 24 largest industrialized nations that have tightened their restrictions on imports since 1980: 20
8/92Bonus the Chinese government pays selected scholars and scientists each month to discourage emigration: $20
8/92Percentage of French women who do not view being asked to undress for a job interview as sexual harassment: 20
8/92Average percentage change in the GNP during each four-year Democratic administration since 1949: +20
Average percentage change in the GNP during each four-year Republican administration: -9
8/92Number of extra dancers a Houston topless bar plans to hire during the Republican Convention this month: 20
2/94Price of an “authentic, preworn” plaid flannel shirt by mail order from Blowhole Productions of Seattle: $20
3/94Average number of “pet bereavement” clients seen each week last year by Diane Kelly, a California therapist: 20
9/94Ratio of the average libel award won in a U.S. court since 1990 to the average amount paid after appeal: 20:1