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Percentage change since [1990s|1999] in the number of [Bankruptcy|bankruptcies] of companies with liabilities of more than $1 billion

: +106

Months after Element 118 was added to a textbook’s periodic table last year that its discovery was invalidated

: 4

Rank of “serendipity” among [Language|words most often queried] on Cambridge Dictionaries Online last [October|October]

: 1

Year in which the word was coined from the [Iran|Persian] fairy tale “The Three Princes of Serendip”

: 1754

Percentage of U.S. [College|college] [Student|students] who say they intend to pursue a foreign language

: 57

Percentage who are actually enrolled in a foreign-language course

: 8

Number of nations that got less than [Media|ten minutes’ coverage] on [Television|U.S. network evening news] in the [1990s|1990s]

: 88

Ratio of [Minutes|minutes] devoted to [Afghanistan|Afghanistan] in the [1990s|1990s] to those devoted to it in three weeks last [Fall|fall]

: 1:1

Minimum number of [SaudiArabia|Saudis] who have been trained in [AlQaeda|Al Qaeda] camps

: 5,000

Ratio of the number of [Army|U.S. soldiers] [Death|killed] by hostile fire since [1990s|1990] to the number who have committed [Suicide|suicide]

: 1:5

Last day on which a total tally of those [Freedom|detained] in U.S. [Terrorism|terrorism] investigations was [Justice|released] to the public

: 11/2

Amount of [Finance|debt] carried by [NewYorkCity|New York City’s] government, per resident, before [September11|September 11]

: $5,066

Ratio of natural disasters worldwide necessitating help from outside the immediate region in the [1990s|1990s] to those in the [1970s|1970s]

: 2:1

Pounds of dust blown into the air each year worldwide, per capita

: 769

Number of [Days|days] that E. coli bacteria can survive on polyurethane plastic

: 15

Last year for which [GAO|General Accounting Office] data on U.S. baggage screeners was not classified as “sensitive”

: 1987

Chance that a potentially dangerous item was missed by screeners that year, according to the [GAO|GAO]

: 1 in 5

Minimum number of [Winter|Winter] [Olympics|Olympics] volunteers who were rejected last [Fall|fall] after a [Crime|criminal] background check

: 273

Number of cases of Polygamy Porter [Business|sold] by a [Utah|Utah] [Beer|brewery] since [October|October]

: 1,000

Percentage of Americans [Ignorance|who believe] that the tenets of [Superstition|astrology] “probably” or “definitely” have some [Science|scientific] truth

: 48

Last year in which Americans’ confidence in the [FederalGovernment|federal government] “to do what is right” was as high as it is today

: 1968

Number of the ten amendments in the [BillofRights|Bill of Rights] that are violated by the [HomelandSecurity|USA PATRIOT Act], according to the [ACLU|ACLU]

: 5

Number of U.S. [College|colleges] and universities that were asked by law enforcement to release [Student|student] information last [Fall|fall]

: 220

Percentage that released the [Student|students’] information without informing them

: 90

Amount the [Pentagon|Pentagon] paid a private company last [Fall|fall] for exclusive access to [Technology|satellite] pictures of [Afghanistan|Afghanistan]

: $3,800,000

Estimated number of U.S. sorties flown in [Iraq|Iraqi] no-fly zones last year

: 10,000

Gallons of concentrated [Anthrax|anthrax] that [Iraq|Iraq] has admitted to producing as a biological [Weapons|weapon]

: 2,245

Number of biological materials with military potential sent to [Iraq|Iraq] by the U.S. [CDC|Centers for Disease Control] in the [1980s|1980s]

: 14

Minimum number of the ten biological materials suspected in [Iraq|Iraqi] warfare research that were supplied by U.S. firms

: 9

Number of mock biological attacks with live bacteria carried out domestically by the [Army|U.S. Army] between [1940s|1949] and [1960s|1969]

: 199

Year in which [Army|the Army] released bacteria into [NewYorkCity|New York City’s] [Transportation|subway] system

: 1966

Percentage of [Navy|Navy] recruits from the [NewYorkCity|New York City] area last year who were green-card holders

: 40

Change since 2000 in the percentage of [LatinAmerica|Latin Americans] who say they prefer [Democracy|democracy] to other forms of government

: ???12

Change since then in the percentage who feel “confident” in the [CatholicFaith|Catholic] Church

: ???5

Percentage of U.S. [Religion|Jews] who rank the separation of church and state among the top reasons for the country’s success

: 86

[Religion|] Percentage of the total U.S. population who believe this

: 61

Percentage of Americans [Ignorance|who believe] that the theory of human [Evolution|evolution] is “probably” or “definitely” not true

: 47

Number of years after being executed as [Witch|witches] that six [Massachusetts|Massachusetts] [Women|women] were exonerated last [Fall|fall]

: 309

Number of [Obesity|Pop-Tarts] dropped on [Afghanistan|Afghanistan] as part of U.S. airborne [Food|food] aid in the first month of bombing

: 2,400,000

Number of knee bends that a 59-year-old [Ukraine|Ukrainian] [Women|woman] performed last [Fall|fall] to protest U.S. attacks on [Afghanistan|Afghanistan]

: 1,101
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