Weather Trivia

Think all tornado’s deaths occur in the midwest? What state has the highest death rate related to tornado’s? In the last decade 110 deaths have occurred in this state. Tennessee

In the United States what is the leading cause for lightning injuries during a thunderstorm? (its not Golfing, or satellite dish repair). Talking on the Telephone

What state has more lightning injuries and deaths occurred than in all other states combined? Florida

Scholars estimate that 50 million people world wide will displaced by 2010 due to serious weather related environmental changes caused by ________________.  Global Warming

I Can’t Believe You Just Ate That… trivia

According to government and industry estimates, what percentage of bottled water is ordinary tap water, often with no additional treatment?  ( “Additional Treatment”-changing the lawn hose before filling a new batch.) Almost 40% of bottled water is officially ‘tap water’…

This allergy afflicts almost 4 million Americans, and can be life threatening. Almost half of annual hospital visits  and two thirds of deaths due to anaphylaxis are a result of this allergy… Peanuts.

This regularly eaten food contains alkaloid theobromine, which in high doses can kill humans, and even in small doses can kill dogs, cats, horses, and parrots, what is it? Chocolate

What well known poison has been approved by the FDA as an additive to poultry feed and given to at least 70% of chickens raised for consumption in the United States? This poison has been linked to cancer, birth defects, diabetes and death. (Whats worse is that this poison has virtually no taste, at the very least they could use cyanide which tastes like almonds, and is every bit as deadly). Asbestos

by the way, none of these are my own. I bought a book 1,001 Facts that will scare the S#*t out of you. Great “office” read… I think I’ll be posting a ton more from this book…

Capital punishment trivia

Hanging is the oldest form of capital punishment, when was the last ‘hanging’ in the U.S.? And what states is hanging still legal? The last public hanging in the United States took place on August 14, 1936, in Owensboro, Kentucky. Rainey Bethea was executed for the rape and murder of 70-year-old Lischa Edwards. The execution was presided over by the first female sheriff in Kentucky, Florence Thompson. Only the states of Washington and New Hampshire presently retain hanging as an option.

What percentage of death row inmates are actually executed?  Of the 7,320 people under a death sentence between 1977 and 2005, 14 percent had been executed, 4 percent died from causes other than execution and 37 percent received other dispositions. A slightly higher percentage of whites (16 percent) than blacks and Hispanics (11 percent) have been executed.

Because of the writings of criminologists, who argued that the death penalty was a necessary social measure, and save the county millions of dollars during a difficult economic time, this decade averaged 167 executions a year. What decade had the most executions in U.S. History? It was the 1930’s.

Extra credit: What was the first state to adopt lethal injection as a means of execution? In 1977, Oklahoma became the first state to adopt lethal injection as a means of execution, though it would be five more years until Charles Brooks would become the first person executed by lethal injection in Texas on December 2, 1982.