THE U.S. RANKED BY YARD SIZE

In the United States, residential lawns average 10,871 square feet (or roughly a quarter of an acre). This depends greatly on location. For instance, the average lawn size in California is 5,575 square feet. This is calculated by taking the average lot size in California of 7,200 feet and subtracting the average home size, 1625 square feet. Meanwhile locals in Montana get more than an acre and half of yard space. That’s 71,576 square feet.

TOP 10 STATES BY AVERAGE LAWN SIZE
State	Average House Size	Average Lot Size	Average Yard Size
Vermont	1,815	75,974	73,979
Montana	2,040	73,616	71,576
Mississippi	1,879	56,628	54,749
New Hampshire	1,768	48,787	47,019
Maine	1,663	44,431	42,768
Louisiana	1,786	43,650	41,774
West Virginia	1,714	40,511	38,977
Arkansas	1,792	32,234	30,442
Wisconsin	1,669	30,000	28,331
Tennessee	1,848	27,443	25,595
Alaska	1,789	26,572	24,783

BYD DELIVERING THE WORLD’S LARGEST ELECTRIC BUS FLEET

BYD Co Ltd (Build Your Dreams) is a Chinese manufacturer of automobiles, battery-powered bicycles, buses, forklifts, rechargeable batteries and trucks. The city of Shenzhen has become the first city to electrify 100 percent of its public buses – that is a total of 16,539 buses! According to the latest reports, worldwide the number of electric buses increased in 2018 by 32 percent to about 425,000. Of those, 421,000, a share of 99 percent are in China. Europe has around 2,250 electric buses and the U.S. a meager 300. Video below is drone footage of largest ever delivery of electric buses to the city of Shenzhen at the end of 2015.

NUMBER OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE WHO ARE 100 YEARS OR OLDER

This year, the number of centenarians has increased to a new high of around 533,000 worldwide. The United Nations expects that number to rise to approximately 573,000 by 2020. The U.S. has the highest absolute number of centenarians in the world with 72,000 living in the country. Japan comes in second with 68,000 Japanese who are 100 years older. Japan is home to the world’s oldest person, Kane Tanaka, who is age 116. Kane Tanaka is a so-called supercentenarian, which is a person living to or beyond the age of 110. Japan is also the country with the highest rate of centenarians, counting 48 for every 1,000 Japanese. Spain, the Czech Republic, France, Canada and Italy are also home to high numbers of centenarians compared to population size.

THE MAELSTROM OF SALTSTRAUMEN – EARTH’S STRONGEST MAELSTROM (WHIRLPOOL)

A whirlpool (or maelstrom) is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. The Maelstrom of Saltstraumen is earth’s strongest maelstrom. It is located close to the Arctic Circle, 20 miles round the bay on Highway 17, southeast of the city Bodø, Norway. The strait at its narrowest is 490 feet in width and water “funnels” through the channel four times a day. It is estimated that 110 billion gallons of water passes the narrow strait during this event. The water reaches speeds of 25 miles per hour with mean speed of about 8.1 miles per hour. The Maelstrom of Saltstraumen’s impressive strength is caused by the world’s strongest tide occurring in the same location during the new and full moon.

HURRICANES THAT CAUSED $10 BILLION OR MORE IN DAMAGES - 2000 TO 2017

There were 13 hurricanes that caused more than $10 billion in damage each in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions between 2000 and 2017. Seven occurred in just two years (2004 and 2005). While the population in these areas remained at about 54.5 million between 2005 and 2006, their aggregate population has continued to grow every year since.

ATLANTIC, GULF OF MEXICO AND PACIFIC COASTLINE REGIONS - POPULATION GROWTH

Coastline counties – those adjacent to coastal water or territorial sea – are grouped into the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Pacific regions. About 94.7 million people, or about 29.1% of the total U.S. population, lived in coastline counties in 2017, a 15.3% growth since 2000. About 60.2 million people lived in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions – those most vulnerable to hurricanes. These areas added 8.3 million people between 2000 and 2017, a 16% increase. The Gulf of Mexico was the fastest growing of the coastline regions. It added more than 3 million people between 2000 and 2017, 1 26.1% increase. The nation as a whole grew by 15.7%

POPULATION BY COASTLINE REGION
Region	Number of Counties	Population, in millions	Percent of U.S. Total
Coastline	255	94.7	29.1
Atlantic	129	44.4	13.6
Pacific	70	34.4	10.6
Gulf of Mexico	56	15.8	4.9
Noncoastline	2,887	231.1	70.9
United States	3,142	325.7	100.0

Although the Gulf of Mexico was the smallest of the coastline regions, it was also the fastest growing between 2000 and 2017, adding more than 3 million people for an increase of 26.1 percent – more than 10 percentage points higher than the U.S. growth rate of 15.7 percent over the same period. Harris County, TX, which had the largest numeric gain of any county in the United States over the period, played a noteworthy role in the Gulf of Mexico region’s growth rate.

FARTHEST USPS LOCATIONS FROM THE CONTINENTAL U.S.

The farthest United States post office from the mainland U.S.* is located in the Freely Associated State of Palau. The country contains approximately 340 islands, forming the western chain of the Carolina Islands in Micronesia. The most populous island is Koror. *as the crow flies from Los Angeles

FARTHEST USPS LOCATIONS FROM THE CONTINENTAL U.S.
Post Office Location	Miles*	Zip Code
Palau	11,090	96939
Guam	9,802	96910
Northern Mariana Islands	9,446	96951
Marshall Islands	7,804	96960
American Samoa	7,677	96799
Wake Island	7,484	96898

SPIRAL ESCALATORS

A spiral escalator is a special design type of escalator in the form of a spiral/helical with curved steps. This escalator can curve to the left or right. The first spiral/helical escalator was developed and sold by Mitsubishi Electric in 1985. Since that time, Mitsubishi Electric has continued to be the only manufacturer to offer spiral escalators for indoor use. The first spiral escalator was installed at the International Exhibition Center in Osaka, Japan. The largest order of spiral escalators was the Shanghai New World Daimaru in Shanghai, China. A total of 12 units were installed in 2015.

SPRIAL ESCALATOR INSTALLATIONS IN THE U.S.
BUILDING	LOCATION	YEAR INSTALLED
San Francisco Center	San Francisco, CA	1988
The Forum Shops at Caesars	Las Vegas, NV	2003
Wynn Las Vegas	Las Vegas, NV	2004

WORLD’S LARGEST MOVABLE LAND-BASED STRUCTURE – CHERNOBYL NSC

The Chernobyl New Safe Confinement (NSC) is a structure built to confine the remains of the number 4 reactor unit at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, which was destroyed during the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The structure also enclosed the temporary shelter structure (sarcophagus) that was built around the reactor immediately after the disaster. The NSC was constructed 590 feet west of reactor 4, and slid into place. Sliding of the structure along foundation rails was a difficult process. It was pushed on Teflon pads by hydraulic pistons, and guided by lasers. The NSC is the world’s largest land-based structure ever moved. By the numbers: Ø  Weight: 40,000 tons; roughly the weight of 3 Eiffel Towers, 107 fully loaded 747s, or the USS Missouri Battleship Ø  Height: 590 feet tall; roughly the height of the Seattle Space Needle or the Washington Monument Ø  Length: 530 feet; roughly one and a half football fields Ø  Cost: $2.3 billion contributed by more than 40 nations

APOLLO, PENNSYLVANIA

At the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Apollo, Pennsylvania was the only place in the world named Apollo. Coincidentally, Apollo is in Armstrong County, and the name of the first astronaut to walk on the moon was Neil Armstrong. But wait; it gets better. On the day of the moon landing, members of the Apollo fire department dressed as astronauts and drove to nearby Moon Township, Pennsylvania, where they planted a flag and returned with some “Moon Soil”. And, by the way, Apollo, PA is a palindrome (reads the same forward and backward).

APOLLO 11 MEMORIAL IN APOLLO, PA

ISLAND PARK, IDAHO - "LONGEST MAIN STREET" IN THE WORLD

Island Park is a city in Fremont County, Idaho. The city’s population was 286 at the 2010 census. The city was incorporated by owners of the many lodges and resorts along U.S. Route 20 in 1947, primarily to circumvent Idaho’s liquor laws that prohibited the sale of liquor outside of city limits. Island Park is only 500 feet wide in most location and, at 33 miles long, it claims to have longest “Main Street” in the world.

MILLIONAIRE MIGRATION

TRIPITAKA TABLETS AT KUTHODAW PAGODA – WORLD’S LARGEST BOOK (WIKIPEDIA)

The stone tablets inscribed with the Tripitaka (traditional term for Buddhist scriptures) stand upright on the grounds of the Kuthodaw Pagoda at the foot of Mandalay Hill in Mandalay, Myanmar. The work was commissioned by King Mindon as part of his transformation of Mandalay into a royal capital It was completed in 1868. The text contains the Buddhist canon in the Burmese language. There are 730 tablets and 1,460 pages. Each page is 3½ feet wide by 5 feet tall and 5⅛ inches thick. Each stone tablet has its own roof and precious gem on top in a small cave-like structure around a central pagoda.

“THIS IS MUHAMMAD” – WORLD’S LARGEST BOOK (GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS)

This is Muhammad was written by Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Muslih, Saudi author and Secretary General of the Complex for Islamic Fiqh (knowledge about Islamic legal rulings) Research in Riyadh. Over 50 people took part in the construction of the book that cost around $3,000,000. The book measures 16.40 feet by 26.44 feet, weighs approximately 3,306 pounds and consists of 429 pages. This is Muhammad sheds light on the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), explaining the achievements and positive effects he had had on humans and political areas.  😮😯😏😉 SOURCE:  http://www.arabnews.com/news/454638

EARTH PLATINUM – WORLD’S LARGEST ATLAS (CURRENT TITLE HOLDER)

Earth Platinum, published by Millennium House in 2012, is the world’s largest atlas. Earth Platinum is 6 feet by 4½ feet, weighs 330 pounds and has 128 pages. Each page is so large that it takes two hands (or people) to turn a page. Published in Australia, with the help of a team of over 88 cartographers from around the world, the book is a mixture of maps and gigapixel photography. The atlas was printed in Italy and hand-bound in Hong Kong. Among its many spectacular images, Earth Platinum contains the world’s largest image in a book, a photo of the Shanghai skyline. The image size is 272 gigapixels and made up of more than 12 thousand images tiled together.

THE KLENCKE ATLAS - WORLD’S LARGEST ATLAS (1660-2012)

The Klencke Atlas, first published in 1660, is one of the world’s largest atlases. It is 5”9: tall by 6”3” wide when open. The atlas is so heavy that it takes 6 people to carry it. The Klencke Atlas is a singular work, no other copies were created. It is a world atlas made up of 41 copperplate wall maps that remain in exceptionally good condition. The maps are the continents and assorted European states. It was created by Dutch Prince John Maurice of Nassau and was presented to King Charles II of England in 1660 to mark the occasion of his restoration to the throne. Up until 2012, the Klencke Atlas was widely regarded as the world’s largest atlas, a record it probably held since the atlas was created 350 years earlier.

The Klencke Atlas on Display at the British Library

WORLD'S LARGEST ICEBREAKERS

In a ceremony held on May 25, 2019 at the Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg, the nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural was launched. The Ural is the third in the class of three Project 22220 icebreakers. The Ural, and her two sister ships, Arktika, and Sibir, are 567 feet long and 111 feet wide, making them the largest icebreakers ever constructed. The ships displace a massive 33,000 tons and are able to break through 3 meters of ice. They each have two RITM-200 reactors of 175MWt each, delivering 60 MW at the propellers via twin turbine-generators and three motors.

NEW CAR DEALERSHIPS

In 2016, there were 4,816 fewer new car dealerships than there were in 2005. The number of persons employed at new car dealerships declined from 2005 to 2012, but the total number employed in 2016 has almost returned to the 2005 level. The average number of persons employed at new car dealerships has increased from 44 in 2015 to 54 in 2016, and average compensation per employee over that same period has increased by 24.06%.

Year	Dealerships	Employees	Annual Payroll ($1000)	Average Number of Employees	Average Annual Salary Per Employee ($)
2016	21,427	1,149,789	62,049,781	54	53,966
2015	21,444	1,104,795	59,936,561	52	47,915
2014	21,329	1,056,700	55,518,265	50	52,539
2013	21,390	1,010,052	51,702,575	47	51,188
2012	21,277	975,429	48,534,835	46	49,757
2011	21,327	938,437	45,616,965	44	48,610
2010	21,927	926,256	42,534,589	42	45,921
2009	22,936	940,917	40,203,039	41	42,728
2008	24,200	1,125,163	47,150,010	46	41,905
2007	24,370	1,137,524	50,874,842	47	44,724
2006	25,964	1,158,275	51,322,647	45	44,310
2005	26,243	1,166,996	50,765,463	44	43,501

SOURCE: American Fact Finder