Mr. Smarty Pants Knows...

About 30 percent of all American families own at least one dog.

When public-health laboratories were started in Great Britain in 1946, there were some 1,000 cases of salmonella a year. Today, the number of cases is 30,000 a year.

Robert Bosch invented the spark plug.

An Ohio driver's license is suspended every 45 seconds -- more than 700,000 in 1996. More unlicensed drivers are in jail (in the state's Franklin County) than suspects jailed for murder, rape, robbery, and burglary combined.

There is a vampire monster flying around biting all the goats in Puerto Rico. Locals call him "Chupacabra."

The above is information which Mr. Smarty Pants read in a book, a magazine, or the newspaper; heard on the radio; saw on television; or overheard at a party. Got any facts? Leave a message for Mr. Smarty Pants, at 454-5766, ext. 226 for possible inclusion in the column. E-mail: [email protected]