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: mrpants@auschron.com

This article appears in December 27 • 1996 and December 27 • 1996 (Cover).

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