By 2020, native speakers of English will make up only 15% of the estimated two billion people who will be using or learning English.

Some believe the creators of the Oreo cookie, introduced by Nabisco in 1912, copied the Hydrox cookie, introduced by Sunshine in 1908.

According to Evolution 2008, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), responsible for most of the AIDS cases in the world, first infected people about 100 years ago. Its lesser known cousin, HIV-2, jumped into humans decades later from a monkey species.

There’s a discussion group on Facebook that speaks only in Beatles lyrics.

According to scientists at Imperial College London, people’s blood pressure rises when a plane flies overhead even when test subjects are asleep. A study of 5,000 45- to 70-year-olds living near airports for at least five years found they were at greater risk of suffering from hypertension.

This article appears in July 18 • 2008.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US