74 of the New York Times’ interesting facts that were part of a story in 2020 (although most of the facts come from another year, or even another century).

I was especially impressed by #30.

Some examples…

17. One study, published in Nature Climate Change in March, found that more than half of the world’s sandy beaches could disappear by the end of this century.

27. Before the Industrial Revolution, the principal sources of noise were thunder, church bells and cannon fire.

30. George Washington survived smallpox, malaria (six times), diphtheria, tuberculosis (twice) and pneumonia. ((People say that things are terrible today, but I feel that that’s because they don’t know much history, and how awful things used to be. Do you know anyone who has had smallpox or diphtheria? Do you know the difference between typhus and typhoid?))

42. Over the past five years in Minneapolis, the police have used force against Black people at seven times the rate it has been used against white people.

65. Often, the screams we hear in movies and TV are created by doubles and voice actors. One stock scream is so well-used it’s got a name, the Wilhelm. It’s in hundreds of films.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/insider/74-of-our-favorite-facts-for-2020.html