Greetings from London. Here is what I learned in July.
Things I Learned
Japan does not have a foreign intelligence agency. (source)
Manhattan today has 600k fewer residents than it did in 1910. (source)
In virtually all favorite-color polls, blue is overwhelmingly selected as the favorite. The second place color — red or green, depending on the country — is typically at least 10 to 20 percentage points behind. (source)
North Korea played in the 2010 World Cup. (source)
There is no standardized and/or legal definition of the “sell-by” date on food. It is purely an inventory management tool. (source)
The share of wealth held by the top 10 per cent in the US, the UK, and Europe has been flat or falling for the past 15 years. (source; see also)
Chickens are unable to sweat. (source)
In order to encourage tax compliance, every receipt in Taiwan is automatically a lottery ticket. The lottery is drawn every two months, and consumers can win up to $300k. (source, h/t)
The amount of fabric in the average dress fell from 20 square yards in 1910, to 7 square yards in 1920. (source)
If you draw a straight line from the easternmost to westernmost points of the contiguous United States, and another from the northernmost to southernmost, the two lines do not intersect.1 (source)
No mammals have naturally green fur. (source)
White Castle is the oldest fast food chain in the US. (source)
90% of Americans born in 1940 earned more than their parents did by age 30. Among those born in the 1980s, only about half did. (source).
The can opener was invented nearly 50 years after the can. Prior to that, cans were opened with a hammer and chisel, or by throwing them in the fire until they melted. (source)
There was a U.S. president whose first language was not English. (source)
The US imports more from Taiwan than it does from China. (source)
Among dual-income married couples in the US, about 30% of wives earn more than their husbands. (source)
The term “tank” for an armored vehicle originated as a British World War I code name intended to disguise the vehicles as water tanks. (source)
Corrigenda:
Thanks to those of you who sent in corrections to last month’s Things I Learned. Two corrections:
Fact #10 meant to say “Xi Jinping’s salary is $22,000 a year,” not $22,000 a month.
Fact #1 stated that the “the number of abortions in the US has increased since the repeal of Roe v. Wade.” As was pointed out to me, it was not “repealed” but “overturned.”
On This Day in Previous Editions
(July 2023) (#4) The last time a US troop was killed from an enemy aircraft attack was 1953. (source)
(July 2025): (#15) Ministers in the Singaporean government — i.e. the equivalent of cabinet secretaries — earn an average salary of $1.1 million per year, as their salary is computed by taking the average income of the top 1000 highest income earners in the country. (source)
(July 2024) (#1) Town planning used to be an Olympic event. (source)
Things I Liked
The design of the new Theodore Roosevelt museum in North Dakota.
The Odyssey
This article about Driscoll’s berries [feat. this fun fact: “Driscoll’s is now the second-highest-earning brand in American supermarkets, behind only Coca-Cola”]
This picture of the construction of the Sagrada Familia in 1906.
The plans for Emirates new “U-Dream” headrest in economy class.2
Graphs I Liked
The decline of fun
Superhero fatigue
“The wealthier you are in the US, the more likely your kids are to be employed by 27, until you get to the 90th percentile (about $250k a year in household income today), after which it goes downhill” (h/t, source)
Final Thoughts
I hope everyone had a nice July. For me, the beginning was consumed with July 4 festivities, the World Cup and such; the end was marked by a week-long trip to the UK, first to visit various friends in London and then to attend the wedding of a former colleague from my days at The Economist.3 One interesting difference between British and American weddings is that the groom apparently always gives a speech at British weddings, whereas speeches from either the bride or groom seem much less common at American weddings (I’m not sure I’ve ever heard one?).
Other things: I attended my first professional cricket match (I have many, many thoughts on how the sport can be improved); I learned a new card game, Mille Bornes, that I very much enjoyed; and I played in two tennis tournaments, one of which went well and one which did not.
Finally, this month marks exactly 3 years since the very first edition of this Things I Learned newsletter. Crunching the numbers, I seem to have learned 623 things since then. Thanks to everyone who has subscribed.
Speaking of corporate innovation, I also enjoyed this FT article about how various companies are unveiling bespoke scents.
One problem with going to a wedding with journalists is that I was definitely the least interesting person at the dinner table.