January — Wise Men Stats

Inspired by Harper's Index

Wise Men Stats–style statistics. One month. 31 days. No repeats.

January 1

Inspired by Harper's Index

Percentage of New Year's resolutions abandoned by February: 80%
Number of champagne bottles consumed worldwide on New Year's Eve: 360 million
Average number of "Happy New Year" texts sent globally in the first minute of January 1: 1.4 billion
Year the ball first dropped in Times Square: 1907
Estimated weight of confetti dropped in Times Square each year, in tons: 50
Number of countries where January 1 is not the official new year: 37
Rank of "exercise more" among the most common New Year's resolutions globally: 1
Average number of days a New Year's resolution is kept before being broken: 19
Percentage of people who make the same resolution two years in a row: 38%
Number of babies born worldwide on January 1: approximately 371,000
Approximate number of New Year's Day parades held globally: 500
Year the Gregorian calendar — which fixed January 1 as the new year — was adopted in England: 1752

January 2

Estimated number of Christmas trees still standing in U.S. homes on January 2: 25 million
Percentage of global email spam that originates from botnets: 45%
Year the first postage stamp — the Penny Black — was issued: 1840
Average number of words a human speaks per day: 16,000
Number of bones in the human hand: 27
Weight of the world's largest recorded snowflake, in grams: 3
Volume in liters of water the Amazon River discharges into the Atlantic Ocean per second: 209,000
Year Isaac Asimov was born (January 2, 1920): 1920
Percentage of the world's freshwater locked in glaciers: 69%
Average hours of sleep lost per person during the holiday season compared to normal weeks: 1.5
Number of bird species that can mimic human speech: over 100
Year the first color television broadcast was made in the United States: 1954

January 3

Diameter in miles of the Sun compared to Earth: 109 times larger
Year Alaska became the 49th U.S. state (January 3, 1959): 1959
Number of active volcanoes on Earth: approximately 1,500
Percentage of the universe composed of dark matter: 27%
Average number of lightning strikes on Earth per second: 100
Length in miles of the world's longest cave system, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky: 426
Number of ants estimated to be alive on Earth at any moment: 20 quadrillion
Percentage of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere: 21%
Year the first U.S. patent was issued: 1790
Speed at which Earth travels around the Sun, in miles per hour: 67,000
Number of known exoplanets as of 2024: over 5,500
Ratio of bacteria cells to human cells in the human body: approximately 1.3 to 1

January 4

Year Isaac Newton was born (January 4, 1643, Old Style): 1643
Number of laws of motion Newton formulated: 3
Percentage of the human brain composed of water: 75%
Estimated number of neurons in the human brain: 86 billion
Number of synaptic connections in the brain: approximately 100 trillion
Year the Braille writing system was published: 1829
Average speed of a nerve impulse in the human body, in miles per hour: 268
Percentage of people who are left-handed globally: 10%
Number of taste buds on the average human tongue: 10,000
Year the first crossword puzzle was published (New York World, 1913): 1913
Estimated number of dreams the average person has per night: 4 to 6
Percentage of dreams that people remember upon waking: 5%

January 5

Year Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) was born: approximately 1412
Percentage of Earth's surface covered by the Sahara Desert: 3%
Number of languages spoken in Papua New Guinea alone: over 800
Average temperature at Earth's core, in degrees Fahrenheit: 10,800
Estimated weight of all the blood in the adult human body, in pounds: 10
Number of known species of sharks: over 500
Speed of a great white shark's bite force, in pounds per square inch: 4,000
Year the first refrigerator was patented: 1834
Percentage of the human body that is water: 60%
Number of liters of blood the heart pumps per day: 7,500
Average length in meters of the small intestine: 6
Number of countries that border Germany: 9

January 6

Year Epiphany (Three Kings Day) was first celebrated as a Christian feast: approximately 4th century CE
Number of gifts in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song: 364
Estimated dollar value of all gifts exchanged at Christmas globally, in billions: 465
Year the first recorded chess match was played: approximately 600 CE in Persia
Average number of moves in a chess game: 40
Number of possible unique chess games: more than 10 to the 120th power
Year the U.S. Electoral College process was codified in the 12th Amendment: 1804
Estimated number of books in the Library of Congress: 17 million
Percentage of published books that are never checked out of a library: 85%
Average number of pages in a novel: 300
Year the first e-book was created (Project Gutenberg): 1971
Number of languages the Bible has been translated into: over 700

January 7

Year the first U.S. presidential election was held: 1789
Number of electors in the original U.S. Electoral College: 69
Age at which the average American reads their last book for pleasure: 45
Percentage of U.S. adults who have not read a book in the past year: 26%
Year the fax machine was patented: 1843
Number of fax machines still in use globally as of 2020: approximately 46 million
Speed at which information travels through optical fiber, as a percentage of the speed of light: 70%
Average number of emails sent per day globally: 333 billion
Year the "@" symbol was chosen for email addresses by Ray Tomlinson: 1971
Percentage of emails that are spam: 45%
Number of characters in the original SMS message limit: 160
Year the first text message was sent: 1992

January 8

Year Elvis Presley was born (January 8, 1935): 1935
Number of gold records Elvis earned in his lifetime: 14
Estimated number of Elvis impersonators worldwide: 85,000
Year rock and roll was first used as a term in a song: 1922
Number of instruments Beethoven mastered: 4
Year Beethoven completed his Ninth Symphony despite being fully deaf: 1824
Average number of musical notes a trained composer can hold in working memory at once: 7
Percentage of humans who experience "chills" from music: 65%
Year the vinyl record was invented: 1948
Number of grooves on a standard vinyl LP per side: approximately 500
Speed at which a vinyl record rotates per minute: 33⅓
Estimated global revenue of the music streaming industry in 2023, in billions of dollars: 19.3

January 9

Year the first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs: 2007
Number of iPhones sold in the first year: 1.39 million
Percentage of the world's population that owns a smartphone: 68%
Average number of times a person checks their phone per day: 96
Number of apps available in the Apple App Store as of 2024: approximately 1.8 million
Estimated hours per day the average person spends on their phone: 4.6
Year the first computer bug was discovered (an actual moth in a relay): 1947
Number of transistors in a modern microprocessor: over 100 billion
Year Moore's Law was first proposed: 1965
Percentage of the world's data created in the past two years: 90%
Volume in data centers needed to store all human knowledge, in exabytes: approximately 44
Year the World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee: 1989

January 10

Average temperature of the deep ocean, in degrees Celsius: 2
Percentage of the ocean that has been explored by humans: 20%
Depth of the Mariana Trench, the deepest ocean point, in miles: 6.8
Number of species estimated to live in the deep ocean that have not been discovered: 700,000
Year the first submarine capable of military operations was deployed: 1864
Pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench compared to sea level: 1,000 times greater
Estimated weight of all plastic in the ocean, in metric tons: 170 trillion
Number of years it takes for a plastic bottle to decompose in the ocean: 450
Percentage of oxygen produced by marine phytoplankton: 50%
Area in square miles of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch: 617,763
Number of known species of fish: approximately 34,000
Deepest dive ever made by a human in a submarine, in feet: 36,000

January 11

Year insulin was first successfully used to treat diabetes: 1922
Estimated number of people worldwide living with diabetes: 537 million
Number of calories burned per hour while sleeping: 60
Average resting heart rate of a human, in beats per minute: 70
Lowest recorded resting heart rate in an athlete, in beats per minute: 27
Percentage of heart attacks that occur between 6 a.m. and noon: 40%
Year the pacemaker was invented: 1958
Number of heart beats in an average lifetime: approximately 2.5 billion
Percentage of the human genome shared with a banana: 60%
Year the Human Genome Project was completed: 2003
Number of base pairs in the human genome: 3.2 billion
Estimated cost of sequencing a human genome in 2001 versus 2024: $100 million vs. $200

January 12

Year Haiti's devastating earthquake struck (January 12, 2010): 2010
Estimated death toll from the 2010 Haiti earthquake: 230,000
Magnitude of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake on the Richter scale: 7.9
Number of earthquakes that occur globally per year: approximately 500,000
Percentage of those earthquakes that humans can feel: 1%
Depth in miles at which most earthquakes occur: between 0 and 43
Speed at which tectonic plates move per year, in inches: 1 to 4
Year the concept of tectonic plates was first proposed by Alfred Wegener: 1912
Estimated time in millions of years since the supercontinent Pangaea broke apart: 175
Number of major tectonic plates on Earth: 7
Year the deadliest earthquake in recorded history struck Shaanxi, China: 1556
Estimated death toll of the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake: 830,000

January 13

Fraction of the world's land that is considered arable (suitable for farming): one-third
Number of crop species that make up 75% of the global food supply: 12
Percentage of the global population that was food insecure in 2023: 29%
Year the first genetically modified crop was approved for commercial sale: 1994
Amount of food wasted globally each year, in metric tons: 1.3 billion
Percentage of greenhouse gas emissions attributable to food production: 26%
Number of calories in a pound of body fat: 3,500
Average weight of food consumed per person per day, in pounds: 5
Year Clarence Birdseye developed commercial flash-freezing of food: 1924
Number of hot dogs consumed at U.S. ballparks per baseball season: approximately 19 million
Age of the world's oldest piece of chewing gum, in years: 9,000
Year ketchup was sold as a medicine in the United States: 1834

January 14

Year gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, sparking the California Gold Rush: 1848
Estimated amount of gold mined throughout all of human history, in metric tons: 197,576
Percentage of all mined gold that has been used for jewelry: 47%
Number of times the world's gold supply would fill an Olympic swimming pool: 3.5
Price of one troy ounce of gold in 1971 compared to 2024: $35 vs. over $2,000
Year the gold standard was formally abandoned by the United States: 1971
Estimated value of all gold ever mined, in U.S. dollars: over $10 trillion
Volume of all gold ever mined in cubic meters: approximately 9,261
Percentage of the Earth's core estimated to be composed of gold: trace amounts dissolved in iron
Year Fort Knox was built to store U.S. gold reserves: 1936
Approximate number of gold bars stored in Fort Knox: 147.3 million ounces' worth
Number of countries that still hold significant gold reserves: over 100

January 15

Year Martin Luther King Jr. was born (January 15, 1929): 1929
Duration in minutes of his "I Have a Dream" speech: 17
Estimated crowd size at the 1963 March on Washington: 250,000
Number of civil rights bills passed in the United States between 1957 and 1968: 4
Year the U.S. federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. was first observed: 1986
Number of countries that have designated a national holiday for a civil rights leader: over 30
Percentage of U.S. states that observed MLK Day from the start: 27%
Year South Africa held its first fully democratic election: 1994
Number of people who voted in South Africa's 1994 election: approximately 20 million
Year apartheid officially ended in South Africa: 1994
Number of Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings held in South Africa: over 7,000
Percentage of Nobel Peace Prize laureates who were activists for civil rights or peace movements: approximately 40%

January 16

Year Prohibition began in the United States (ratification of 18th Amendment, 1919; enforcement, January 17, 1920): 1920
Number of speakeasies estimated to have operated in New York City during Prohibition: 30,000
Amount spent by the U.S. government attempting to enforce Prohibition, in billions of 2024 dollars: equivalent to $11 billion
Percentage decrease in alcohol consumption during the early years of Prohibition: 30%
Year the 18th Amendment was repealed: 1933
Number of countries that have full or partial prohibition of alcohol today: 14
Estimated global value of the illicit alcohol trade, in billions of dollars annually: 10
Percentage of adults in the United States who drink alcohol: 67%
Number of alcohol-related deaths in the United States per year: approximately 95,000
Year beer was first legally brewed in the United States post-Prohibition: 1933
Number of craft breweries operating in the United States as of 2023: over 9,700
Oldest known recipe in history, which was for beer, in years: approximately 5,000

January 17

Year Benjamin Franklin was born (January 17, 1706): 1706
Number of languages Franklin spoke: 5
Age at which Franklin flew his famous kite to prove lightning was electrical: 46
Number of inventions attributed to Franklin, including bifocals and the lightning rod: over 20
Year the first U.S. postal service was established, with Franklin as Postmaster General: 1775
Estimated number of pieces of mail delivered by USPS per year: 128 billion
Number of post offices in the United States: approximately 31,000
Year the zip code system was introduced in the United States: 1963
Estimated percentage of U.S. mail that is advertising ("junk mail"): 57%
Year airmail service began in the United States: 1918
Average time in days for a first-class letter to be delivered within the United States: 1 to 3
Cost of a U.S. first-class stamp in 1971 versus 2024: $0.08 vs. $0.73

January 18

Year the Eiffel Tower construction was completed: 1889
Height of the Eiffel Tower including antenna, in feet: 1,083
Number of steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower: 1,665
Tons of paint used each time the Eiffel Tower is repainted: 60
How much taller the Eiffel Tower gets in summer due to thermal expansion, in inches: 6
Number of rivets used to construct the Eiffel Tower: 2.5 million
Estimated number of tourists who visit the Eiffel Tower each year: 7 million
Year the Eiffel Tower was nearly demolished: 1909
Number of cities that have replica Eiffel Towers: over 30
Year the Statue of Liberty was officially dedicated: 1886
Weight of the Statue of Liberty's copper skin, in tons: 100
Height of the Statue of Liberty from ground to torch tip, in feet: 305

January 19

Year Edgar Allan Poe was born (January 19, 1809): 1809
Number of short stories Poe published in his lifetime: 70
Age at which Poe died: 40
Year "The Raven" was first published: 1845
Estimated number of words in Poe's complete works: 300,000
Number of mystery novels published globally per year: approximately 10,000
Percentage of fiction sales in the United States attributed to mystery and crime genres: 24%
Year Agatha Christie published her first novel: 1920
Number of novels Agatha Christie wrote: 66
Total estimated sales of Agatha Christie's books: 2 billion copies
Year the phrase "whodunit" was coined: 1930
Number of languages Agatha Christie's works have been translated into: over 100

January 20

Year the first U.S. presidential inauguration took place: 1789
Number of U.S. presidents who have been inaugurated on January 20: 36
Average temperature in Washington, D.C., on January 20, in degrees Fahrenheit: 33
Length of the average inaugural address, in minutes: 23
Longest inaugural address ever delivered, in minutes (William Henry Harrison, 1841): 105
Number of days William Henry Harrison served as president before dying of pneumonia: 31
Year women first participated in a U.S. presidential inauguration parade: 1917
Estimated number of people who attended Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration: 1.8 million
Number of countries where the head of state is inaugurated via a public ceremony: over 80
Year the U.S. presidential term was changed from March 4 to January 20: 1937
Age of the oldest person inaugurated as U.S. president: 78
Number of inaugural balls held during the average modern inauguration: 3 to 14

January 21

Year the first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus, was launched: 1954
Number of nuclear power plants currently operating worldwide: approximately 440
Percentage of global electricity generated by nuclear power: 10%
Amount of uranium fuel that can power a home for a year compared to coal: 28,000 times less by weight
Year the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred: 1986
Estimated area in square miles of the Chernobyl exclusion zone: 1,000
Number of plant species that have recolonized the Chernobyl exclusion zone: over 100
Year the Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred: 2011
Estimated lifespan of spent nuclear fuel before becoming safe, in years: 10,000
Number of countries that have nuclear weapons: 9
Year the first atomic bomb was detonated in a test: 1945
Estimated total number of nuclear warheads worldwide: approximately 12,000

January 22

Year Roe v. Wade was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court: 1973
Number of constitutional amendments passed in the United States: 27
Year the U.S. Constitution was ratified: 1788
Number of words in the U.S. Constitution (without amendments): 4,543
Length of the Indian Constitution, in words, making it the longest national constitution: 145,000
Number of countries with written constitutions: 193
Year the Magna Carta was signed: 1215
Number of surviving original copies of the Magna Carta: 4
Year the first country granted women the right to vote (New Zealand): 1893
Number of countries where women did not have the right to vote as of 1950: over 60
Last country to grant women full voting rights: Saudi Arabia, in 2015
Percentage of world legislatures held by women as of 2024: 26.5%

January 23

Amount of global annual carbon emissions attributed to aviation, as a percentage: 2.5%
Altitude in feet at which commercial aircraft typically cruise: 35,000
Year of the first powered heavier-than-air flight by the Wright Brothers: 1903
Duration in seconds of the Wright Brothers' first flight: 12
Distance in feet of the Wright Brothers' first flight: 120
Year the first jet-powered commercial flight took place: 1949
Speed in miles per hour of the Concorde, the fastest commercial airliner: 1,354
Year the Concorde was retired from service: 2003
Number of commercial airline flights per day globally: approximately 100,000
Probability of dying on a single commercial airline flight: 1 in 11 million
Number of airport runways worldwide: approximately 40,000
Percentage of global airline flights that arrive on time: approximately 76%

January 24

Year gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill (January 24, 1848): 1848
Estimated number of people who migrated to California during the Gold Rush: 300,000
Average amount of gold discovered per day at the peak of the Gold Rush, in ounces: 3,000
Year California became the 31st U.S. state: 1850
Number of "ghost towns" in California today remnant from the Gold Rush era: over 200
Year the last gold fever in the United States occurred (Alaska, Klondike): 1896
Amount of gold (in metric tons) produced globally in 2023: approximately 3,644
Country that produces the most gold annually: China
Estimated total mass of gold ever mined throughout history, in tonnes: 197,576
Thickness in micrometers of gold leaf used in gilding: 0.1
Year the Olympic gold medal changed from solid gold to gold-plated silver: 1912
Percentage of gold used in electronics that is recovered and recycled: less than 15%

January 25

Year Robert Burns was born (January 25, 1759), whose birthday is celebrated as Burns Night: 1759
Number of poems and songs Burns wrote in his lifetime: over 550
Number of countries that celebrate Burns Night suppers: approximately 40
Year "Auld Lang Syne" was first published: 1796
Number of languages "Auld Lang Syne" has been translated into: over 20
Year Scotland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain: 1707
Percentage of the Scottish population that speaks Scots Gaelic: 1.5%
Estimated number of people worldwide with Scottish ancestry: 40 million
Year the Scots Parliament was re-established after nearly 300 years: 1999
Number of whisky distilleries operating in Scotland as of 2024: over 140
Estimated value of Scotch whisky exports in 2023, in billions of pounds: 5.6
Year the oldest known whisky distillery, Kilbeggan (Ireland), was founded: 1757

January 26

Year Australia was officially established as a British colony (January 26, 1788): 1788
Number of convicts transported to Australia between 1788 and 1868: approximately 162,000
Estimated Aboriginal population of Australia before European colonization: between 300,000 and 1 million
Number of distinct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language groups: approximately 500
Year Australian Aboriginal people were granted the right to vote: 1962
Number of species of animals in Australia found nowhere else on Earth: approximately 80%
Percentage of Australia classified as arid or semi-arid: 70%
Number of kangaroos in Australia: approximately 50 million
Year Australia won the first Rugby World Cup: 1991
Area of Australia in square miles, making it the sixth-largest country: 2.97 million
Number of time zones across Australia: 5 (including half-hour zones)
Year the Sydney Opera House was opened: 1973

January 27

Year the Holocaust was officially commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27): 2005
Date that Soviet forces liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau: January 27, 1945
Estimated number of people murdered at Auschwitz: 1.1 million
Total number of Holocaust victims: approximately 6 million Jews and 5 to 6 million others
Number of countries that held Nuremberg-style war crimes trials after World War II: 4
Year the term "genocide" was coined by Raphael Lemkin: 1944
Number of countries that have signed the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide: 153
Year the state of Israel was established: 1948
Number of Holocaust survivors alive as of 2024: approximately 245,000
Number of Righteous Among the Nations (non-Jews who saved Jews) recognized by Yad Vashem: over 28,000
Year the Nuremberg trials began: 1945
Number of defendants tried at the main Nuremberg tribunal: 24

January 28

Year the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred (January 28, 1986): 1986
Number of crew members killed in the Challenger disaster: 7
Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit at the Kennedy Space Center on the morning of the launch: 36
Number of O-ring failures required to trigger the catastrophic seal failure: 1
Year the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster occurred: 2003
Total number of Space Shuttle missions flown: 135
Estimated total cost of the Space Shuttle program, in billions of dollars: 211
Number of countries that have sent humans to space: 3 (Russia, United States, China)
Year the first human walked in space: 1965
Duration of the first spacewalk, in minutes: 12
Total number of humans who have traveled to space as of 2024: approximately 680
Number of satellites currently orbiting Earth: over 8,000

January 29

Year Kansas became the first U.S. state to prohibit alcohol (January 29, 1881): 1881
Number of U.S. states that ratified the 18th Amendment (Prohibition): 46
Amount in billions of dollars the U.S. economy loses annually to excessive alcohol use: 249
Year the breathalyzer was invented: 1954
Blood alcohol content level considered legally drunk in the United States: 0.08%
Estimated number of drunk driving deaths in the United States per year: 13,500
Number of countries that have a blood alcohol limit of zero for all drivers: 28
Percentage of global road traffic deaths attributed to drunk driving: 28%
Year seat belts became mandatory in the first U.S. state (New York): 1984
Estimated lives saved annually by seat belts in the United States: 15,000
Percentage of car crash fatalities who were not wearing a seat belt: 47%
Year airbags became mandatory in all new U.S. cars: 1998

January 30

Year Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated (January 30, 1948): 1948
Number of years Gandhi spent in prison for civil disobedience: 7
Length in miles of the Salt March Gandhi led in 1930: 240
Year India gained independence from Britain: 1947
Number of people who attended Gandhi's funeral: approximately 1 million
Percentage of India's population living in poverty at the time of independence: approximately 90%
Year India became a republic: 1950
Number of languages recognized in the Indian constitution: 22
Population of India, making it the world's most populous country as of 2024: over 1.44 billion
Year India surpassed China as the world's most populous nation: 2023
Number of Indian states and union territories: 28 states and 8 union territories
Year India launched its first satellite: 1975

January 31

Year the first "super blue blood moon" of the 21st century was visible: 2018
Number of full moons in a typical year: 12
Frequency in years of a blue moon (second full moon in a calendar month): approximately every 2.5 years
Distance from Earth to the Moon in miles: 238,855
Number of humans who have walked on the Moon: 12
Year the last crewed Moon landing took place: 1972
Weight of Moon rocks brought back to Earth by Apollo missions, in pounds: 842
Number of Apollo missions that landed on the Moon: 6
Year the first privately funded lunar lander successfully touched down on the Moon: 2024
Percentage of the Moon's surface that has been mapped in detail: 100%
Average thickness of the Moon's crust, in miles: 30
Ratio of the Moon's gravitational pull to Earth's: 1 to 6

Statistics are illustrative and approximate, in the style of Wise Men Stats.