Dan Lewis > Quotes

“Suicide attempts at the Empire State Building are rare, but the same unfortunately cannot be said about the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the most popular such site in the United States. (The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in China is widely regarded as the world’s most popular suicide bridge, and the Golden Gate Bridge is number two.) We don’t know, officially, how many people have taken their lives there because when the number hit 997, authorities stopped counting to avoid giving anyone the incentive of being jumper number 1,000. Whatever the number is, it could have been much higher. In 1994, California Highway Patrol Sergeant Kevin Briggs was assigned to patrol the bridge. Since then, he’s managed to talk an estimated 200 people out of jumping.”
― Dan Lewis, Now I Know More: The Revealing Stories Behind Even More of the World's Most Interesting Facts

“You won’t find the name of Yoda’s species or its home planet in the Holocron. The former has never been named and the latter has never been identified.”
― Dan Lewis, Now I Know More: The Revealing Stories Behind Even More of the World's Most Interesting Facts

“In 1958, a New York diamond merchant named Harry Winston donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institute. At forty-five-and-a-half carats, the gem is worth an estimated $200 million (give or take $50 million), but Winston didn’t hire an armored car to deliver it to the Smithsonian. He sent it via the U.S. Postal Service, placing it in a box, wrapping the box in brown paper, and insuring it for $145.29.”
― Dan Lewis, Now I Know More: The Revealing Stories Behind Even More of the World's Most Interesting Facts

“As of February 8, 1979, James Arthur Springer—Jim, as he went by—had been twice married. His first marriage, to a woman named Linda, ended in divorce. His second wife was named Betty. Jim Springer grew up in Ohio and once owned a dog named Toy. He had a son named James Allan (although perhaps with one L). He was a chain-smoker who liked beer. In his garage he had a woodworking bench. He drove a Chevy, suffered from high blood pressure and migraines, and once served as a sheriff’s deputy. His family lived on a quiet street—theirs was the only house on the block. As of February 8, 1979, James Edward Lewis—Jim, as he went by—had been twice married. His first marriage, to a woman named Linda, ended in divorce. His second wife was named Betty. Jim Lewis grew up in Ohio and once owned a dog named Toy. He had a son named James Allan (although perhaps with one L). He was a chain-smoker who liked beer. In his garage he had a woodworking bench. He drove a Chevy, suffered from high blood pressure and migraines, and once served as a sheriff’s deputy. His family lived on a quiet street—theirs was the only house on the block. As of February 8, 1979, Jim Springer and Jim Lewis had almost no knowledge of one another. They had met before, but only as infants. On February 9, 1979, the two met for the first time in nearly forty years. They were identical twins, given up for adoption as one-month-olds, now reunited. The shocking coincidence seems like that of myth, but it’s almost certainly not—shortly after the twins’ reunion, People magazine and Smithsonian magazine reported on the incredible confluence of genetically identical twins with anecdotally identical lives. The two men piqued the curiosity of a researcher named Thomas J. Bouchard, a professor of psychology and the director of the Minnesota Center for Twin and Adoption Research at the University of Minnesota.”
― Dan Lewis, Now I Know More: The Revealing Stories Behind Even More of the World's Most Interesting Facts

“If bodies are exposed to electric fans or air conditioners for too long, it causes bodies to lose water and hypothermia. If directly in contact with a fan, could lead to death from increase of carbon dioxide saturation concentration and decrease of oxygen concentration. The risks are higher for the elderly and patients with respiratory problems.”
― Dan Lewis, Now I Know: The Revealing Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts

“Norton I isn’t the only person buried in Colma, California—also buried there are Joe DiMaggio, William Randolph Hearst, Wyatt Earp, and Levi Strauss. The town, founded in 1924 (Norton’s remains were moved there in 1934), was designed to be a necropolis; it is made up mostly of cemeteries or land designated as future cemeteries. The residents of the town take their role in life (and death) with humor. In 2006, the mayor of Colma told the New York Times that the city “has 1,500 above-ground residents and 1.5 million underground,” while the town’s official website motto is, “It’s Great to Be Alive in Colma.”
― Dan Lewis, Now I Know More: The Revealing Stories Behind Even More of the World's Most Interesting Facts

“When the race started, Yellow Sam remained a 20-to-1 underdog, and, of course, won. Curley’s £15,000 investment earned him £300,000, or, accounting for inflation and exchange rates, about $2.25 million in early 2013 money. Because the operation was entirely legal, albeit sneaky, the bookmarkers were obligated to pay Curley his winnings. They did so in £1 notes, filling over 100 bags with cash.”
― Dan Lewis, Now I Know: The Revealing Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts