Strange But True
Q. Somewhere around the year 1800, the world’s population reached 1 billion people (1,000,000,000), then 2 billion by 1930. What happened in 2011?
A. According to experts, that was the year the world’s population hit 7 billion, as reported in “5,000 Awesome Facts” by National Geographic for Kids. If that number doesn’t sound very big, consider that it would take a person an estimated 200 years to count to 7 billion out loud. Looking at the balance of things, about every second, five people are born and two people die. As these numbers add up, we’ll probably reach 9 billion by 2045.
Today’s 7 billion people reside in 194 countries and speak some 7,000 languages. Slightly more are male than female, with a median age of 28 years. Typically, most are right-handed. Remarkably, 7 billion text messages are sent every 30 hours in the United States alone.
Looking at the sweep of time, a total of 100 billion humans have lived on Earth and, of all those, only 7 percent are living today. Lucky us!
Source: Bill Sones and Rich Sones, Ph.D.
Vacation Time!
It’s summertime, and you know what that means: Time for a vacation! According to a recent survey by American Express OPEN, small business owners are taking some well-deserved time off this year, with 59% reporting on planning to take at least one full week. Although the numbers are down from last year (60%), the total remains well above 2013 (49%).
