21 Santa Belief Ends Around Eight
In a 2019 survey of 4,580 Americans, respondents reported that they stopped believing in Santa Claus at an average age of 8.4. Mississippi recorded the oldest state average at 10.2, followed by Iowa at 9.9 and Montana at 9.8. Oregon recorded the youngest average at 7.4.
22 Survey Creates Most Unwanted Song
In 1996, a survey of about 500 Dia Art Foundation visitors identified the instruments, voices, genres, and subjects people most disliked in music. Russian-American artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid and American composer Dave Soldier turned the results into “The Most Unwanted Song,” a nearly 22-minute collision of accordion, bagpipes, atonal music, a rapping operatic cowboy, and a children’s choir urging listeners to shop at Walmart. It was released in 1997.
23 Workers Lie Throughout Job Applications
A 2023 ResumeLab survey of 1,900 workers found that 70% admitted lying on their resumes, 76% on cover letters, and 80% during job interviews. More than one-third, 37%, said they lied frequently on their resumes. Among respondents with master’s or doctoral degrees, 85% reported resume lies and 90% admitted being dishonest in cover letters.
24 Americans Reject Arabic Numerals Unknowingly
In a 2019 CivicScience poll of 3,624 Americans, 56% said schools should not teach Arabic numerals, while 29% supported teaching them and 15% had no opinion. The survey deliberately provided no definition because the company wanted to expose prejudice among respondents who did not understand the term. Arabic numerals are the familiar digits 0 through 9 that American schools already teach and people use throughout everyday life and mathematics.
25 Stilton Cheese Accompanies Vivid Dreams
In 2005, the British Cheese Board asked 200 volunteers to eat 20 grams of cheese 30 minutes before bed for one week and record their dreams. Among those given Stilton, 75% of men and 85% of women reported odd and vivid dreams, although nobody described the experiences as nightmares. The industry-sponsored study never appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, so it could not prove that Stilton caused the dreams.
26 Vinyl Buyers Lack Record Players
In 2023, entertainment data company Luminate reported that only 50% of U.S. consumers who had purchased vinyl during the previous 12 months owned a record player. This meant the other half bought records without having the equipment to play them, while just 15% of American music listeners overall owned one. The report suggested that some music “superfans” treated vinyl as merchandise or collectibles rather than strictly as a listening format.
27 Packaging Causes Thousands of Injuries
Wrap rage describes the anger and frustration caused by difficult-to-open packaging, and a British study estimated that packaging injuries sent more than 60,000 people for hospital treatment each year. In a 2004 survey of 2,000 readers of the British magazine Yours, 71% said they had suffered an injury while opening food packaging. Separately, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated that attempts to open packaging caused about 6,500 emergency room visits in 2004.
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28 Workers Leave Paid Vacation Unused
In a 2023 Pew Research Center survey of 5,188 U.S. workers, 46% said they took less paid time off than their employers offered. Slightly more than half of that group said they did not need more time off, while lower-wage workers more often feared losing their jobs and higher-income workers worried about falling behind. Despite leaving days unused, 89% rated paid time off for vacations, medical appointments, or minor illnesses as extremely or very important.
29 Children Choose Sweatshops Over School
In 1913, factory inspector Helen Todd surveyed 500 child laborers in the United States who worked under difficult factory conditions and asked whether they would rather return to school if money were no obstacle. Of the 500 children, 412 said no, preferring sweatshops to the “monotony, humiliation, and cruelty” they experienced at school.
30 OxyContin Devastates Pike County Residents
After Kentucky sued OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma in 2007, the company’s lawyers hired a consultant in 2013 to survey Pike County residents and determine whether an impartial local jury could be seated. Almost 40% knew someone who had faced criminal trouble because of an OxyContin addiction, 33% knew someone who had overdosed or suffered serious harm, and 29% knew someone who had died. Nine out of 10 said OxyContin had a “devastating effect” on the community, and the judge denied Purdue’s request to move the case.
