California has been the top-ranking agricultural state in the United States for more than 50 years.
http://californiatravelexpert.com

Fifty countries require labeling of genetically modified food. The United States does not.
http://Forbes.com, Aug. 22, 2012

About 40 percent of homeless men are veterans, although veterans comprise only 34 percent of the general adult male population, according to research on veterans by the National Coalition of Homeless. On any given night, 200,000 veterans are homeless.
http://pbs.org

Historians believe tea was first cultivated in the wet highlands of Sichuan and Yunnan, China.
National Geographic, May 2010

The human brain has about 100,000,000,000 (100 billion) neurons.
http://faculty.washington.edu

The total number of human taste buds (tongue, palate and cheeks) is about 10,000.
http://faculty.washington.edu

Same-sex partnership occurs nearly universally throughout the natural world. For example, female Laysan albatrosses will partner to raise young when males are scarce.
National Wildlife Federation, October/November 2009

The first coins were minted (made) around 2,500 years ago.
http://sciencekids.co.nz

There are 566 federally recognized Indian tribes in the United States.
http://census.gov

Twenty-four percent of California’s population is living in poverty. That is 8,908,500 people. California’s total population is 37,370,100.
http://statehealthfacts.org

More than 30 percent of California’s children are obese.
http://statehealthfacts.org

In Indonesia, pointing with your forefinger is considered rude. Use your thumb instead. Do not use the “OK” hand gesture either as it is considered a sexual gesture.
http://travel2.nytimes.com

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ranked Mexico as the most dangerous place to be a journalist. UNESCO ranked Pakistan second.
http://aaj.tv

Brobdingnagian, an imaginary country of giants in Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” (1726), is also an adjective meaning gigantic, huge and immense.
http://reference.com

In Venezuela and Ecuador, sneezing at the dinner table is considered quite vulgar.
http://travel.ca.msn.com