Facts You Probably don’t Need

• Dead skin cells are a major component of household dust, along with fibers, pollen, and other microscopic debris.

• If laid end to end, the blood vessels in the human body would stretch more than 60,000 miles.

• The human eye can distinguish roughly one million different colors.

• German chocolate cake was invented in Texas and is named after Samuel German, an American chocolate maker, not the country.

• The Philippines consists of 7,641 islands, though only about 2,000 are inhabited.

• A full journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway crosses eight time zones, making it one of the longest rail trips in the world.

• Scientists estimate there is enough gold inside Earth to coat the planet’s entire surface in a thin layer—if it could all be extracted.

• Cleveland was once the fifth-largest city in the United States, reaching its peak population in 1920.

          Facts by Sean McVeigh, factologist.