Bible

Number of places in the United States named after something in the Bible: 61,742

Culture

Books about the O. J. Simpson case already in print, forthcoming, or under contract: 50

Number of new suspects: 0

Death

The average cost of a funeral in the U.S.: $4,500

Divorce

Pollster Louis Harris has written, "The idea that half of American marriages are doomed is one of the most specious pieces of statistical nonsense ever perpetuated in modern times."

It all began when the Census Bureau noted that during one year, there were 2.4 million marriages and 1.2 million divorces. Someone did the math without calculating the 54 million marriages already in existence, and presto, a ridiculous but quotable statistic was born.

Harris concludes, "Only one out of eight marriages will end in divorce. In any single year, only about 2 percent of existing marriages will break up."

States offering no-fault divorce in 1957: 1

States offering no-fault divorce in 1995: 50

Percentage of unchurched ...