• A recent survey found 11 percent of French people consider it a faux pas to go to a social function with a shoes laced in a pattern that doesn't match the wearer's outfit.

• Overseas song writing shops located in developing nations have written nine songs appearing on the Billboard Top 100.

• By weight, peanuts are the fattiest legume.

• 73 percent of men over the age of 60 have sported a mustache at one point in their life.

• It is illegal to orally ingest duck dander in nine American states due to its intense hallucinogenic properties.

We've been doing some research about the social news site digg.com over in the Fact Check Forums. A big thanks to research team members Bufar and Cadet who have uncovered these fascinating factoids.

• During the 2004 election, stories about John Kerry received an average 150 more 'diggs' than those about Bush. However, stories casting Bush in a negative light, received an average of 180 more 'diggs' than negative stories about Kerry.

• Digg is often cited as a joke by Nordic youth, as the site's moniker roughly translates to "boring" or "not worthwhile."

• Nearly 25 percent of the stories on digg were posted by people paid by an organization connected to the story in one way or another.

• There have only been three instances when a news article mentioning digg in a major publication have not made the front page of the social news site.

• According to the CEO of the New York Times, websites like digg.com were directly responsible for profits shrinking five percent each quarter last fiscal year.

• Thus far in 2006, the media (most notably The New York Times) has "forcibly declassified" more documents than the U.S. federal government and military have done on their own.

• According to MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) records, 19 stunt people have died in the creation of the 50 highest-grossing films of the last 20 years.

• The original draft of the United States Constitution contains nine spelling errors.

• The heirs of the H.G. Wells estate brought a copyright infringement suit against Ralph Ellison in 1955 following the publication of The Invisible Man, but it was settled out of court for an amount undisclosed, but believed to be $1.

• According to researchers at the University of Vermont, out of 62 common American foods tested, macaroni & cheese would allow a person to survive longest if it were the only food eaten.

Thanks to the Fact Check Forums for their great research on the American election process. Here's a sample of the fascinating factoids fact checkers Cadet and Athene managed to find.

• 58 percent of the 2006 Congressional candidates rated "obese" on the Body Mass Index Scale.

• In an average election, incumbents have a 81 percent chance of winning an election, even if they spend no money campaigning.

• Of all of the 2006 election candidates, only 23 percent reported having a "very active lifestyle" that included running and other aerobic exercise.

• In major election years, personal appearances by political figures (even those not running) increase by 217 percent over non-election years.

• Americans aged 18 to 39 are twice as likely to be registered Democrats as Americans aged 40 to 65.

• There are currently three potato-battery-powered vehicles registered in the state of California.

• Due to "junk genes", identical twins share only about 96 percent of their DNA.

• Residents of Hawaii are the least likely to be struck by lightning, Alaska the most.

• 2005 was the first year that there were more spam e-mails sent than cans of SPAM sold.

• Both Ozzie and Harriet Nelson had at least two extra-marital affairs each during their marriage.

• Effervescence is the longest English word using repeats of only one vowel.

• Whims are the essence of whimsy.

• The worlds smallest speaker was recently created at The Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Laboratory in DeWitt Michigan. The speaker measures a scant 0.02 micrometers across. It is capable of producing noise of 0.000004 decibels.

• The strongest man-made material by weight is an alloy of aluminum, carbon, and polonium. Unfortunately it is far too radioactive to be used safely near organic matter.

• Seven percent of Americans have a day planner solely to keep track of when their television shows air.

• Accounting is the most popular work-at-home business.

• While 21 percent of first-time fathers will experience sympathetic morning sickness, only eight percent of men who already have at least one child will experience it.

• The most snow to ever fall in a 24 hour period was recorded on Mount Whitney in 1987. Nearly 18 feet of snow fell on the mountain.

• According to the Princeton Review, the college with the most attractive female students is Texas A&M.

• Even with all the correct information on the outside of the envelope, the U.S. Post Office will misdirect one in 23 pieces of mail.

• Kindergarten was first created in 14th century Germany as a reform school for rebellious toddlers.

• The average book in the New York Public Library is 278 pages long.

• Trenton, New Jersey has the most toxic soil of any city in North America, however, the contaminants are largely naturally occurring according to a recent EPA report.

• Crepes were originally invented in Mongolia.

• The physical size of the CD was chosen to fit into a typical European men's shirt pocket.

• While "Black Friday" is not the busiest shopping day of the year in terms of the value of goods sold, it is for the number of items sold.

• On November 22, the New York City Council unanimously passed a resolution to close the hunting loophole and keep hunting illegal year-round within city limits. The council promised a full investigation into how the error was made and escaped notice for the past year until discovered by the researchers at Gullible.Info.

• Plans to build a blizzard safety hut for climbers near the peak of Alaska's Mt. McKinley had to be abandoned because it could not be made wheelchair-accessible, as required by law.

• A nearly unanimous 34 out of 35 incarcerated child molesters surveyed believe that there can be no rehabilitation and that life in prison is an appropriate punishment for a first offense.

• In a survey of elementary school children by Weekly Reader, six in ten said their mom was the prettiest woman in the world, and most of the remainder chose their teacher.

• One in every ten Netflix movies is returned unwatched.

• Atheists are the most likely religious group to vote for third party candidates.

• Researchers at the University of Oslo are conducting a multi-year study on the potential consequences of global warming for erectile dysfunction.

• "Buy Nothing for Christmas Day" is endorsed by 1,114 Christian churches across the world.

• The average strip club's operating hours are longer than the average public library's.

• Richard Nixon was the only president to have flown on a comercial airliner.

• One in 15 Christmas light bulbs sold in the United States is defective.

• A average number two pencil will be sharpened 14 times before it is discarded.

• There are 29 millionaire dogs in the world. While all of these canines have their funds managed in trust, they are the legal benefactors.

• Until 1902, it was a crime to own a pirate flag in the United States.