Year that the tradition of New Year's resolutions had its beginning, according to goalsguy.com: 153 B.C.

Year that Jan. 1 became the beginning of the New Year, when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars: 46 B.C.

Year that the song "Auld Lang Syne" was written by Robert Burns, and is now sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the New Year: 1788

Source: goalsguy.com.

Ranks of losing weight, managing debt, saving money, getting a better job and getting fit on the list of the most popular New Year's resolutions, according to USA.gov: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: USA.gov.

Estimated annual cost to the U.S. economy in lowered employee productivity and reduced innovation caused by information overload (described as an excess of information that results in the loss of ability to make decisions, process information and prioritize tasks), according to research from Basex: $900 billion

Percentage of their day that workers spend managing and searching for information: 50

Source: Basex Inc.

Estimated percentage of current congressional members who have degrees in the business, economics or finance fields, according to an analysis of economic education among members of Congress conducted by A Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy: 15

Percentage of members who actually studied economics: 6.7

Percentage of congressional members who have received no formal schooling in economics or business yet are responsible for solving the biggest economic crisis in more than 70 years: 80

Source: Econ4U.

Rank of Italy as the top international country for travelers in 2008 as well as the overall top destination for packaged travel, according to annual polling of member companiesby the U.S. Tour Operator's Association: 1

Number of consecutive years that Italy has held this position: 6

Rank of Latin America -- for the first time -- on the list of the most popular international regions: 1

Source: Kundell Communications.

Date that He PingPing, the world's smallest man, met Svetlana Pankratova of the world's longest legs, according to Guinness World Records highlights for 2008: Sept. 16, 2008

Standing 6 feet 5 inches tall, length of the Russian beauty's legs versus the total height of the tiny 20-year-old He PingPing from Inner Mongolia: 51.9 inches vs. 29.4 inches

Source: Guinness Book of World Records.

Percentage of respondents that expect a decline in their own company's business performance in 2009, according to Mercer global survey: 81

Percentage that are likely to make significant workforce reductions: 35

Rank of worry about retirement investments on the list of employee concerns, respondents report, outweighing employee anxiety about job security: 1

Source: Mercer.

Ranks of "The Shack" by William P. Young, "The Appeal" by John Grisham, "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer and "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs on the list of the top sales of adult fiction, according to the Nielsen Company: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle, "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert and "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson on the list of the top sales of adult nonfiction: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Nielsen Media Research.

Of the 352 companies cited by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for financial statement fraud from 2000 to 2007, percentage that experienced a stock price decline, according to a study from the Deloitte Forensic Center: 70

Of those, percentage that experienced a decline of at least 50 percent: 53

Percentage that delisted from primary stock exchanges: 32

Source: Deloitte Forensic Center.

When asked about their greatest staffing concern in the current economy, percentage of senior executives who cited employee retention, according to a survey developed by Robert Half International: 39

Percentage who said recruitment: 22

Percentage who cited productivity: 17

Percentage who cited employee morale: 17

Source: Robert Half International.

Idle Thought

"Nothing is illegal if one hundred businessmen decide to do it." -- Andrew Young, author, civil rights activist, U.S. congressman, mayor and U.N. ambassador

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Ranks of Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates, George Kaiser, George Soros and William Barron Hilton on the list of BusinessWeek's "The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists": 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Number of years Warren Buffett has topped the list: 3

Amount given by Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, since 2004: $40.655 billion

Amount given by Bill and Melinda Gates, Microsoft's co-founder and his wife, since 2004: $2.625 billion

Source: BusinessWeek

Percentage of Americans who rate the honesty and ethical standards of nurses either "high" or "very high," according to Gallup's annual "Honesty and Ethics in Professions" survey: 84

Number of years in a row that nurses have enjoyed top public accolades: 7

Ranks of pharmacists (70 percent), high school teachers (65 percent), medical doctors (64 percent), police (56 percent) and clergy (56 percent) on the Gallup list: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Percentage of Americans who rate the honesty and ethical standards of congressmen either "high" or "very high": 12

Percentage of Americans who rate the honesty and ethical standards of bankers either "high" or "very high": 23

Source: Gallup

Ranks of cheap airline tickets, used cars and cheap apartments for rent on the list of Ask.com's "Top Deals and Steals Searches of 2008," according to Ask.com: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of maverick, socialism and economy on the list of Dictionary.com's "Top Gainers of 2008": 1, 2, 3

Ranks of "How do I get pregnant?" "How do I lose weight?" and "How do I write a resume?" on the list of Ask.com's "Top Question Searches of 2008": 1, 2, 3

Source: Ask.com.

Ranks of Charles Prince, former CEO of Citigroup, Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO of General Motors, and John J. Harris, chairman and CEO of Nestle Waters, on the list of the worst corporate "Scrooges" of 2008 -- the CEOs who exhibited the worst kinds of unbridled greed and a lack of compassion or concern for others over the last year, according to Co-op America, in conjunction with its Responsible Shopper program: 1, 2, 3

Source: Co-op America.

Percentage of companies that plan to reduce the size of their executive bonus pool compared with last year, according to a Watson Wyatt survey: 49

Of these companies, percentage that expect a cut of up to 20 percent: 30

Percentage that expect a cut of 20 to 50 percent: 35

Source: Watson Wyatt Worldwide.

Ranks of Hawaii, London, Paris, Aruba and New York City on the list of the top 10 holiday dream escapes, according to TripAdvisor: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: TripAdvisor.

Rank of the quote "I can see Russia from my house," delivered by comedian Tina Fey portraying Sarah Palin as the Most Memorable Quote of 2008, according to a survey by SpinVox: 1

Source: SpinVox.

Percentage of business travelers who say they've traveled more or about the same in 2008 as they did a year ago, according to findings of the Orbitz for Business/Business Traveler Magazine Year-End Survey: 71

Percentage of travelers who say they've felt pressure to curb their travel expenses during the course of 2008: 79

Percentage who say they have scaled back but are still traveling: 51

Source: Orbitz.

Ranks of Hurricane Dolly, Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Ike, the flooding in the Midwest and the tornadoes that devastated Indiana, on the list of the top disasters affecting the U.S. in 2008, as announced by The American Red Cross: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Estimated number of shelters set up by the Red Cross to alleviate these disasters: 900

Estimated number of meals and snacks served: 16.5 million

Number of comfort and cleanup kits distributed: 275,000

Source: American Red Cross.

Of the 352 companies cited by the Securities and Exchange Commission for financial statement fraud from 2000 to 2007, percentage that experienced a stock price decline, according to a study from the Deloitte Forensic Center: 70

Of those, percentage that experienced a decline of at least 50 percent: 53

Percentage that experienced securities class action litigation cases: 24

Source: Deloitte Forensic Center.

Average amount spent per person, per trip in the United States by overseas travelers, who stay longer and spend more money than domestic travelers or visitors from Canada and Mexico, according to the Travel Industry Association of America: $4,000

Percentage of U.S. international visitors who are from overseas: 43

Percentage of the $122.3 billion spent by international visitors to the United States in 2007 that is attributed to overseas travelers: 79

Source: Travel Industry Association of America.

Idle thought

"There are two things to aim at in life; first to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second." -- Logan Pearsall Smith

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Estimated total price of the 12 Days of Christmas gift list, up sharply due to gas and gold prices and bird flu, according to the annual PNC Christmas Price Index compiled by PNC Wealth Management: $21,080

Percentage increase over last year that this represents for your true love: 8.1

Cost of "a partridge in a pear tree" this year, both up 33.3 percent due largely to higher delivery costs: $214.99

Current cost of the "five golden rings" given on the fifth day, a drop of 11.4 percent as retailers are trying to move luxury merchandise in light of concerns with the slowing economy: $349.95

Individual pay for the "maids-a-milking," at minimum wage, making an hour of their time the cheapest gift on the list: $6.55

Overall cost for the gift-giver who goes all out and gives the repeated gifts for each day as detailed in the verses of the song: $86,608.51

Source: PNC Wealth Management.

Percentage of physicians representing various religious backgrounds, including Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Scientologist, Islamic, Shinto, Sikh and other religious traditions as well as those with no religious traditions, who believe that miracles have occurred in the past, according to HCD Research: 72

Percentage who believe that they can occur today: 70

Percentage of physicians who indicated that they encourage their patients to pray: 66

Source: HCD Research Inc. Contact Vince McGourty at (908) 483-9121 or e-mail vince.mcgourty@hcdi.net.

Estimated number of turkeys that will be eaten at Christmas, according to the National Turkey Federation: 22 million

In order to have enough for the feast and leftovers, too, recommended number of pounds of uncooked turkey per person to buy: 1

Source: National Turkey Federation (NTF).

Percentage of U.S. respondents who plan to travel for the holidays, according to TripAdvisor's Holiday Travel survey: 42

Percentage who will see family and friends for the holidays: 81

Percentage who plan to "escape" family by taking a trip this holiday season: 13

Source: TripAdvisor.

Percentage of moms interested in finding a way to keep the entire family entertained, who agreed that it was difficult to keep everyone amused during the holidays, according to Microsoft's "Xbox 360 Holiday Entertainment Survey": 40

Percentage of adult respondents who said that too much family time around the holidays can get boring: 33

Ranks of watching movies/TV and playing video games on the list of the most popular ways for 18- to 49-year-olds to have fun over the holidays: 1, 2

Source: Microsoft.

Of the companies that typically give year-end bonuses, percentage that say they will be the same or smaller than last year, according to the findings of Battalia Winston's annual survey on corporate holiday celebrations: 62

Percentage that expect year-end bonuses to go up: 6

Source: Battalia Winston.

Ranks of shopping (35.4 percent), traveling (20.5 percent) and hanging Christmas lights (17.9 percent) that respondents rated as the worst part of the holidays, according to a survey by Redbox: 1, 2, 3

When asked to share the holiday traditions in their family, percentage of women who said decorating a tree: 86.3

Percentage of men who said exchanging gifts: 81.6

Source: Redbox Automated Retail LLC.

Percentage of women who buy their pets holiday or birthday presents, according to Lifetime Networks: 68

Percentage who take their pets on vacation: 36

Source: Lifetime Television.

Year that Prohibition was repealed and alcohol sales were once again legalized: 1933

Percentage of Americans who support laws and regulations that are proven to reduce the number of drunk driving fatalities and prevent underage drinking, according to a national survey by the Center for Alcohol Policy and supported by America's beer distributors: 96

Percentage of respondents who agree that state and local laws regarding alcohol regulations should be decided by lawmakers and citizens, not by judges: 89

Source: Center for Alcohol Policy.

Percentage of Americans who chose red wine over white wine, according to an Allrecipes Wine Survey: 62

Ranks of merlot (28.5 percent), cabernet sauvignon (23.7 percent), pinot noir (16.2 percent) and syrah (9.9 percent) on the list of favorite red wines chosen by respondents: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of chardonnay (30.7 percent), riesling (24.6 percent), pinot gris (18 percent) and sauvignon blanc (13.9 percent) on the list of favorite white wines chosen by respondents: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Allrecipes.com.

Idle Thought

"I see that sensible men and conscientious men all over the world were of one religion -- the religion of well-doing and daring; men of sturdy truth, men of integrity and feeling for others." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)