Around the world, rank of the $100 bill on the list of the most popular "Made in America" products, according to research by Convergex: 1

As of the end of last year, estimated value of all $100 bills in circulation: $1 trillion

Number of countries on the planet that have a GDP of at least $1 trillion: 15

Percentage of the bills that are held outside the United States, according to the Federal Reserve: 65

Source: Convergex.

Whether out to dinner and sending a text, on vacation and searching the Web, or simply hanging at home and watching a show -- percentage of American adults who say unplugging for more than a few hours at a time is unrealistic, according to a Harris Poll: 37

Percentage who say it's difficult because their business never sleeps: 27

Percentage of Americans who indicate they make an attempt to unplug at some point during the year: 67

Percentage who say they try to unplug at least once a week: 45

Source: The Harris Poll.

Amount of money that can be saved by choosing an average used car instead of the average new car, according to research by Kelley Blue Book 2015: $13,500

After three years, percentage of the original price that your new car will be worth, according to Consumer Reports: 54

Because today's cars, trucks, SUVs and vans simply last longer, age (a record high) of the average car driving on American roads, according to IHS Automotive: 11.5 years By 2020, projected percentage rise in the number of 12-year-old vehicles still in operation: 15

Source: Kelley Blue Book.

Percentage of Americans who have looked for work in the last two years who utilized online resources, according to a survey by Pew Research Center: 79

Percentage who say these online resources were the most important tool available to them: 34

Percentage who made use of close personal connections: 66

Percentage who used professional contacts: 63

Source: Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends.

Total sales value of salty snacks in the United States during 2015, according to research from Packaged Facts: $22 billion

Rank of potato chip sales among all salty snacks: 1

Value of potato chip sales in 2015: $7.5 billion

Value of the second-ranked tortilla and tostada chips: $5.2 billion

Source: Packaged Facts.

Percentage of people who say they perform a random act of kindness daily, according to a survey by SKOUT: 65

Percentage who say they randomly do something kind for someone at least once per week: 83

Percentage of people who perform random acts of kindness who do so because it just makes them feel good: 56

Source: Skout.

Percentage of Americans who favor drafting women as well as men if the military draft was reinstated, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs: 63

Percentage who favored this notion in 2005: 42

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of Americans who believe that intelligent aliens exist, according to a poll by YouGov: 54

Percentage of Americans who assert that there is no intelligent life outside of Earth: 25

When Americans who said smart aliens don't exist were asked to explain why, percentage who responded that it's because "humans were created by a God or another higher being": 66

Source: YouGov.

Rank of Wyoming as the best state for retirement, according to a report from Bankrate.com: 1

Ranks of South Dakota, Colorado, Utah and Virginia for retirement: 2, 3, 4, 5

Rank of New York as the worst state for retirement: 1

Ranks of West Virginia, Oregon, Arkansas and Louisiana as the worst states for retirement: 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Bankrate.com.

In 2012, total election-related promotional product spending fueled by giveaways like bumper stickers, yard signs and candidate brochures, according to ASI estimates: $870 million.

Last fall, according to a campaign finance report, amount that candidate Donald Trump spent on branded merchandise, with his investment in promotional products outpacing his spending on any other single category in the quarter: $825,000

Source: Advertising Specialty Institute.

Idle Thought

"What a strange machine man is! You fill him with bread, wine, fish and radishes, and out comes sighs, laughter and dreams." -- Nikos Kazantzakis, poet and novelist

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

-u

Percentage of Americans who say that the lack of any non-white actors in this year's nominations for the Academy Awards is because the best performances happened to be by white actors, according to research from YouGov: 51

Percentage of white Americans who say that it was simply because the best performances were by white actors: 62

Percentage of black Americans who say that it was because of a lack of diversity: 75

Source: YouGov.

Percentage of men and women who say that lying is sometimes justified, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs poll: 64

Percentage of Americans who say it's OK to lie in order to avoid hurting someone's feelings: 56

Percentage who say it's OK for a parent to lie to his or her child about the parent's own past misbehavior: 54

Percentage who say it's OK to exaggerate the facts to make a story more interesting: 52

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Year that female representation in the global professional and managerial ranks will reach 40 percent of that workforce, according to Mercer's second-annual "When Women Thrive" global report: 2025

Percentage of organizations that offer women-focused health and financial wellness programs: 9

Rank of the U.S. globally for having the largest number of organizations that offer women-focused wellness programs: 1

Source: Mercer.

Ranks of North Korea (16 percent), Russia (15 percent), Iran (14 percent) and China (12 percent) on the list of countries Americans perceive to be the greatest enemies of the United States, according to a Gallup poll: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Gallup Organization.

Year that the idea of insuring cars against accidents began, when the Traveler's Insurance Co. issued a policy to Dr. Truman Martin of Buffalo, New York, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1898

Cost of Dr. Martin's policy, giving him $5,000 in coverage: $12.25

Estimated number of cars in the country at that time: 4,000

Estimated number of farm horses at the time, a main cause of concern for Martin regarding accidents: 18 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of computer repair calls attributed to Windows App and Windows O.S. trouble, according to a report by RESCUECOM: 61.5

Ranks of poor computer performance/slowness, printer issues and viruses/spyware/malware/pop-ups on the list of problems requiring computer repair calls: 2, 3, 4

Source: RESCUECOM.

Percentage of Americans who think black cats are actually good luck, according to a survey by Skout: 59

Percentage of people who have owned a black cat who say they have won a contest or the lottery (vs. 40 percent of people who have never owned a black cat): 46

Percentage of respondents who have owned a black cat who have had a near-death experience and lived to tell about it (vs. 54 percent of people who have never owned a black cat): 64

Source: Skout.

Percentage of professionals who have increased their commitment to their personal life over the last year, according to research from staffing firm Robert Half: 54

Percentage of those polled who said they are more committed to their career: 38

Source: Robert Half.

Percentage of American adults who report that they have used online dating sites and/or mobile dating apps, up from the 11 percent who reported doing so in early 2013, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center: 15

Percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds who report having used online dating, up from just 10 percent in early 2013: 27

Percentage of 55- to 64-year-olds who use online dating over the same time period, up from 6 percent in 2013: 12

Source: Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends.

Percentage of Americans who expect to pay a little or a lot more for health insurance in 2016, according to a survey by GOBankingRates.com: 43

Percentage of respondents who expect to pay less than last year: 20

Source: GoBankingRates.com.

Idle Thought

"A fellow of mediocre talent will remain a mediocrity, whether he travels or not; but one of superior talent will go to seed if he always remains in the same place." -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer

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

According to research by the U.S. Census Bureau, the world's population in 1967: 3.5 billion

World population in 2016: 7.3 billion

U.S. population 1967: 197.5 million

U.S. population 2016: 322.8 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Rank of Concord, California, on the list of U.S. cities with the greatest growth rate, according to an annual migration trends report compiled from more than 1.7 million one-way U-Haul truck transactions in 2015: 1

Rank of North Carolina on the list of U.S. states with the greatest growth rate in 2015: 1

Ranks of Roseville-Sacramento, California; Austin, Texas; Madison, Wisconsin; and Chicago on the list of the top U.S. growth cities: 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: U-Haul.

Percentage of Netflix subscribers who prefer staying in to watch Netflix rather than go out to see a movie, according to an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Netflix: 58

Percentage of subscribers who report that they "find someone more attractive based on the shows that they like": 56

Percentage who report that "they have agreed to go out with someone solely on show compatibility": 42

Source: Ipsos Reid Public Affairs.

Percentage of American adults who say they always try to eat healthy foods and maintain a balanced diet, according to research publisher Packaged Facts: 54

Percentage who say they eat foods they like regardless of calories: 60

Percentage of adults over the age of 18 (155 million people) who agree that they often snack between meals: 66

Source: Packaged Facts.

Percentage of Americans who have at least one tattoo, up from roughly two in 10 just four years ago, according to the results of a Harris Poll: 29

Percentage of Americans with any tattoos who have two or more: 69

Percentage of those with tattoos who say they ever regret getting one -- up from 14 percent in 2012: 23

Source: The Harris Poll.

Rank of Paris as the city that Americans rate as the world's "most romantic" city, according to the results of a study commissioned by Expedia to look at romance and travel: 1

Percentage of respondents who felt beach travel is the "most romantic": 32

Percentage who preferred international and exotic destinations: 27

Percentage of respondents who tabbed the countryside: 22

Source: Expedia.

Percentage of Americans who say they have a friend they met online but have never met in person, according to Skout's online friendship survey: 76

Percentage who say they would like to meet their online friends in real life someday: 83

Percentage of Americans who say they have at least five online friends: 62

Percentage who say they communicate with their online friends daily: 59

Source: Skout.

Percentage of Americans who have visited a bank or credit union branch to conduct personal financial business within in the past 30 days, excluding ATMs, according to a new Bankrate.com report: 45

Percentage who have not visited a bank or credit union branch in at least six months: 39

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of CFOs who increased starting salaries of new employees over their salaries at previous jobs, according to a Robert Half survey: 54

Percentage increase in the starting salaries for new hires compared to previous employers: 10

Source: Robert Half.

Percentage of U.S. adults who say that intrusive ads were the largest motivator for installing ad blockers, according to a survey by Teads and conducted by Research Now: 74

Percentage of respondents who would reconsider installing ad blockers if the ad experience provided them with the choice to skip or close the ad: 80

Source: Teads.

Idle Thought

"All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography." -- Federico Fellini, film director and writer

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