The Facts: Defense

  • The total known land area occupied by U.S. bases and facilities is 15,654 square miles — bigger than Washington DC, Massachusetts, and New Jersey combined.

Rediff News <http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-12-interesting-facts-you-did-not-know-about-us-military/20111025.htm>

  • It took 99 days for the fires at Ground Zero to be extinguished completely. At 8.46am on 11 September the fires started as the first plane hit the North Tower. The remaining fires were eventually put out on 19 December.

Yahoo News UK < http://uk.news.yahoo.com/ten-interesting-facts-you-probably-didn%E2%80%99t-know-about-9-11.html>

  • The U.S. has been always in debt. Before the first session of the U.S. Congress came to a close, the public debt stood at more than $75 million, and was never completely paid down. In 1835, we came close – that year, the national debt stood at just under $34,000. And during World War II, the U.S. debt peaked at around 120 percent of GDP.

AlterNet.org <http://www.alternet.org/story/150371/five_fun_facts_about_the_$14_trillion_national_debt>