Title: The Book of Times
Author: Lesley Alderman
A while ago, I came across this really interesting book. It measure the time of a lot of aspects in life from love, family, home, body, occupation, to creation, energy, money, media, and longevity. It's packed full of interesting data and numbers, so I thought I'd share some of it with everyone! And if you're interested, go get one! It's awesome to read during commute or while on lunch break.
1. Time spent waiting on store checkout lines
· New York: 6 min 51 sec
· Miami: 6 min 44 sec
· Cleveland: 4 min 33 sec
2. Happiest days of the year
· Christmas Day (presents!)
· Thanksgiving (food!)
· Easter Sunday (candy!)
· July 4th (fireworks!)
· New Year’s Day (zzzzz)
· Day after Christmas (zzzzz)
3. Happiest time of day (most positive tweets at this time)
Weekdays: 6am-9am
Weekends: 9am
4. Pace of American Cities (top 3)
· Overall pace: Boston, Buffalo, NYC
· Walking Speed: Springfield MA, Boston, Atlanta
· Watches worn: NYC, Boston, Detroit
5. Pace of Countries
· Overall pace: Switzerland, Ireland, Germay, Japan
(#6 UK, #10HK, #14 Taiwan, #15 Singapore, #16 USA)
· Walking Speed: Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, UK
(#6 USA, #14 HK, #18 Taiwan, #25 Singapore)
· Clock Accuracy: Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Singapore
6. Time spent on sex by Countries
· Brazil 48min
· Greece 47min
· Switzerland 46min
· Hong Kong 43min
· China 36min
· UK & US & Italy 33min
· Japan 32 min
· South Korea & Taiwan 31 min
· Global Average 36min
7. How much time do couples spend arguing:
Newly-in-love: Average of 1.2 hrs a week
Been together for more than 3 years: Average of 2.7 hrs a week
8. Average Length of First Marriages (years)
· Italy: 16.8
· Slovenia: 16
· Spain: 15.2
· UK: 13
· US: 8
*they didn’t calculate Asian countries, I’d imagine the numbers would be much longer in the 20’s and 30’s
9. Factors that decrease your risk of divorce:
· Making over $50,000 USD annually (vs under $25,000)
· Having graduated college
· Having a baby 7 months or more after marriage
· Marrying over 25 years of age
· Coming from parents who are still in a healthy marriage
· Having a religious affiliation
10. Who does most of the housework?
Men: 9.5hrs/week
Women: 17 hrs/week
11. How long does it take your body to…
1) Make a pint of blood: fluids replaced within 24hrs, lost red blood cells in 2-4 weeks, iron levels in 8 weeks
2) Mend a broken bone: 6-7 weeks to repair, 3-5 years to original strength
3) Grow an inch of hair: 2 months
4) Grow an inch of nail: 10 months
5) Create new taste buds: 7-14 days (your tongue has 9,000 taste buds!!)
6) Create a new layer of skin: 2-4 weeks
12. When is the best time to…
1) Have surgery: 8am, your clot-forming platelets are at their stickiest
2) See the dentist: afternoon, your dental pain threshold is at peak
3) Have a cocktail: 5-6pm, the liver is most efficient at detoxifying
4) Get a girl pregnant: afternoon, semen is friskiest
5) Solve problems: 10am, mind is most alert
6) Lift weights: 5pm, muscles are at optimal strength
13. How quickly do drugs take effect
| Brand Name | When is starts | Duration of effect |
| Ambien | 3-15min | 2-4hrs |
| Ibuprofen | 25-30min | 4-6hrs |
| Tylenol | 30min | 6-8hrs |
| Ritalin | 30min | 3-6hrs |
| | | |
| Cocaine | seconds | 1-2hrs |
| Ecstasy | 20-60min | 2-4hrs |
| Heroin | 1-2min | 3-5hrs |
| LSD | 20-60min | Up to 12 hrs |
| Marijuana | 6-12min | 2-6hrs |
14. How long would it take to walk/run off these food
| Food | Walk | Run |
| Cinnamon Roll | 3hrs 45min | 1.5hrs |
| Cheeseburger | 2hrs 55min | 1hr 12min |
| Bacon w/cream cheese | 1hr 48min | 45min |
| McFlurry with Oreos | 1hr 33min | 38min |
| Pizza, 1 slice | 1hr 15min | 31min |
| Steak, 4oz | 1hr | 24min |
| Caffe Latte, whole milk | 38min | 15min |
15. How much sleep do humans and animals need
| Giant armadillo | 18.1 hrs |
| Lion | 13.5 |
| Cat/house mouse | 12.5 |
| Dog | 10.6 |
| Chimpanzee | 9.7 |
| Rabbit | 8,4 |
| Human | 8 |
| Cow | 4 |
| Horse | 2.9 |
| Giraffe | 1.9 |
16. Instruction time for 8th graders around the world
| Country | Instruction Hours/year | Instruction Days/year | Instruction Hours/day |
| Indonesia | 1,385 | 231 | 5.6 |
| Thailand | 1,264 | 166 | 6.2 |
| Taiwan | 1,193 | 202 | 5.6 |
| US | 1,109 | 180 | 5.8 |
| Japan | 1,016 | 201 | 4.9 |
| World Average | 1,011 | 190 | 5 |
| Korea | 990 | 206 | 4.4 |
| Sweden | 942 | 179 | 4.9 |
*This chart probably undermines the amount of hours Asian students put into cram school. We wake up at 6am, and don’t get home till 9pm.
17. Busiest workers in the world
| Country | Average annual hours worked per worker | % or workers who work 50+ hours per week |
| Mexico | 2,250 | 29% |
| Korea | 2,090 | 22% |
| US | 1,787 | 11% |
| Italy | 1,774 | 5% |
| Japan | 1,782 | 30% |
| UK | 1,625 | 12% |
18. Percentage of workers who take all their vacation time
| Country | % who take all their vacation time |
| France | 89% |
| UK | 77% |
| Indonesia | 70% |
| Italy | 66% |
| China | 65% |
| US | 57% |
| Japan | 33% |
19. Architecture
· How many years did it take to build the Taj Mahal: 20
· How quickly was the Empire State Building built: 1 year 45 days (7million man hours)
· How long did it take to build the World Trade Center: 5 years
· How long did it take for Twin Towers to fall on September 11: 1hr 45min
· How long did it take to build the Brooklyn Bridge: 13 years, 5 months
· How long did it take to build the Golden Gate Bridge: 4 years, 5 months
· How many seconds does it take to reach the top of a skyscraper:
1) Taipei 101 (Taiwan): 39 seconds to the 101th floor (509m tall)
Speed: 1,010 meters per minute
2) Empire State Building (New York): 45 seconds to 80th floor (443m tall)
Speed: 426 meters per minute
3) Jin Mao Tower (China): 45 seconds to 88thfloor (421m tall)
Speed: 540 meters per minute
4) Stratosphere Tower (Las Vegas): 30 seconds to 113th floor (350m tall)
Speed: 549 meters per minute
5) John Hancock Building (Chicago): 39 seconds to 94th floor (344m tall)
Speed: 549 meters per minute
6) Burj Khalifa (Dubai): 60 seconds to 124thfloor (828m tall at 160+fl)
Speed: 600 meters per minute
20. Life span of currency
$1 Bill: 4.8 years
$5 Bill: 3.8 years
$10 Bill: 3.6 years
$20 Bill: 6.7 years
$50 Bill: 9.6 years
$100 Bill: 17.9 years
21. Time spent on the internet by Category
| Category | % of time spent |
| Social Networks and blogs | 21.3 |
| Games | 7.7 |
| E-mail | 6.5 |
| Video/movies | 4.3 |
| Portals | 3.8 |
| Other | 56.6 |
22. In which situations will you stop and read an electronic message
| | % who said yes | |
| Under age 25 | Over age 25 | |
| In a meeting | 22 | 11 |
| Eating a meal | 49 | 27 |
| Having sex | 11 | 6 |
| On the potty | 24 | 12 |
23. Life Expectancy at birth
| Rank | Country | Years |
| 1 | Monaco | 89.68 |
| 2 | Macau | 84.43 |
| 3 | Japan | 83.91 |
| 4 | Singapore | 83.75 |
| 8 | Hong Kong | 82.12 |
| 10 | Italy | 81.86 |
| 29 | UK | 80.30 |
| 50 | US | 78.49 |
| 217 | Afghanistan | 49.72 |
| 219 | South Africa | 49.41 |
24. How to live Longer or Die Faster
| Live Longer | Die Faster |
| Eat like a Mediterranean (Veggies/low calories) | Be obese |
| Exercise (Even just 15 mins/day) | Eat red meat (beef, pork, lamb, processed meat) |
| Be Conscientious (Being persistent and organized) | Live in a noisy place (traffic noise) |
| Work in a friendly Office | Smoke |
| Live in a city (Instead of urban areas) | Be homeless |
| Get a degree (College degree) | Watch excessive amounts of TV (more than 6hrs a day) |
25. How long can humans survive in these situations:
1) Without air: 2-3 minutes
2) Without water: 7 days
3) Without food: 45 days
4) 300F (148C): 10 minutes
5) 40F (4C) water: 30 minutes
Feel free to leave a comment if you'd like to add on to these data or request for data from certain countries in the charts above!
