Talking Points

Tired of giving the same old presentations? Use these nuggets of information to spruce them up.
Reported by PLANADVISER Staff
  • If money were no object, Australia remains the vacation spot of choice (outside the U.S.) for Americans, according to a new Harris poll (it’s held that slot for more than a decade now). Italy was the second choice, followed by Britain, France, Ireland, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, and Greece. Italy was the favorite for “Echo Boomers’ ages 18 to 30 and for college graduates. Britain was the top choice of those older than 62. 
  • If you try to fail and succeed —what did you just do? 
  • A poll conducted by the Boston Consulting Group found that 55% of Americans believe their house would sell for more money now than last year, though that was lower than the 59% who felt the same way last summer. Perhaps more significantly, 85% expect their home to be worth even more in five years than it is now. 
  • On September 30, 1985, Microsoft released Excel. 
  • Illinois produces more pumpkins than any other state in the United States. However, the pumpkin is the state fruit (that’s right, “botanically” it is a fruit, referring to a certain plant part that grows from a flower, even though it is widely regarded as a vegetable in culinary terms) of New Hampshire (as of April this year, in fact). Apparently, it is grown in all 10 counties of the Granite State, and Keene, New Hampshire, holds the world’s record for the most lit pumpkins in one location—28,952.  
  • On Sept. 25, 1789, the first U.S. Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution, 10 of which became the Bill of Rights.  
  • “I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.” —Harry S. Truman