Sony’s president decided a CD should contain the longest recorded version of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, which is 74 minutes.

There is a company specializing in making hidden doorways or rooms in homes. One requires a chess board played in a certain combo to unlock.

Five years ago, 60% of all retail purchases were made with cash or check. Now it’s 50%. By 2010, 39% of purchases will be made by cash or check.

The largest ocean liners pay a $250,000 toll for each trip through the Panama Canal. The canal generates fully one-third of Panama’s entire economy.

Paul McCartney’s Birth Certificate was auctioned in March 1997, for US $84,146. It is believed to be the world’s most expensive Birth Certificate

Each year, over 1,000,000 people fail to itemize out the mortgage interest deduction on their income taxes. Last year, this amounted to $473,000,000 in taxes.

Candy Crush makes roughly $633,000 per day. This game is played by every seventh person in Hong Kong daily. A 14-year-old boy spent $4,300 on boosts and extra moves.

The company providing the liability insurance for the Republican National Convention in San Diego is the same firm that insured the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic.

China is the world’s largest market for BMW’s top of the line 760Li. This car sells for $200,000 in China – more than almost all people in China make in a lifetime.

Eleven top executives of the Direct Marketing Association (the telemarketers’ group that is trying to kill the federal “Do Not Call” list) have registered for the list themselves.

SUV sales are up 18% in the first quarter of 2004 vs. the same period of 2003, even though gas prices are skyrocketing. Consumer surveys show that gas prices would have to hit $3.75 per gallon before there will be any real impact on SUV sales.

The Chicago Cubs are suing former Hartford Courant newspaper carrier Mark Guthrie to get back $301,000 in pay that was intended to go to a Cubs pitcher with the same name. The Tribune Company owns both the Hartford Courant and the Chicago Cubs.