Lux Americana

1. During the American Revolution, inflation was so out of control that the price of corn rose 10,000%, the price of wheat 14,000%, flour costs rose 15,000%, and the price of beef went up 33,000%.
2. A dime has 118 grooves on its circumference.  A quarter has one more.
3. Over $1 million worth of money belonging to Adolf Hitler and other high-ranking Nazis is still unclaimed in American banks.  The money was deposited well before America joined World War II, and to this day no one knows exactly what to do with it.
4. A quarter of the world’s population lives on less than $200 a year.  90 million people subsist on less than $75 per year.
5. The amount of play money printed for the Parker Brother’s game “Monopoly” each year is more than the amount of real currency issued annually by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
6. America once issued a 5-cent bill.
7. Until 1933, the dime was legal tender only in transactions of $10 or less.
8. Since 1971, bribes have been tax deductible.  According to the IRS taxpayer’s guide, “bribes and kickbacks to governmental officials are deductible unless the individual has been convicted of making the bribe or has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere.”
9. In the first year income tax was collected (1914), Americans paid an average per capita tax of 41 cents.  Only 1% of the population was obliged to pay income tax at that time.
10. It costs more money to purchase a new car today than it took for Columbus to finance 3 trips to and from the New World.

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