ASU: The Creosote League and Other AZ Facts

Thanks to Valentine’s Day, approximately 110 million roses—the majority of them red—will be sold and delivered within a three-day time period.

Almost 2,500 ASU freshmen are from the top 10 percent of their high school class. That’s more than Harvard, Yale, or Princeton.

The Gila monster, which calls Arizona its home, is the only poisonous lizard in the United States.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is one of the ten busiest airports in the world, with a $90 million daily economic impact. On a typical day, more than 1,200 aircraft arrive and depart, and more than 100,000 passengers arrive and depart. It was purchased by the City of Phoenix in July of 1935 for $100,000: the city paid $35,300 in cash and took out a $64,700 mortgage.

In 1900, the top three boys’ names were John, William, and James, while the top three girls’ names were Mary, Helen, and Anna.

Before the days of mattresses, beds were square frames elevated from the ground, with ropes tied across in a sort of weave. It was similar to a hammock in concept. In order to sleep well, the “mattress” couldn’t sag, so the bed had to be “tight.” Hence, “Sleep tight!”

The meteor crater in Northern Arizona is nearly a mile wide and 570 feet deep. The meteor itself weighed roughly 300,000 tons and was traveling at a speed of 28,600 miles per hour. The explosion created by its impact was equal to 2.5 megatons of TNT, or about 150 times the force of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

Dr. Martin Cooper, a former general manager for the systems division at Motorola, is considered the inventor of the first portable handset and the first person to make a call on a portable cell phone in April 1973. The first call he made was to his rival, Joel Engel, Bell Labs head of research.

The warmest temperature ever recorded in March in Arizona was 100 degrees. The coldest was 25 degrees.