Hello, my name is Donald Fact, and has been ever since I changed it by deed poll in 1968.  Back in the 60s and early 70s I compiled the weekly It's A Fact! column in IPC Magazines' popular 'Chuckles' comic.  The column contained all sorts of fascinating snippets and trivia about the world around us and was an incredibly popular item with boys and girls everywhere - if the regular sacks of mail that arrived at the office were anything to go by.  I also contributed fact-related features to a number of other volumes, including the 1972 Bonanza annual, the 1974 Thunderbirds Summer Special, as well as a regrettably short-lived column in the Daily Express.  However, I'm sure most boys and girls will remember me from my appearances on the popular Saturday morning TV programme Swap Shop, in which viewers were invited to send in questions for me to answer, drawing on the vast store of fascinating facts that I have collated over the years.

Of course, by the early eighties, the whole fact craze was dying down somewhat, and I found that there was less and less call for my services.  Many of the publications that had previously carried my work had folded, to be replaced by glossy magazines about pop bands and girls hairstyles.  Nevertheless, I kept compiling my ever expanding library of fascinating facts, occasionally approaching magazines with new ideas for articles, but rarely getting commissioned.  Recently, however, I was contacted by The University of the Bleeding Obvious, who asked me to delve into my fact bag one more time.  And here is the result: a brand new edition of It's a Fact!, which I have compiled specially for the University.  There are some old favourites amongst these facts, as well as one or two new ones, which I am sure will raise a few eyebrows.  And who knows - if this goes well maybe I'll be asked to provide a regular column.  Or perhaps some eager young magazine editor will read this and commission an article?  There might even be an occasional spot on breakfast television on the horizon.  Here's hoping...

with Donald Fact

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98% of all the bubblewrap in the world comes from Mauritius.

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Ducks can't swim - they usually just hover half an inch above the surface of the water.

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If you stretched a Chinaman, he'd go round the world three times.

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Elephants can't play football.

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Australia is the only continent that can be seen from space.

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This week's Golden Fact:

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The shark is not technically a fish, but a type of self-assembly wardrobe.

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Until 1978, hinges only opened from left to right.

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Neil Armstrong invented the non-stick frying pan.

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According to accepted theories of physics, it is impossible for bumble bees to drive.

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80% of the average human adult's bodyweight is gas.

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There is no word for 'shoehorn' in Italian.

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Radar was invented by the ancient Egyptians to find cats in the dark.

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John Wayne never wore a hat in his entire life.  In his films it was always added later by animators.

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In addition to inaugurating the award which bears his name, Alfred Nobel also invented table tennis.

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Henry Ford's mum was a wrestler.

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It is with great regret we report that shortly after completing this article, Donald Fact was tragically mauled to death by a cheetah - the fastest land animal on Earth, with a recorded top speed of over 70 mph.   We would like to express our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.