From the amount paid for the Nike swoosh design to the number of litres going to waste from leaking taps

35

The amount in dollars that Carolyn Davidson, a graphic-arts student, was paid for designing the Nike swoosh in 1971.

1979

The year the Ericsson Company first produced a cellular phone.

15

The age at which Louis Braille, a Frenchman who had lost his sight as a result of a childhood accident, developed the braille code in 1824.

1956

The year Eero Saarinen designed the Tulip chair. It was considered so futuristic that it was used on the Star Trek set in the 1960s.

33

The number of years French postman Ferdinand Cheval spent picking up stones while delivering mail. He used them to build the whimsical Le Palais Idéal, in Hauterives. It’s considered a prime example of naïve art.

1 000 000

The estimated worth in dollars of the shares in Nike stock Davidson was given in 1983, three years after the company went public.

2 600

The number of years before building on the Great Wall of China stopped. Construction began during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (221-206 BCE) and continued until 1878.

55

The percentage of heat demand in the Netherlands that can be met by harvesting heat from roads, according to a 2012 study.

37 850

The number of litres going to waste a year from a tap that leaks one drop per second.

2 600

The tonnes of old computers and other technological hardware that are trashed in the US each year.

• From the July edition of Wanted, 2023.