Eighty20 Fact-a-Day

During the Great Depression, flour and feed companies printed colourful patterns on their sacks so families could reuse the fabric to make clothing and household items. Source: bit.ly/4tTbmr8

According to MAPS, available on the Eighty20 Data Portal, 46% of South Africans ate instant noodles last month. The product’s origins trace back to post-WWII Japan, where severe food shortages and one of the worst rice harvests in decades forced a shift in diet. Large-scale U.S. wheat imports reshaped eating habits toward wheat-based foods like ramen, ultimately leading to the invention of instant noodles. Analyse this data yourself on the Eighty20 Data Portal: bit.ly/3SNlEt4 Source: bit.ly/3O36a4J

Spam, introduced in the U.S. in 1937 and propelled to global prominence when over 100 million pounds were distributed to troops during WWII. It entered Korea during the Korean War, where food scarcity made it a vital protein source, and has since become deeply woven into Korean cuisine and holiday traditions. Source: bit.ly/4mntRkG

The Apollo Guidance Computer helped land humans on the Moon in 1969, yet its processing power is now easily outclassed by everyday electronics, including a USB charger or modern toaster. Today, a basic smartphone is literally hundreds of millions of times more powerful. Source: bit.ly/4t4Ua1L

Companies like SpaceX are exploring space-based data centres, with plans for large-scale orbital networks to power artificial intelligence beyond Earth. Source: bit.ly/3Qsgi7C

Today’s global race isn’t to the Moon, but to intelligence; countries like United States and China are investing billions in artificial intelligence, aiming to lead in technology that could shape economies, security, and daily life for decades to come. Source: bit.ly/3QtMwiM

Voyager 1 was launched in 1977, and by November 2026 it will be so far from Earth that a signal takes 24 hours to reach it, resulting in a 2-day communication turnaround. Source: bit.ly/4sf1kz3, bit.ly/41gLclP

Artemis II marks the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years, undertaking a 10‑day lunar flyby to test critical systems for future landings. The four astronauts will travel farther from Earth than any humans in history and, as of April 7, are already on their return journey home. Source: bit.ly/4e20AtK

According to payment data released by Yoco, international visitors spent over R500 million at small and neighbourhood businesses in Cape Town between mid-November and early January, accounting for 61.9% of all international visitor transactions processed on its platform. Over the same period, more than R14 million in tips was paid to staff by international guests. Source: bit.ly/3POHfCe

South Africa is one of Airbnb’s strongest markets in Africa, and Cape Town is consistently ranked among the most wish-listed Airbnb cities in the world. Source: bit.ly/4c5mk5z

The V&A Waterfront attracts around 24 million visitors annually, making it one of the most visited destinations in Africa. Source: bit.ly/4s4kNCs

Cape Town International Airport was ranked the #1 Best Airport in Africa in 2025, according to the Skytrax World Airport Awards. Source: bit.ly/3O4rCpP

that figure stands at 1%. ailable through Eighty20’s Data Portal, 75% of South Africans under 35 go to the cinema at least once a year, compared to 57% of those aged 35+—highlighting a strong generational skew in cinema attendance. Analyse this data yourself on the Eighty20 Data Portal: bit.ly/3SNlEt4

According to MAPS/AMPS, available through Eighty20n 1975, 14% of South African adults had been to the cinema in the past week. By 2015, just 3.5% had gone in the past month. Today, that figure stands at 1%. Analyse this data yourself on the Eighty20 Data Portal: bit.ly/3SNlEt4

Several people born in South Africa have won Oscars (Academy Awards), including Charlize Theron (Monster, Best Actress), Ronald Harwood (The Pianist, Best Adapted Screenplay), Ted Moore (A Man for All Seasons, Best Cinematography), and director Gavin Hood for Tsotsi, South Africa’s first Oscar-winning film. Sources: bit.ly/4lNSvKU, bit.ly/4sx36wB

Ster-Kinekor’s Throwback Cinema campaign, launched in 2023 with R50 tickets for classic films, saw attendance increase by 526% in 2024 and a further 86% in 2025, leading to an expansion from once-off screenings to full-week runs. Source: bit.ly/4rS7m8T

Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13. Because of this superstition, many buildings skip the 13th floor, and some airlines even remove row 13 from their seating plans. Source: bit.ly/4rPeW43

A group of students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology used probability mathematics to identify a loophole in the Cash WinFall lottery. By buying thousands of tickets during “roll-down” weeks when the jackpot was redistributed to smaller prizes, the expected value of a ticket became higher than its price, allowing them to make around $8 million in profit before the rules were changed. Source: bit.ly/4cYP1D9

Gen X and Millennials will remember William Smith, the maths teacher on SABC2 in the 1990s. His father, Prof. J.L.B. Smith, was the ichthyologist who identified the coelacanth, a fish once thought extinct. William Smith later established the Featherbed Nature Reserve in Knysna on land originally purchased by his father. Source: bit.ly/40CSmk4, bit.ly/4bQeJIU

In 2025, only about 64% of South African matric learners passed Mathematics, down from 69% in 2024. This makes Mathematics one of the lowest-pass-rate subjects in the matric exams, even though it is a key gateway subject for careers in engineering, science, finance, and technology. Source: bit.ly/40Exitl