About 24,000 people are killed by lightning strikes around the world each year.
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A bolt of lightning contains enough energy to toast 160,000 pieces of bread.
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In 1998, all 11 members of a soccer team in Africa were killed by lightning while leaving the other team unhurt.
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In 1939, 835 sheep were killed by a single lightning strike in Utah.
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Men are struck by lightning five times more often than women.
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Being hit by lightning causes weird skin designs called "Lichtenberg figures."
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A bolt of lightning is 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun.
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There will be a 50% increase in lightning strikes by 2100 if global warming continues, according to a scientific report.
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There is a persistent storm at Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. Lightning storms occur for about 10 hours a night, 140 to 160 nights a year, for a total of about 1.2 million lightning discharges per year.
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Some volcano eruptions are capable of creating powerful electrical charges that can lead to bolts of lightning as large as two miles long.
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The Statue of Liberty is estimated to be hit by about 600 bolts of lightning every year.
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A 62-foot Jesus statue built by a megachurch was destroyed by a lightning strike and subsequent fire.
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In 1902, a lightning strike damaged the upper section of the Eiffel Tower, requiring the reconstruction of its top.
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A lightning bolt carries X-ray radiation.
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You're more likely to get struck by lightning in Texas than find in-person voter fraud.
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African bongos eat burned wood after lightning storms.
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In 18th century Paris, it was fashionable to wear hats and umbrellas with lightning rods attached.
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The Empire State building gets hit by lightning about 23 times per year.
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Taking a shower or washing dishes during a lightning storm is not recommended. A lightning strike can be conducted from many miles away through a water pipe.
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If you count the number of seconds that pass between a flash of lightning and the crack of thunder that follows it, and divide it by five, that's how many miles away you are from where lightning just struck.
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The longest known lightning bolt could have reached from Brussels to London.
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Lighting hasn't brought down a plane since 1963, due to careful engineering that lets the electric charge of a lightning bolt run through the plane and out of it.
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