In 1951, about 175,000 people lived in Venice's historic centre. In August 2022, the population fell below the symbolic 50,000 mark, according to municipal records. Several factors combine: property prices, homes converted into tourist rentals, the cost of living on the water and an ageing population. Meanwhile, the city welcomes millions of visitors every year.
That's the estimate from a WHO-led study published in The Lancet in 2024, covering the half-century since the Expanded Programme on Immunization was launched in 1974. It works out to about six lives saved every minute, mostly infants. The measles vaccine alone accounts for around 60% of those lives.
According to the World Gold Council, about 216,000 tonnes of gold have been mined in all of human history. Because gold is so dense (19.3 tonnes per cubic metre), it would fit in a cube about 22 metres on each side, roughly the height of a seven-storey building. Strikingly, about two-thirds of it has been mined since 1950.