(NAPSI)—Relied on for more than a century, America’s best-selling reference book offers the answers to this year’s most pressing questions.

Which 2012 election candidate plans to lower the presidential salary to less than $40,000? How many millions of smartphones were sold in the United States over the past year? Which U.S. state has the highest public high school graduation rate? The answers can be found in The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2012.

Gracing the cover of this year’s edition is singer Adele, whose 2011 album 21 broke the record for most consecutive weeks in the Top 5 of the Billboard 200. She’s joined by the Yankees’ star shortstop Derek Jeter, whose milestone 3,000^th hit was a home run.

The book also boasts a new feature on the Greatest Sports Upsets, with a list of the most surprising athletic outcomes of all time, inspired by Japan’s victory in the Women’s World Cup.

Shifts in the American population are illustrated by sections like “The Changing United States” while “Year in Review” recaps the top headlines, strangest news stories and most striking images of 2011. For more information, visit www.worldalmanac.com.

 

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