Is Facebook’s “25 Random Things About Me” a dazzling web phenomenon or the internet’s version of nails on a chalkboard? Depends on whom you talk to, but according to Facebook, last week alone another 5 million people jumped on the viral idea that exploded online, seemingly from out of nowhere. In a nutshell, it involves writing 25 unconnected facts about yourself and then proudly sharing (or over-sharing) the post with the world via a chain-letter note to all of your web friends. Are we late to the party? Maybe, but it’s such a good idea, we just couldn’t resist.

  1. We’re really into wind: We’re the #1 manufacturer of wind turbines in the United States with more than 10,000 wind turbines installed globally.
  2. In 2008, GE filed over 2,500 patents worldwide.
  3. Every day, GE Evolution locomotives save so much fuel it’s like taking 43,000 cars off U.S. roads.
  4. Aircraft engines from GE and its partners carry 3.5 million commercial passengers every day.
  5. Hulu, the web video joint venture of NBC Universal and Fox, is part of an evil plot by invading aliens to make you watch more TV. Really.
  6. We were founded by Thomas Edison, and he once said: “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait ‘til oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”

  7. GE built the largest desalination plant in Africa, providing fresh water to as many as 2 million residents of Algiers.
  8. When Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic used jet biofuel for the first time ever in-flight, GE was there. Our CF6 engine used a biofuel based on coconut and babassu oil.
  9. Just one GE Energy 1.5MW wind turbine can power 500 U.S. homes.
  10. GE Energy Financial Services invests in 30,000 miles of natural gas pipelines in North America.
  11. Every day, GE Healthcare technology will help doctors save nearly 3,000 lives.
  12. GE Security secures the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty.
  13. GE power generation equipment creates a quarter of the world’s electricity daily.
  14. Everyday, NBC Universal entertains and informs more than 100 million people.
  15. GE water technologies purify enough water to satisfy the daily needs of 39 million people around the world.

  16. While we’re obviously super-proud of GE, some of us actually resisted jumping on the Facebook “25 Things” trend.
  17. Small enough to fit in a physician’s backpack, the GE MAC 400 is the first compact electrocardiogram (ECG) device to be designed, developed and manufactured in India for India, giving more people in more areas access to better healthcare.
  18. GE’s state-of-the-art gas turbines and reverse-osmosis plants will form the heart of the world’s largest integrated water and power plant in Marafiq, Saudi Arabia.
  19. Using garnet gemstones, GE engineers developed the world’s first High-Definition CT scanner, providing high-definition images at 100 times the speed of previous medical scanners — another big step forward in the early detection of cancer.
  20. GE’s new nano coatings, developed by studying the leaves of lotus plants, can repel water, which reduces ice on a wind turbine blade, or helps parts of a gas turbine to reject grime, resulting in better efficiency.
  21. Using a process similar to that for printing newspapers, GE unveiled the world’s first demonstration of “roll-to-roll” processed OLEDs, organic light-emitting diodes – essentially flexible sheets of lighting.
  22. GE Energy Financial Services holds equity investments in power projects with the capacity to produce 26 gigawatts — equivalent to the installed generating capacity of Thailand.
  23. FINCA International, a non-profit microfinance institution, and GE Money are bringing financial services to more than 8,400 women in Jordan through their Banking on Women program.
  24. GE’s hybrid vehicle team of scientists figured out how to capture the energy created when massive mining operation trucks put on the brakes. The vehicles can now brake, store the energy and then re-use it – saving fuel and increasing efficiency.
  25. We actually like it when Alec Baldwin skewers us on “30 Rock.”

If you made it to the bottom of our random list, thanks — and see you on Tuesday. Happy President’s Day!