BY THE NUMBERS
By The Numbers, a look at what’s in the news . . . by the numbers. These are just numbers, not suggestions that they mean more or less than what they are. We do not suggest that one number is connected to another. These are simply facts with no extraneous details, bias or slanted reporting. To borrow (and perhaps mangle a bit) a quote from legendary fictional detective Joe Friday, it’s just the numbers, ma’am!
Today is Oct. 27, the 300th day of the year. And for most of the world, it’s just another day. But for those creative (and sometimes scary) minds at your favorite local newspaper, well . . . that just got them to thinking. And when that happens, we have no idea where things will go. So without further ado, here’s this week’s By The Numbers about . . . numbers.
300
We’ve already established that Oct. 27 is the 300th day of the year. If this were a leap year, it would be the 301st day – and you wouldn’t be reading any of this. By the way, we use the Gregorian calendar. Did you know it’s been in place since 1582 and most of the world uses it? And for those keeping score at home, there are 65 days left in the year (we knew you would know that, but we just wanted to mention it).
300
It’s a perfect score in bowling. That means a bowler would need 12 consecutive strikes – one in each of the first nine frames and three in the 10th. If you are not a bowler, the scoring is set up so that if you get a spare or strike in the final frame, you get to roll again. Once for a spare and twice for a strike. Get it? Yeah, we don’t either.
300
Maybe the most famous use of 300 is from the Battle of Thermopylae. Doesn’t strike a bell? Then how about if we say a 2006 action film starring Gerard Butler? Back to the battle, 300 Spartans fought a massive Persian army. Modern estimates record the Persians at between 100,000 and 300,000. Who won? No spoiler alert here! Stream the movie!
300
That’s how many feet are in a football field, making it an even 100 yards. Did you know that it used to be 110 yards? That’s right. But in 1912 a rule shortening it to 100 was made. That was because the 110 yards, plus the two 10-yard end zones made a 130-yard field too big for most existing stadiums at that time. And since Americans back then would have never stood for tax dollars being used to build a new stadium (uh, ok, maybe that’s an editorial comment), the field was shortened.
300
That was the price of those cheap plastic Halloween masks sold in stores back in the 1960s. Remember those?
300
An interesting number when it comes to the Bible. Remember that God told Noah to build a big, old boat 300 cubits long? Or how about when Gideon fought off the Midianites with 300 men? And it’s connected to the perfume Mary of Bethany put on the feet of Jesus.
300
Penultimate entry (google that!). In math, 300 is the sum of 10 consecutive prime numbers starting with 13. It’s OK, don’t believe us. It’s OK. We’ll wait. Want an easier one? 300 is also the sum of two prime numbers, 149 and 151.
300
In seconds, that’s five minutes – or about how long you spent perusing this page and doing the math on the entry above. Thanks for the time – we hope you enjoyed it as much as the zany folks here did creating it! Have a PERFECT 300 DAY!