Monday Open Thread; January 8 is typing day, woo hoo! **

January 8 is the 8th day of the year, there are 357 days left **

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** It is also the earliest day upon which Virginia's celebration of Lee-Jackson Day can occur, fwiw.

Today's number is 8

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8 is 2 cubed Base 8 math is Octal, which is a computer thing, at least on older machines There are 8 bits in a byte, at least on older machines 8 is a fibonacci number (3 + 5) An 8 sided polygon is an octagon A polyhedron with 8 faces is an octahedron A cube has 8 corners 8 is Oxygen spiders and other arachnids have 8 legs An octopus has 8 tentacles An 8 can be a motor vehicle, further specified as a V-8 or a straight 8 An 8 or racing 8 is a sweep propelled crew shell with 8 rowers and a coxswain A figure 8 is an ice skating figure A figure 8 knot is a type of stopper knot A Lazy 8 is slang for the infinity symbol 8 the hard way, in craps, is 2 fours 8 ball is a type of pocket billiards There are 8 furlongs in a mile There are 8 tablespoons in a gill. There are 8 fluid ounces in a cup There are 8 pints in a gallon 8 bells is 4 hours, and 8 bits is a buck

The 8 queens problem is a puzzle involving chess pieces on a chess board Note that the placement involves Knight moves

Title 8 of the US Code is ALIENS AND NATIONALITY

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8 BCE was the Year of the Consulship of Censorinus and Gallus Empress Wang was born The Roman poet Horace died Empress Xu died

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8 CE was the  Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Paullus The Roman poet Ovid was banished from Rome and exiled to the Black Sea

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On this day in:

1454 -- The Pope gave Portugal exclusive rights to Africa south of Cape Bojador. Yup. He did. 1735 -- Handel's Ariodante was first performed 1790 -- Washington's first State of the Union address 1828 -- The US Democratic Party was allegedly organized, but I doubt it 1889 -- Herman Hollerith got a patent for his punched card calculator 1912 -- The African National Congress was founded. Sorry 'bout that, Pope. 1918 -- Woodrow Wilson announced his 14 points 1926 -- Usurper/conqueror Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud was crowned King of Hejaz 1961 -- A French referendum supported de Gaulle's Algerian policies 1964 -- Johnson declared a "War on Poverty" which lasted until Bill Clinton. 1973 -- The trial of the Watergate burglars began 1975 -- Ella T. Grasso became the first woman Governor in the US who didn't succeed her husband (Conn.) 1992 -- GWB barfed on Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. 1994 -- Valeri Polyakov took off for his record 437 days in space (aboard MIR) 2002 -- The No Child Left Behind Act was signed 2011 -- Gabrielle Giffords and several others were shot

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Born this day in:

1628 -- Francois-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, general, worth a read 1638 -- Elisabetta Sirani, painter 1823 -- Alfred Russel Wallace, geographer, explorer, biologist, evolutionary theorist 1824 -- Francisco Gonzalez Bocanegra, poet and composer 1854 -- Fanny Bullock Workman, geographer, cartographer, explorer, writer, and mountaineer, 1904 -- Tampa Red, guitarist and songwriter 1909 -- Evelyn Wood, speed reader, author and educator 1911 -- Gypsy Rose Lee, actress, dancer, and author 1928 -- Luther Perkins, guitarist 1931 -- Bill Graham, concert promoter 1935 -- Elvis Presley, actor, guitarist and singer 1937 -- Shirley Bassey, singer 1940 -- Cristy Lane, country singer 1941 -- Graham Chapman, cultural icon 1942 -- Stephen Hawking, physicist and cosmologist 1946 -- Robby Krieger, guitarist, singer,  and songwriter 1947 -- David Bowie, singer, songwriter, producer, and actor 1947 -- Terry Sylvester, singer and guitarist 1960 -- Dave Weckl, drummer 1967 -- R. Kelly, singer, songwriter, and record producer

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Died this day in:

1337 -- Giotto, painter & sculptor 1642 -- Galileo Galilei, scientist and heretic 1713 -- Arcangelo Corelli, violinist and composer 1825 -- Eli Whitney, engineer, invented cotton gin 1880 -- Emperor Norton, emperor 1896 -- Paul Verlaine, poet 1952 -- Antonia Maury, astronomer and astrophysicist 1958 -- Mary Colter, architect 1972 -- Kenneth Patchen, poet 1976 -- Zhou Enlai, first premier of the PRC 1979 -- Sara Carter, singer, songwriter, and autoharp player

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Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days and such:   Typing Day (International observance)

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So, for music,

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Tampa Red

Luther Perkins  

Elvis Presley  

Shirley Bassey  

Robby Krieger  

David Bowie  

Terry Sylvester  

R. Kelly  

Arcangelo Corelli  

Sara Carter,  

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Bonus Bowie:  

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picture is "Image from page 55 of "Penman's Art Journal" (1898)" from the internet Archive

Crossposted from http://caucus99percent.com