Monday Open Thread: May 28, 585 BCE was the Battle of Halys

May 28 is the 148th day of the year, there are 217 days left

Tis Pungenday, Confusion 2, 3184 YOLD for the discordians amongst us

Today's number is 28

28 is 4 x 7 (more later)

28 is the sum of the first natural numbers. 1+2+3+4+5+6+7 = 28 28 is the sum of the first primes. 2+3+5+7+11 = 28 28 is the sum of the first non-primes 1+4+6+8+9 = 28 28 is the only known number that can can be expressed as all 3 of the above sums. For example 36 is also the sum of the first natural numbers (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8), but not a sum of first primes or first non-primes. 10 is the sum of the first primes (2+3+5) and natural numbers (1+2+3+4) but not the first non-primes (1+4+6).

28 is the atomic mass of Silicon 28 is the atomic number of Nickel 28 is the number of days in the average human menstrual cycle. 28 is the number of days in February in a normal year 28 is the number of dominoes in a standard domino set 28 is the number of grams in an ounce

Holy Shit, Batman, 28 is 4 x 7! Accordingly, x/28, whenever x =4n, is the same as n/7 which gets us back to the freaky repeating decimal (0.142857) discussed on the 7th, the 14th and the 21st. The decimal part of n/7 where n is a natural number not a multiple of 999,999 or 7 is the remainder x 0.142857 repeated on out to infinity. n/14 has similar rules, as does n/21, and n/28 which is, for example ...

1/28 = 0.0357142857142857 & repeat 142857 indefinitely 2/28 = 1/14 = 0.07142857142857 & repeat 142857 indefinitely 3/28 = 0.107142857142857 & repeat 142857 indefinitely 4/28 = 1/7 = 0.142857142857 & repeat 142857 indefinitely 5/28 = 0.17857142857 & repeat 142857 indefinitely

Title 28 of the US Code isJUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE

28 BCE was the Year of the First Consulship of Octavian and Agrippa The earliest dated record of a sunspot by Chinese astronomers on May 10. -

28 CE was the The Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Caesar

KEY DATE: An eclipse, predicted by Thales, interrupted the Battle of Halys on May 28, 585 BCE. Because we know eclipse dates with precision, we know the date of this battle with certainty. If we can calibrate any other event as being a specific number of days before or after the Battle of Halys, the we know the date of said other event with certainty as well.

On this day in:

1588 -- The Spanish Armada left Lisbon 1830 -- Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act * 1871 -- The Paris Commune fell 1892 -- John Muir organized the Sierra Club. 1905 -- The Battle of Tsushima ended 1918 -- Azerbaijan and Armenia declared their independence. 1936 -- Alan Turing submitted On Computable Numbers for publication. 1940 -- Belgium surrendered to Germany 1940 -- The allies recaptured Narvik 1948 -- Daniel Francois Malan became Prime Minister of South Africa. 1964 -- The PLO was formed. 2004 -- The Iraqi puppet government picked Ayad Allawi to run the place *

8 A crime against humanity, or, more properly, many under one umbella.

** Allawi had teamed up with Ahmed Chalabi in providing bogus pseudo-intel that Bush et. al. could use to lie the US into attacking Iraq. Chalabi died before the US could impose him on the Iraqi people.

Born this day in:

1858 -- Carl Richard Nyberg, invented the blowtorch 1886 -- Santo Trafficante, Sr., businessman 1888 -- Jim Thorpe, decathlete, football player, and coach 1900 -- Tommy Ladnier, trumpet player 1908 -- Ian Fleming, author 1910 -- T-Bone Walker, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1942 -- Stanley B. Prusiner, neurologist and biochemist * 1944 -- Gladys Knight, singer and songwriter 1945 -- John Fogerty, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1947 -- Leland Sklar, Abassist, singer, and songwriter 1956 -- Jerry Douglas, guitarist and producer 1968 -- Kylie Minogue, singer, songwriter, producer and actress 1981 -- Adam Green, singen, songwriter and guitarist

* Attacked for being a quack by everybody who believed that we already knew everything about biology and proteins

Died this day in:

1805 -- Luigi Boccherini, cellist and composer 1843 -- Noah Webster, lexicographer 1904 -- Kicking Bear, tribal leader 1981 -- Mary Lou Williams, pianist and composer 1988 -- Sy Oliver, trumpet player, composer, and bandleader

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days and such:

Spanish Armada

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Tommy Ladiner

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T-Bone Walker

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Gladys Knight

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John Fogarty

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Leland Sklar