Open Thread: Monday, February 22, 2016

It's Celebrity Day. Woo Hoo! Celebrate one, or two, or 5, or something

Today's number is Twenty-Two

22 is the product of two primes, 2 and 11

Being a product of 11 generates some fun we'll look at later

22 sevenths has been used as a rough approximation of pi for millenia

22 is titanium, a seriously kick-ass metal, but brittle in a pure state

A cricket pitch is 22 yards long

Catch 22 is a novel by Joseph Heller

A "Catch 22" is a type of gotcha or puzzle such as occur in that novel

.22 and .22LR (long rifle) are common small caliber weapons designations

"Fun" with "math"

1/11 = .090909 repeated forever

1/22 = 1/2 of 1/11 = 0.5 x .0909 = .04545454545 ad infinitum

In doing mental arithmetic, multiplying by eleven is often easiest done by multiplying by 10 and then adding the original number. For example, 14 x 11 = 10 x 14 + 14 = 140 + 14 = 154

Similarly, multiplying by 22 is often easily done by multiplying by 2 and then multiplying the product by 11. Thus 14 x 22 = 28 x 11 = 280 + 28 = 308

Multiplying by 22 can also be made easier by first multiplying by 11 and then doubling the result. Thus 14 x 22 = (140+14) x 2 = 154 x 2 = 308

22 BCE was the Year of the Consulship of Marcellus and Arruntius

Gaius Petronius, Roman governor of Egypt, destroyed the Nubian capital

22 CE was the Year of the Consulship of Agrippa and Galba

Roman law replaced Celtic law and customs in Gaul. The earth wept.

Valeria Messalina, the third wife of Emperor Claudius was born

On this date in
1632	The "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems" by Gilileo was published
1819	Spain sold Florida to the US for $5 million US
1848	The start of The French Revolution of 1848 (second republic)
1862	Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as president of the CSA
1879	The first Woolworth store opened in Utica, New York
1889	North and South Dakota, Montana and Washington were admitted to statehood
1909	The Great White Fleet returned to the US
1915	Germany initiated unrestricted submarine warfare
1943	Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst of the White Rose resistance were executed by the Nazis
1944	US aircraft bombed Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer by mistake, killing many, but, oops, sorry, you know.
1957	Ngo Dinh Diem survived an assassination attempt
1958	Egypt and Syria formed the UAR
1974	Richard Nixon survived an assassination attempt
1997	The successful cloning of a sheep named Dolly led to many bad jokes based on a famous musical
2014	Following a coup d'etat, Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine was belatedly impeached

Born this day in
1444	Ladislaus the Posthumous of Hungary
1732	George Washington, the father of his country, but nobody else.
1788	Arthur Schopenhauer, a serious pessimist
1810	Frederic Chopin, a pianist and composer
1857	Robert Baden-Powell, co-founder of The Scout Association
1857	Heinrich Hertz, a physicist & philosopher. Made waves. Invented the rental car
1889	Olave Baden-Powell, a scout leader & founder of the Girl Guides
1892	Edna St. Vincent Millay, a poet and playwright
1900	Louis Bunuel, producer & director, did a dog movie with Dali
1922	Joe Wilder a trumpet player, composer, and bandleader
1925	Edward Gorey, a writer and illustrator
1928	Texas Johnny Brown, a blues guitarist, singer and songwriter
1932	Ted Kennedy, The Lion of the Senate
1938	Ishmael Reed, an author, poet & playwright
1942	Christine Keeler, the model and dancer at the center of the Profumo Affair
1955	David Axelrod, political advisor
1974	James Blunt a guitarist, singer & songwriter

Died this day in
1512	Amerigo Vespucci, a well known mapmaker
1875	Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, a landscape painter and proto-impressionist
1943	Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl & Christopher Probst, German activists
1944	Kasturba Ghandi, an Indian activist & Mahatma's wife
1988	Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca a jazz cornetist and bandleader (Original Dixieland Jass Band)
1965	Felix Frankfurter, a lawyer and jurist, one of the Supremes
1976	Florence Ballard, a singer, one of the Supremes
1987	Andy Warhol, a photographer and painter
1994	Papa John Creach, a fiddle player (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna)
1998	Abe Ribicoff, a politician

Holidays, Holy Days, Feasts, Observances and such

The Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of The Chair of Saint Peter

The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates February 22. This appears to be a thing with them - pick a date and they celebrate it. Keeps their hand in, I guess.

Scientologists celebrate Celebrity day (Hey, why not?).

Joe Wilder

x YouTube Video