Last day of this year and time for my recollections of 2014’s main events.
As always this is by no means meant to be a complete coverage of all the events that happened during 2014, just a personal blog post about some of the things I remember, and a few that I had forgotten until I started to compile this list.
I hope you enjoy.
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The Weather
We will start off with the weather since so many of us seem to be obsessed with it.
In the United States there were weather extremes. In California, for example, January was the warmest and driest on record in San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles. Only four other Januaries since 1878 had been completely dry in Los Angeles until January 2014. Alaskans experienced their third warmest January in 96 years of record, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center.
In many parts of the Midwest, on the other hand, 2014 was the coldest winter since the late 1970s or early 1980s. And some southern states of the US became the victims of, firstly, winter storm Kronos which brought a rare blanket of snow as far south as Louisiana, and sleet as far south as Harlingen, Texas and Pensacola, Fla. in late January, and then, just days later, a second winter storm, Leon, hit many of the same areas causing commuter chaos in both Birmingham, Ala. and Atlanta. Leon also spread ice and sleet to the Gulf Coast, including the Florida Panhandle, and the Low country of South Carolina.
And worse was on the way. Winter Storm Pax deposited an inch or more of ice in a swath from east-central Georgia into South Carolina, including Augusta, Ga. and Aiken, S.C. Pax was the second heaviest ice storm dating to 1947 in Wilmington, N.C. The accumulation of ice from Pax claimed the famed “Eisenhower tree” at the Augusta National Golf Club. Pax marked the first time since January 1940 that Columbia, S.C. saw snowfall for three straight days.
In complete contrast, the week after Pax, Columbia, S.C. tied its all-time February high of 84 degrees. Augusta, Ga. warmed into the 80s two straight days on Feb. 19-20.
Elsewhere in the world, severe Atlantic winter storms took their toll on many parts of England which in 2014 experienced storms and rain not seen since the late 19th century.
In Tokyo, Japan, which usually averages only about 4 inches of snow each year, there were also severe snow storms. In February, snow blanketed the city with 11 inches of snow in less than a week, the heaviest snowfall in 45 years for Tokyo and in 60 years for the city of Kumagaya, northwest of Tokyo. The following weekend, parts of eastern Japan, including parts of the Tokyo metro area, received another round of snow. Some smaller communities were isolated by more than 3 feet of snow.
And in the southern hemisphere, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology reported that more than 10 percent of Queensland and almost 15 percent of New South Wales experienced their record hottest day on Jan. 3. A second heat wave hit parts of southern Australia in mid-January, with temperatures peaking above 41 degrees Celsius (just under 106 degrees Fahrenheit) for four straight days from Jan. 14-17, and reaching a sizzling 43.9 degrees C (111 degrees F) on both Jan. 16 and 17.
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Business and Technology
In the world of business and technology 2014 was the year the Obama administration decided to stop inversion deals, where US companies bought foreign domiciled businesses and moved their profit centers to a much more tax friendly location.
In technology buys, one of the largest was Facebook’s purchase of smartphone application WhatsApp for $19 Billion.
In other sectors 2014 saw world oil price plunge to around $50 per barrel, good news for consumers, not so good for producers.
Under pressure from the fall in oil and gas prices, along with the economic sanctions imposed by the west because of the ongoing situation in the Ukraine, the Russian Ruble went into free fall in December.
Also in 2014, in March, the United Nations International Court of Justice ruled that Japan’s Antarctic whaling program was not scientific but commercial and refused to grant further permits.
With Quantitative Easing having been ended in the US (for the moment anyway) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced plans for a new $29 billion fresh stimulus, including subsidies and job-creating programs, to help pull the world’s third-largest economy out of recession.
After their embarrassing foul up last Christmas, this year both FedEx and UPS managed to deliver more than 99 percent of express packages as promised on Dec. 22 and Dec. 23, according to shipment tracker ShipMatrix.
South Korean prosecutors arrested a government official who allegedly leaked information about an investigation into former Korean Air Lines executive Cho Hyun-ah, who forced a flight to return over a bag of macadamia nuts. Most of the rest of the world tends to think that the idiot executive should suffer the consequences of her stupidity, not the whistleblower.
And finally, after their embarrassing hack attack and cringe-worthy capitulation to what amounted to a terrorist cyber attack which was rightly criticized publicly by President Obama, Sony finally decided to release its movie ‘The Interview’.
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Conflicts, Wars & Terrorism
Unfortunately 2014 saw many conflicts and acts of terrorism.
In April an estimated 276 girls and women were abducted and held hostage from a school in Nigeria. The following month, Boko Haram militants killed approximately 300 people in a night attack on Gamboru Ngala and terrorists in Nigeria detonated bombs at Jos, killing 118 people.
June saw the emergence of a Sunni militant group called the ‘Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’ (also known as the ‘ISIS’ or ‘ISIL’). It began an offensive throughout northern Iraq, with the aim of eventually capturing the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad and overthrowing the Shiite government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The group has been responsible for beheading of hundreds of people including several from the United States.
In July and August tensions between Israel and Hamas grew following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June and the revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in July. Israel launched ‘Operation Protective Edge’ on the Palestinian Gaza Strip starting with numerous missile strikes, followed by a ground invasion a week later. In 7 weeks of fighting, 2,100 Palestinians and 71 Israelis were killed.
Also in July, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777, crashed in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 souls on board. There are conflicting claims as to who was responsible, some blaming pro Russian forces for a missile strike and others blaming Ukrainian forces.
In August and September the United States military began an air campaign in northern Iraq to stem the influx of ISIS militants and the following month the United States and several Arab partners began an airstrike campaign in Syria.
Expect more on these stories during 2015.
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Departures
During 2014 we said farewell to many well know people from various walks of life. Here is just my selection of those I remember.
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From Literature
Sue Townsend
British novelist and playwright (b. 1946)
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P. D. James
British writer and life peer
(b. 1920)
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From Movies & TV
Roger Lloyd-Pack
British actor
(b. 1944)
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Maximilian Schell
Austrian-Swiss actor
(b. 1930)
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Philip Seymour Hoffman
American actor
(b. 1967)
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Shirley Temple
American actress and diplomat
(b. 1928)
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Sid Caesar
American actor
(b. 1922)
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Harold Ramis
American film director,
writer, and actor
(b. 1944)
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Mickey Rooney
American actor
(b. 1920)
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Bob Hoskins
British actor
(b. 1942)
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Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
American actor
(b. 1918)
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Rik Mayall
British comedian,
writer and actor
(b. 1958)
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Casey Kasem
American radio host
and voice actor
(b. 1932)
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Eli Wallach
American actor
(b. 1915)
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Elaine Stritch
American actress and singer
(b. 1925)
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James Garner
American actor
(b. 1928)
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Menahem Golan
Israeli filmmaker
(b. 1929)
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Robin Williams
American actor and comedian
(b. 1951)
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Lauren Bacall
American actress
(b. 1924)
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Richard Attenborough
British actor and film director
(b. 1923)
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Joan Rivers
American comedian, actress,
and television host
(b. 1933)
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Richard Kiel
American actor (b. 1939)
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Polly Bergen
American actress
(b. 1930)
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Ken Takakura
Japanese actor
(b. 1931)
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Warren Clarke
English actor
(b. 1947)
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Glen A. Larson
American television producer
and writer
(b. 1937)
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Virna Lisi
Italian actress
(b. 1936)
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Billie Whitelaw
English actress
(b. 1932)
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Luise Rainer
Golden Age actress
“The Great Ziegfeld”
(b. 1910)
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From Music
Pete Seeger
American singer, songwriter,
musician, and activist
(b. 1919)
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Johnny Winter
American singer and guitarist
(b. 1944)
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Glenn Cornick
British bass guitarist
(b. 1947)
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Jack Bruce
British rock bassist
(b. 1943)
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Acker Bilk
British jazz clarinetist
(b. 1929)
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Joe Cocker
English singer
(b. 1944)
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From Politics
Zbigniew Messner
9th Prime Minister of the
People’s Republic of Poland
(b. 1929)
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Ariel Sharon
11th Prime Minister of Israel
(b. 1928)
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Tony Benn
British politician and diarist
(b. 1925)
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Adolfo Suárez
138th Prime Minister of Spain
(b. 1932)
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James R. Schlesinger
American economist and politician
(b. 1929)
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A. N. R. Robinson
3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago
(b. 1926)
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Howard Baker
American politician and diplomat
(b. 1925)
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Eduard Shevardnadze
2nd President of Georgia
(b. 1928)
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Albert Reynolds
Irish Taoiseach (prime minister)
(b. 1932)
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Ian Paisley
British politician and
First Minister of Northern Ireland
(b. 1926)
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Nicholas Romanov
Prince of Russia
(b. 1922)
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Jean-Claude Duvalier
41st President of Haiti
(b. 1951)
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John Spencer-Churchill
11th Duke of Marlborough,
British peer and educator
(b. 1926)
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Gough Whitlam
21st Prime Minister of Australia
(b. 1916)
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From Space Exploration
Valeri Kubasov
Soviet cosmonaut
(b. 1935)
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Wubbo Ockels
Dutch astronaut and physicist
(b. 1946)
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Henry Hartsfield
American colonel and astronaut
(b. 1933)
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Anatoly Berezovoy
Soviet cosmonaut
(b. 1942)
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From Sport
Eusébio
Portuguese footballer
(b. 1942)
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Mae Young
American professional wrestler
(b. 1923)
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Louise Brough
American tennis player
(b. 1923)
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Tom Finney
English footballer
(b. 1922)
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Nelson Frazier, Jr.
American professional wrestler
(b. 1971)
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Jimmy Ellis
American boxer
(b. 1940)
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Jack Brabham
Australian race car driver
(b. 1926)
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Malcolm Glazer
American businessman,
owner of Manchester United
(b. 1928)
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Valentin Mankin
Ukrainian sailor, Olympic triple champion
and silver medalist
(b. 1938)
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Fernandão
Brazilian footballer and manager
(b. 1978)
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Alfredo Di Stéfano
Argentine-Spanish footballer
(b. 1926)
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Andriy Bal
Ukrainian football player and coach
(b. 1958)
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Björn Waldegård
Swedish rally driver
(b. 1943)
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Andrea de Cesaris
Italian race car driver
(b. 1959)
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Health
The big health scare of 2014 that dominated the headlines was the of the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa in February, that initially infected over 19,000 people and killing at least 7,000, the most severe both in terms of numbers of infections and casualties.
In other news, also in February, Belgium became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia for terminally ill patients of any age.
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Politics
On January 1, Latvia officially adopted the Euro as its currency and became the 18th member of the Eurozone.
In February, the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from office, replacing him with Oleksandr Turchynov, after days of civil unrest that left around 100 people dead in Kiev. The pro-Russian unrest lead to the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and an insurgency in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
In March, Nicolás Maduro, the President of Venezuela, severed diplomatic and political ties with Panama, accusing it of being involved in a conspiracy against the Venezuelan government.
Also in March, an emergency meeting, involving the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada temporarily suspended Russia from the G8.
In April, also in response to the Crimean crisis, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passed a resolution temporarily stripping Russia of its voting rights; its rights to be represented in the Bureau of the Assembly, the PACE Presidential Committee, and the PACE Standing Committee; and its right to participate in election-observation missions.
The same month, United States President Barack Obama began new economic sanctions against Russia, targeting companies and individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In May the Royal Thai Army overthrew the caretaker government of Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan after a failure to resolve the political unrest in Thailand.
Back in Europe, in June, King Juan Carlos I of Spain abdicated in favor of his son, who ascended the Spanish throne as King Felipe VI.
And the political year ended on a positive note, with U.S. President Barack Obama announcing the resumption of normal relations between the U.S. and Cuba after more than half a century.
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Space
The major space event of 2014 happened in November when the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Philae probe successfully landed on Comet 67P, the first time in history that a spacecraft has landed on such an object.
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Sport
The two major world sporting events of 2014 were the XXII Olympic Winter Games, held in Sochi, Russia in February, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil, and won by Germany, during June and July.
In American sport the Super Bowl was won by the Seattle Seahawks, the MLB World Series winners were the San Francisco Giants and in basketball the San Antonio Spurs came out on top.
Ice Hockey had three champions in 2014, Canada becoming Olympic champions, Russia world champions and in the NHL the Los Angeles Kings were the victors.
In tennis at the world famous Wimbledon Tournament in England Novak Djokovic became Men’s Singles Champion and Petra Kvitova Ladies Singles Champion, while the men’s and women’s winners of the US Open were Marin Čilić and Serena Williams respectively.
In Soccer, as noted above, Germany won the 2014 World Cup. The European Champions League winners were Real Madrid and the English Premiership was won by Manchester City.
The Formula 1 motor racing champion for 2014 was British driver Lewis Hamilton, who also picked up the award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
In golf’s major championships, the Masters Tournament, held in April, was won by Bubba Watson by three strokes. It was his second Masters championship.
May saw the BMW PGA Championship where young Northern Ireland man Rory McIlroy birdied the 18th hole to win by one stroke over Irishman Shane Lowry, who also birdied the 18th hole.
In June, U.S. Open winner was Martin Kaymer who won by eight strokes to become the first German player to win the U.S. Open, and the first player to win the Players Championship and the U.S. Open in the same year.
In July, the Open Championship Northern Ireland man Rory McIlroy, was on top again winning by two strokes over Rickie Fowler and Sergio García. It was his third career major championship, and his first Open Championship. With the win, he became the fourth player ever of 25 years old or under to have won at least three majors.
In August, McIlroy was back, winning the PGA Championship by one stroke over Phil Mickelson. He was having quite a year, it was his fourth career major and his second PGA Championship.
Then in September, in the Ryder Cup, Team Europe (also including McIlroy) defeated Team USA by a score of 16½ – 11½. It was the third consecutive Ryder Cup victory for Europe, and also Europe’s fifth consecutive home victory in the Ryder Cup.
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Tragedies
In March Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 airliner en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, disappears over the Gulf of Thailand with 239 people on board. The aircraft is presumed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean.
In April Korean ferry MV Sewol capsized and sunk after an unmanageable cargo shift. More than 290 people were killed, mostly high school students.
In May hundreds of workers were killed in mining accident in Turkey.
In July, Air Algérie Flight 5017 crashed in Mali, killing all 116 people on board.
And just a few days ago AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashed, wreckage has been found off the coast of Indonesia’s Kalimantan coast.
I hope you are ready to try these challenging questions.
As usual if you get stuck you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q 1: We’ve all eaten M&Ms, but what do the two Ms stand for?
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Q 2: On the back of a $1 bill, what is in the center?
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Q 3: Who wrote ‘High Adventure’, about a spectacular mountain climb?
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Q 4: During World War II American factories produced approximately how many military aircraft?
a) 200,000 b) 300,000 c) 400,000 d) 500,000
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Q 5: Captain Cook discovered which island in the pacific in 1777?
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Q 6: Who was assassinated at Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968?
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Q 7: What is the name of Elvis Presley’s home and where is it located? (A point for each correct answer.)
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Q 8: What name is given to a flat stretch of land within a river valley, which is the remnant of an earlier flood plain, when the river was at a higher level?
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Q 9: What is the name of the new TV series, starring John Malkovich, about the pirate Blackbeard?
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Q 10: What war ended with the fall of Saigon and in what year did it end? (A point for each correct answer.)
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Q 11: Which country lies to the north of Austria and the south of Poland?
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Q 12: Plus or minus 30 minutes, what was the Concorde’s record flight time from New York to London?
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Q 13: Who was responsible for the Green Car Crash in 1963?
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Q 14: What team thrashed Brazil by 7 goals to 1 in this year’s soccer World Cup semi-finals?
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Q 15: Who wrote about a fictional, diminutive, humanoid race called ‘Hobbits’ who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth?
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Q 16: The normal wing beat frequency of the annoying mosquito is what?
a) 6 beats per sec. b) 60 beats per sec. c) 600 beats per sec. d) 6,000 beats per sec.
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Q 17: ‘Cebuano’, ‘Fula’, ‘Gujarati’ and ‘Kannada’ are all examples of what?
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Q 18: What Oscar winning movie is based on the trials and tribulations of Harold Abraham and Eric Liddell?
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Q 19: Now a chance for some mega points. There are 13 official countries in the world which have a capital city beginning and ending with the same letter. (I don’t expect anyone to get them all, but have a point for each one you can name correctly. (names in the English language)).
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Q 20: Who said you could “call me Al” in 1986?
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ANSWERS
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Q 1: We’ve all eaten M&Ms, but what do the two Ms stand for?
A 1: The two Ms in M&Ms stand for Mars & Murrie’s, named after Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie who started producing M&M’s exclusively for the military during WWII.
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Q 2: On the back of a $1 bill, what is in the center?
A 2: ONE.
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Q 3: Who wrote ‘High Adventure’, about a spectacular mountain climb?
A 3: Sir Edmund Hilary, the first man to climb Mount Everest.
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Q 4: During World War II American factories produced approximately how many military aircraft?
a) 200,000 b) 300,000 c) 400,000 d) 500,000
A 4: The correct answer is b), American factories produced approximately 300,000 military aircraft during WWII.
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Q 5: Captain Cook discovered which island in the pacific in 1777?
A 5: Christmas Island.
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Q 6: Who was assassinated at Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968?
A 6: Martin Luther King jnr.
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Q 7: What is the name of Elvis Presley’s home and where is it located? (A point for each correct answer.)
A 7: The name of Elvis Presley’s home is Graceland and it is located in Memphis, Tennessee (3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard to be precise.)
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Q 8: What name is given to a flat stretch of land within a river valley, which is the remnant of an earlier flood plain, when the river was at a higher level?
A 8: It is called a River Terrace.
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Q 9: What is the name of the new TV series, starring John Malkovich, about the pirate Blackbeard?
A 9: Crossbones.
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Q 10: What war ended with the fall of Saigon and in what year did it end? (A point for each correct answer.)
A 10: The Vietnam War ended with the fall of Saigon. on 30 April 1975.
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Q 11: 4. Which country lies to the north of Austria and the south of Poland?
A 11: The Czech Republic.
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Q 12: Plus or minus 30 minutes, what was the Concorde’s record flight time from New York to London?
A 12: 2 hours. 55 minutes. 15 seconds.
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Q 13: Who was responsible for the Green Car Crash in 1963?
A 13: The Green Car Crash is Andy Warhol’s most famous painting. It was sold at auction on May 16, 2007 for $71.7m (£42.3m).
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Q 14: What team thrashed Brazil by 7 goals to 1 in this year’s soccer World Cup semi-finals?
A 14: Germany, who went on to win the competition.
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Q 15: Who wrote about a fictional, diminutive, humanoid race called ‘Hobbits’ who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth?
A 15: J. R. R. Tolkien.
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Q 16: The normal wing beat frequency of the annoying mosquito is what?
a) 6 beats per sec. b) 60 beats per sec. c) 600 beats per sec. d) 6,000 beats per sec.
A 16: The correct answer is c) 600 beats per sec.
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Q 17: ‘Cebuano’, ‘Fula’, ‘Gujarati’ and ‘Kannada’ are all examples of what?
A 17: They are all examples of languages. Cebuano is from the Philippines; Fula from Cameroon and Nigeria; Gujarati from India and Pakistan; and Kannada from India.
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Q 18: What Oscar winning movie is based on the trials and tribulations of Harold Abraham and Eric Liddell?
A 18: ‘Chariots of Fire’ which tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice.
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Q 19: Now a chance for some mega points. There are 13 official countries in the world which have a capital city beginning and ending with the same letter. (I don’t expect anyone to get them all, but have a point for each one you can name correctly. (names in the English language)).
A 19: They are: Abuja (Nigeria), Accra (Ghana), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Andorra la Vella (Andorra), Ankara (Turkey), Apia (Samoa), Asmara (Eritrea), Astana (Kazakstan), Oslo (Norway), St. George’s (Grenada), St. John’s (Antigua and Barbuda), Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and Warsaw (Poland).
Holiday or not, no place to hide from the fasab weekly quiz.
Let’s see how you cope with today’s challenge.
As usual, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: What does the ‘K’ in K-mart stand for?
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Q. 2: Which way does a “no smoking” sign’s slash run?
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Q. 3: During WWII, what popular food in the U.S. was dubbed “Liberty Steaks” to avoid a German-sounding name?
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Q. 4: Do books have even # pages on the right or left side?
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Q. 5: What is the name of Britain’s highest mountain?
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Q. 6: The Triumph TR 6, Aston Martin DB6, Ferrari Dino and the early 1970s Ford Mustang all had which kind of tail or back?
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Q. 7: Who was awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Price along with Nelson Mandela?
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Q. 8: What is the collective term for a group of tigers?
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Q. 9: Who is responsible for saying “You’re Fired” in the American and British versions of The Apprentice? (A point for each correct answer.)
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Q. 10: On which card in a deck is the cardmaker’s trademark?
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Q. 11: This small, war torn, country’s name translated means white, its Capital is divided by the ‘green line’, Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ was banned there and it hosted the 2009 Asian Winter Games. What is it?
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Q. 12: What were the early occupations of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini? (A point for each correct answer.)
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Q. 13: The name of which country means ‘go and milk it’?
a) Italy b) India c) Somalia d) Brazil
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Q. 14: What Nobel Prize winning writer was In Dubious Battle with The Grapes Of Wrath, East Of Eden?
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Q. 15: Which President of the United States of America regularly bought slaves in Washington, D.C. and quietly freed them in Pennsylvania?
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Q. 16: Towards the end of World War II, the Allied forces dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima and a second, an H-bomb, on the city of Nagasaki. If it had been necessary to drop a third nuclear device what was to be the target city?
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Q. 17: What is the longest chapter in the Bible?
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Q. 18: In Mel Brooks’ ‘Silent Movie,’ who is the only person who has a speaking role?
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Q. 19: Who wrote ‘A Clockwork Orange’?
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Q. 20: Which letter of the alphabet links Boney People?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: What does the ‘K’ in K-mart stand for?
A. 1: The K stands for founder Sebastian S Kresge.
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Q. 2: Which way does a “no smoking” sign’s slash run?
A. 2: Towards the bottom right.
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Q. 3: During WWII, what popular food in the U.S. was dubbed “Liberty Steaks” to avoid a German-sounding name?
A. 3: Hamburgers.
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Q. 4: Do books have even # pages on the right or left side?
A. 4: Left.
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Q. 5: What is the name of Britain’s highest mountain?
A. 5: Ben Nevis.
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Q. 6: The Triumph TR 6, Aston Martin DB6, Ferrari Dino and the early 1970s Ford Mustang all had which kind of tail or back?
A. 6: Kamm (Kamm tail, K-tail or Kammback).
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Q. 7: Who was awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Price along with Nelson Mandela?
A. 7: Former South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk.
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Q. 8: What is the collective term for a group of tigers?
A. 8: An ‘Ambush’.
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Q. 9: Who is responsible for saying “You’re Fired” in the American and British versions of The Apprentice? (A point for each correct answer.)
A. 9: Donald Trump in the US version and Lord Alan Sugar in the British version.
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Q. 10: On which card in a deck is the cardmaker’s trademark?
A. 10: On the Ace of spades.
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Q. 11: This small, war torn, country’s name translated means white, its Capital is divided by the ‘green line’, Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code was banned there and it hosted the 2009 Asian Winter Games. What is it?
A. 11: Lebanon.
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Q. 12: What were the early occupations of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini? (A point for each correct answer.)
A. 12: He had been a teacher and journalist.
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Q. 13: The name of which country means ‘go and milk it’?
a) Italy b) India c) Somalia d) Brazil
A. 13: c) Somalia.
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Q. 14: What Nobel Prize winning writer was In Dubious Battle with The Grapes Of Wrath, East Of Eden?
A. 14: John Steinbeck.
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Q. 15: Which President of the United States of America regularly bought slaves in Washington, D.C. and quietly freed them in Pennsylvania?
A. 15: James Buchanan.
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Q. 16: Towards the end of World War II, the Allied forces dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima and a second, an H-bomb, on the city of Nagasaki. If it had been necessary to drop a third nuclear device what was to be the target city?
A. 16: Third city to be targeted was Tokyo.
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Q. 17: What is the longest chapter in the Bible?
A. 17: The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119.
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Q. 18: In Mel Brooks’ ‘Silent Movie,’ who is the only person who has a speaking role?
A. 18: Typical of Mel Brooks’ humor, the only person with a speaking role in ‘Silent Movie’ is the famous mime Marcel Marceau.
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Q. 19: Who wrote ‘A Clockwork Orange’?
A. 19: Anthony Burgess.
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Q. 20: Which letter of the alphabet links Boney People?
A. 20: The letter is ‘M’ as in ‘Boney M’ and ‘M People’.
Another month and another quiz to get it off to a challenging start.
One or two relatively easy ones today, but I think most of them you will find tough enough.
As usual, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: What is the official language of Brazil?
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Q. 2: Which wife of a politician said in 1981, ‘Woman is like a teabag: you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in the hot water’?
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Q. 3: Many expanses of water of varying sizes are designated as ‘seas’ such as the Mediterranean Sea, the Dead Sea, etc. But what is the only such sea in the world that does not have a coastline?
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Q. 4: What book was Denzel Washington protecting in the 2010 movie?
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Q. 5: What is both unusual and famous about the restaurant in Volterra, Italy called “Fortezza Medicea”?
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Q. 6: In which city is the music recording company Motown based?
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Q. 7: The official country retreat of the President of the USA, Camp David, is located in which mountains?
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Q. 8: Where did the Incas originate?
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Q. 9: What was the name of the Cuban President over thrown by Fidel Castro in 1959?
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Q. 10: Although the United States has Roswell and Area 51, and Hollywood has pushed out a unending stream of movies based on them, the government does not officially recognize the existence of UFOs. However three well known countries do formally recognize the existence of UFOs, can you name them? (A point for each and a bonus point if you can name all three.)
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Q. 11: Who was coming to dinner with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in 1967?
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Q. 12: Who was dubbed “Lenin’s left leg” during the early stages of Russia’s Marxist movement?
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Q. 13: In which US city was the first skyscraper built in 1883?
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Q. 14: A double question with multiple points. The US State Department currently recognizes 194 different countries in the world, but how many take up approximately half of Earth’s land area?
HINT: It is a relatively small number of the 194 total and there is a bonus point for each of them that you can name.
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Q. 15: What phrase is the unlikely link between Barbara Streisand and Bugs Bunny?
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Q. 16: What is the only state in the Middle East in which there is no desert?
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Q. 17: What former Soviet state is currently experiencing massive civil unrest and upheaval?
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Q. 18: Which river has the largest delta?
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Q. 19: Whoopie Goldberg played one in a movie and Patricia Arquette played another in a television series, what were they? (And bonus points if you can name the movie and the tv series.)
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Q. 20: Which movie other than ‘The Bodyguard’ featured the song “I Will Always Love You”?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: What is the official language of Brazil?
A. 1: Portuguese.
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Q. 2: Which wife of a politician said in 1981, ‘Woman is like a teabag: you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in the hot water’?
A. 2: Nancy Reagan.
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Q. 3: Many expanses of water of varying sizes are designated as ‘seas’ such as the Mediterranean Sea, the Dead Sea, etc. But what is the only such sea in the world that does not have a coastline?
A. 3: The Sargasso Sea in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean is surrounded by ocean currents and no land and therefore has no coast.
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Q. 4: What book was Denzel Washington protecting in the 2010 movie?
A. 4: The Book Of Eli. You also get a point if you said The Bible.
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Q. 5: What is both unusual and famous about the restaurant in Volterra, Italy called “Fortezza Medicea”?
A. 5: “Fortezza Medicea” is a maximum security prison – the cooks and waiters are all doing sentences of at least seven years.
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Q. 6: In which city is the music recording company Motown based?
A. 6: Detroit.
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Q. 7: The official country retreat of the President of the USA, Camp David is in which mountains?
A. 7: Appalachians.
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Q. 8: Where did the Incas originate?
A. 8: Peru.
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Q. 9: What was the name of the Cuban President over thrown by Fidel Castro in 1959?
A. 9: General Batista.
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Q. 10: Although the United States has Roswell and Area 51, and Hollywood has pushed out a unending stream of movies based on them, the government does not officially recognize the existence of UFOs. However three well known countries do formally recognize the existence of UFOs, can you name them? (A point for each and a bonus point if you can name all three.)
A. 10: France, Italy and Chile have all formally recognized the existence of UFOs.
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Q. 11: Who was coming to dinner with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in 1967?
A. 11: Sidney Poitier.
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Q. 12: Who was dubbed “Lenin’s left leg” during the early stages of Russia’s Marxist movement?
A. 12: Joseph Stalin.
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Q. 13: In which US city was the first skyscraper built in 1883?
A. 13: Chicago.
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Q. 14: A double question with multiple points. The US State Department currently recognizes 194 different countries in the world, but how many take up approximately half of Earth’s land area?
HINT: It is a relatively small number of the 194 total and there is a bonus point for each of them that you can name.
A. 14: Seven countries take half of the Earth’s land area and they are Russia, Canada, USA, China, Australia, Brazil and Argentina.
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Q. 15: What phrase is the unlikely link between Barbara Streisand and Bugs Bunny?
A. 15: “What’s up, Doc?” is Bugs’ catchphrase and the name of a 1972 comedy/romance movie starring Barbara Streisand and Ryan O’Neill.
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Q. 16: What is the only state in the Middle East in which there is no desert?
A. 16: Lebanon.
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Q. 17: What former Soviet state is currently experiencing massive civil unrest and upheaval?
A. 17: The Ukraine.
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Q. 18: Which river has the largest delta?
A. 18: The River Ganges.
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Q. 19: Whoopie Goldberg played one in a movie and Patricia Arquette played another in a television series, what were they? (And bonus points if you can name the movie and the tv series.)
A. 19: They played ‘mediums’, Whoopie Goldberg in the movie ‘Ghost’ and Patricia Arquette in the hit tv series ‘Medium’.
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Q. 20: Which movie other than ‘The Bodyguard’ featured the song “I Will Always Love You”?
A. 20: ‘The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas’, a movie starring Dolly Parton who wrote the song.
Last week the number that came up as the significant number was twelve.
It turned out to be a number with a lot of associations, so many in fact that for the first time I decided to split the post into two parts.
Today we have the second part, which deals with the ‘militaria’ associations. So if you have an interest in this kind of thing I hope you will enjoy looking at this post.
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In militaria
HMS E12
HMS E12 was a British E class submarine built by HM Dockyard, Chatham and commissioned on 14 October 1914.
Her forward hydroplanes became entangled in anti submarine nets in the Dardanelles which sent her down to 245 feet, at the time the greatest depth achieved by any British submarine. E12 managed to surface only to come under fire by shore batteries. She avoided further damage.
HMS E12 was sold in Malta on 7 March 1921.
HMS E18 bliźniaczy do E12
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HMS H12
HMS H12 was a British H-class submarine built by Fore River Yard, Quincy, Massachusetts and commissioned in 1915.
HMS H12 along with HMS H11 and HMS H13 to HMS H20 were all built in America but were interned by the United States government until the USA entered World War I.
HMS H12 was sold in April 1920 in Dover.
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USS O-12
The USS O-12 (SS-73) was an O-class submarine of the United States Navy launched on 29 September 1917.
These later O-boats, O-11 through O-16, designed by Lake Torpedo Boat, were to different specifications than the earlier Electric Boat designs. They performed poorly as compared to the Electric Boat units, and are sometimes considered a separate class.
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SM U-12
SM U-12 or U-XII was a U-5-class submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy (German: Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine or K.u.K. Kriegsmarine) before and during the First World War.
HMS Achates was an A-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy launched on 4 October 1929 and commissioned on 27 March 1930. She was sunk on 31 December 1942 in the Battle of the Barents Sea.
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L12 Molotovets
The Leninets or L-class were the second class of submarines to be built for the Soviet Navy. They were minelaying submarines and were based on the British L-class submarine, HMS L55, which was sunk during the British intervention in the Russian Civil War. Some experience from the previous Dekabrist-class submarines was also utilized.
The boats were of the saddle tank type and mines were carried in two stern galleries as pioneered on the pre-war Krab, the world’s first mine-laying submarine.
These boats were considered successful by the Soviets and 25 were built in 4 groups between 1931 and 1941. Groups 3 and 4 had more powerful engines and higher speed.
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Z12 Erich Giese
The Z12 Erich Giese was a Type 1934A-class destroyer built for the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) in the late 1930s. At the beginning of World War II, the ship was used in the German Bight to lay minefields in German waters. In late 1939 the ship made one successful minelaying sortie off the English coast that claimed two merchant ships. While returning from that sortie, she torpedoed a British destroyer without being detected and continued on her way. During the early stages of the Norwegian Campaign, Erich Giese fought in both naval Battles of Narvik in mid-April 1940 and was sunk by British destroyers during the Second Battle of Narvik.
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O 12
The O 12 was a O 12-class submarine of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Built at Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde in Vlissingen, it was launched in 1930 but was unable to take part in military action during World War II. During the German attack on the Netherlands in 1940, O 12 was in the naval wharf of Willemsoord, Den Helder for periodic maintenance. Unable to make the trip across the North Sea to England, the ship was scuttled.
The German occupying forces had O 12 raised and sent it to the Wilton-Fijenoord wharf in Rotterdam for repairs. On January 30, 1943, it was taken into service by the German Navy, the Kriegsmarine, as the U-D2.
On July 6, 1944, it was taken out of service and moved to Kiel, where it was scuttled in the harbor just before the end of the war.
Afterwards, O 12 was raised and demolished.
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USS S-12
The USS S-12 (SS-117) was a second-group (S-3 or “Government”) S-class submarine of the United States Navy. She was launched on 4 August 1921.
In addition to service in the northeast through 1928, from 1929 into 1936, S-12 served almost exclusively in the Panama Canal area although she visited Baltimore, Maryland, from 15 May to 5 June 1933, and New London from 15 May to 1 June 1935.
Departing Coco Solo on 13 June 1936, S-12 decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 30 September 1936.
S-12 was recommissioned on 4 November 1940 and following voyages to Bermuda, Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, and Coco Solo, S-12 operated at St. Thomas from December 1941 into March 1942; in the Panama Canal area from April into June; at Guantánamo from June into December; in the Panama Canal area from that month into May 1944; at Trinidad from May into July; and at Guantánamo from July into 1945.
Departing from Guantánamo on 25 March, S-12 was decommissioned on 18 May 1945 at Philadelphia, and sold on 28 October that year to Rosoff Brothers of New York City. Resold to Northern Metals Company of Philadelphia, on an unspecified date, she was scrapped.
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I-12 Submarine
The submarine I-12 was a Japanese A2 type long-range fleet submarine built at the Kawasaki’s shipyard in Kobe.
The I-12 was used during 1944 to disrupt American shipping between the west coast and the Hawaiian Islands. She torpedoed and sank the Liberty ship John A. Johnson, on 30 October 1944 and, after ramming and sinking the lifeboats and rafts, then machine-gunned the 70 survivors in the water, killing 10.
A Pan American Airways plane spotted the John A. Johnson’s remaining men soon thereafter, and the USS Argus recovered them at 21:35 on 30 October. The Argus disembarked the men at San Francisco on 3 November.
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HMS Ocean L12
HMS Ocean of the Royal Navy is an amphibious assault ship (or landing platform helicopter) and is the sole member of her class. She is designed to support amphibious landing operations and to support the staff of Commander UK Amphibious Force and Commander UK Landing Force.
She was constructed in the mid-1990s by Kvaerner Govan Ltd on the Clyde and fitted out by VSEL at Barrow-in-Furness prior to first of class trials and subsequent acceptance in service.
She was commissioned in September 1998 at her home port HMNB Devonport, Plymouth.
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Curtiss A-12 Shrike
The Curtiss A-12 Shrike was the United States Army Air Corps’ second monoplane ground-attack aircraft, and its main attack aircraft through most of the 1930s.
It was based on the A-8, but had a radial engine instead of the A-8’s inline, water-cooled engine, as well as other changes.
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Curtiss XF12C-1
In 1932, the U.S. Navy gave Curtiss a contract to design a parasol two-seat monoplane with retractable undercarriage and powered by a Wright R-1510 Whirlwind, intended to be used as a carrier-based fighter.
The resulting aircraft, designated the XF12C-1, flew in 1933. Its chosen role was changed first to a scout, and then to a scout-bomber (being redesignated XS4C-1 and XSBC-1 respectively), but the XSBC-1’s parasol wing was unsuitable for dive bombing. A revised design was produced for a biplane, with the prototype, designated the XSBC-2, first flying on 9 December 1935.
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Miles M.12 Mohawk
The Miles M.12 Mohawk was a 1930s British two-seat, tandem cabin monoplane built by Phillip & Powis Aircraft (later to become Miles Aircraft) to the order of Charles Lindbergh in 1936.
After being used by Lindbergh in Europe it was impressed into service with Royal Air Force as a communications aircraft in 1941.
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Vultee V-12
The Vultee V-11 and V-12 were American attack aircraft of the 1930s.
The V-11 and V-12 were purchased by several nation’s armed forces, including China, who used them in combat against Japanese forces in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The United States Army Air Corps purchased seven V-11s as the Vultee YA-19 in the years before World War II, testing them to gather data to compare against twin engine light attack planes.
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Fiat G.12
The G.12 was an all-metal low-wing cantilever personnel transport aircraft. It had three radial engines, one mounted on the fuselage nose and the other two in wing-mounted nacelles.
The engines drove three-blade feathering metal propellers. The mainwheels of its landing gear retracted into the nacelles; the tailwheel was fixed. The flight deck and cabin were fully enclosed. Access was via a port-side access door aft of the wing.
The G.12 was designed as a civil aircraft, but served mainly in military roles during the war. Only a limited number were built, some as late as 1944, after the Italian armistice. The G.12 inspired the postwar G.212 “Flying Classroom”, the last Italian three-engine transporter. Crew:4
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Republic XF-12 Rainbow
The Republic XF-12 Rainbow was an American four-engine, all-metal prototype reconnaissance aircraft designed by the Republic Aviation Company in the late 1940s.
Like most large aircraft of the era, it used radial engines—in this case, the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 “Wasp Major.” The aircraft was designed with maximum aerodynamic efficiency in mind. The XF-12 was referred to as an aircraft that was “flying on all fours” meaning: four engines, 400 mph cruise, 4,000 mile range, at 40,000 feet. A
lthough highly innovative, the postwar XF-12 Rainbow was fated to compete against more modern jet engine technology and was not to enter production.
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Lockheed A-12
The Lockheed A-12 was a reconnaissance aircraft built for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) by Lockheed’s famed Skunk Works, based on the designs of Clarence “Kelly” Johnson. The A-12 was produced from 1962 to 1964, and was in operation from 1963 until 1968.
The single-seat design, which first flew in April 1962, was the precursor to both the twin-seat U.S. Air Force YF-12 prototype interceptor and the famous SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft.
The aircraft’s final mission was flown in May 1968, and the program and aircraft retired in June of that year. The A-12 program was officially revealed in the mid-1990s.
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McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger II
The McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger II was a proposed American attack aircraft from McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics. It was to be an all-weather, carrier-based stealth bomber replacement for the Grumman A-6 Intruder in the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Its Avenger II name was taken from the Grumman TBF Avenger of World War II.
The projected cost of the program was $57 billion, with an estimated per unit cost of $84 million.
The development of the A-12 was troubled by cost overruns and several delays, causing questions of the program’s ability to deliver upon its objectives; these doubts led to the development program being canceled in 1991. The manner of its cancellation has been contested through litigation to this day.
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Rockwell XFV-12
The Rockwell XFV-12 was a prototype supersonic United States Navy fighter which was built in 1977.
The XFV-12 design attempted to combine the Mach 2 speed and AIM-7 Sparrow armament of the F-4 Phantom II in a VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) fighter for the small Sea Control Ship which was under study at the time.
On paper, it looked superior to the subsonic Hawker Siddeley Harrier attack fighter, however, it proved unable to produce enough thrust for vertical flight, even with an installed engine with more thrust than its empty weight, and the project was abandoned.
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C-12 Huron
The C-12 Huron is the military designation for a series of twin-engine turboprop aircraft based on the Beechcraft Super King Air and Beechcraft 1900.
C-12 variants are used by the United States Air Force, United States Army, United States Navy and United States Marine Corps.
These aircraft are used for various duties, including embassy support, medical evacuation, as well as passenger and light cargo transport. Some aircraft are modified with surveillance systems for various missions, including the Cefly Lancer, Guardrail and Project Liberty programs.
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Bell Helicopter XR-12
During 1946, Bell Helicopter began development of a new utility helicopter, the Model 42. Three prototypes were built but serious rotor problems and complexity of mechanical systems precluded production.
A production batch of 34 helicopters was ordered, under the designation R-12A, but cancelled in 1947.
Another enlarged prototype (the XR-12B, Model 48A) with seats for eight plus two pilots and a more powerful 600 horsepower (447 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1340-55 engine was also ordered, followed by 10 pre-series YR-12B helicopters, with a glazed nose, instead of the car-like nose of the Model 42 and XR-12. Whilst under flight test the helicopter was re-designated the H-12, but the results were not satisfactory, there were major problems with the main rotor due to blade weaving and poor rotor governor performance.
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Mil V-12
The Mil V-12 (also referred to as the Mi-12) is the largest helicopter ever built.
The name “Mi-12” would have been the name for the production helicopter, however, since the V-12 never went into production and only two prototypes were built, the name “Mi-12” was never officially adopted.
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NAMC J-12
The NAMC J-12 was a lightweight supersonic fighter built in the People’s Republic of China for use by the PLAAF. It was one of first serious attempts taken by Chinese aircraft manufacturers to develop a modern jet fighter of indigenous design. Weighing 6,993 lb (3,172 kg) empty, it is one of the lightest jet fighters ever built.
Neither the J-12 nor the related Shenyang J-11 (Not to be confused with the Shenyang J-11 Flanker B+ that entered service in 1998) entered service.
Nine J-12s are believed to have been built, but in 1977, development of the J-12 was abandoned, probably because the Chengdu J-7, based on the Soviet MiG-21F, was considered superior.
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Beriev Be-12 Chayka
The Beriev Be-12 Chayka (“Seagull”) is a Soviet turboprop-powered amphibious aircraft designed for anti-submarine and maritime patrol duties.
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Boeing P-12
The Boeing P-12 or F4B was an American pursuit aircraft that was operated by the United States Army Air Corps and United States Navy.
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Harbin Y-12
The Harbin Y-12 is a high wing twin-engine turboprop utility aircraft built by Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (HAMC).
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Rans S-12 Airaile
The Rans S-12 Airaile is a family of related American single-engined, pusher configuration, high-wing monoplanes designed by Randy Schlitter and manufactured by Rans Inc. Production of the S-12S Airaile, S-14 Airaile, S-17 Stinger and S-18 Stinger II was ended as part of Rans’ extensive reorganization of its product line on 1 June 2006.
The S-12XL Airaile was originally intended to be cut from the line at the same time, but the customer demand convinced the company to retain the model and it is still available.
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P-12 “Yenisei”
The P-12 “Yenisei” was an early 2D VHF radar developed and operated by the former Soviet Union.
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T-12
The T-12 (also known as Cloudmaker) demolition bomb was developed by the United States from 1944 to 1948 and designed to attack targets invulnerable to conventional “soft” bombs, such as bunkers and viaducts.
It achieved this by having an extremely thick hardened nose section, which was designed to penetrate deeply into hardened concrete structures and then detonate inside the target after a short time delay. This created an “earthquake effect”.
The final T-12 weighed 43,600 lb (nearly 20 metric tons). This was twice the size of the United States’ previous largest bomb.
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Mark-12 nuclear bomb
The Mark-12 nuclear bomb was a lightweight nuclear bomb designed and manufactured by the United States of America which was built starting in 1954 and which saw service from then until 1962.
The Mark-12 was notable for being significantly smaller in both size and weight compared to prior implosion-type nuclear weapons.
There was a planned W-12 warehead variant which would have been used with the RIM-8 Talos missile, but it was cancelled prior to introduction into service.
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Convair X-12
The SM-65B Atlas, or Atlas B, also designated X-12 was a prototype of the Atlas missile.
First flown on 19 July 1958, the Atlas B was the first version of the Atlas rocket to use the stage and a half design. Ten flights were made. Nine of these were sub-orbital test flights of the Atlas as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, with five successful missions and four failures. The seventh flight, launched on 18 December 1958, was used to place the SCORE satellite into low Earth orbit, the first orbital launch conducted by an Atlas rocket.
All Atlas-B launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Launch Complexes 11, 13 and 14.
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Dyrenkov-12
D-12 (Dyrenkov-12) was a Soviet light armored car based on the GAZ-A automobile. It was a further development of N.I. Dyrenkov’s D-8 design and was intended for infantry support and anti-aircraft roles.
The D-12 served during the early 1930s and was observed on Red Square during November 7th parades. Some vehicles remained in service during the war in 1941 and a few participated in the victory parade in Mongolia in 1945.
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Gun Motor Carriage M12
The 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M12 was a U.S. self-propelled gun developed during the Second World War. Only 100 were built; 60 in 1942 and a further 40 in 1943.
It had an armored driver’s compartment, but the gun crew were located in an open topped area at the back of the vehicle. An earth spade (similar to a bulldozer blade) at the rear was employed to absorb recoil. This layout—large gun mounted in an open mount at the rear, with a spade—was the pattern adopted for many years by other heavy self-propelled artillery.
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T-12 Anti-Tank Gun
The 2A19 or T-12 is a Soviet smoothbore 100-mm anti-tank gun, which served as the main Eastern Bloc towed anti-tank gun from 1955 until the late 1980s.
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Winchester Model 1912
The Winchester Model 1912 (also commonly known as the Model 12, or M12) is an internal-hammer pump-action, shotgun with an external tube magazine.
Popularly-named the Perfect Repeater at its introduction, it largely set the standard for pump action shotguns over its 51 year high-rate production life – from August 1912 until first discontinued by Winchester in May 1964.
Nearly two million Model 12 shotguns were produced in various grades and barrel lengths.
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Beretta Model 12
The Beretta Model 12 is a 9×19mm Parabellum caliber submachine gun. Production started in 1962, the first users being the Italian Carabinieri and the Italian State Police. The Italian Air Force bought a large number of M12S and M12S2 for the airport security units.
Its debut in combat came during the Tet Offensive in 1968 when the Marines guarding the U.S. embassy in Saigon repelled the assault by the Viet Cong using the Beretta M12.
It is also used by various South American and African countries, and made under license in Brazil by Taurus and in Indonesia by PT Pindad.
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Halo P-12
The Halo P-12 is a pump-action bullpup shotgun featuring a large magazine designed to accept only 2¾” shotgun shells, in-line with the barrel much like that found on the FN P-90.
The P-12 has an overall length of around 27 inches (69 cm) and weighs less than 9 pounds (4.1 kg) fully loaded.
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Y-12 National Security Complex
The Y-12 National Security Complex is a United States Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration facility located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
It was built as part of the Manhattan Project for the purpose of enriching uranium for the first atomic bombs. In the years after World War II, it has been operated as a manufacturing facility for nuclear weapons components and related defense purposes.
Y-12 is managed and operated under contract by B&W Y-12 (formerly called BWXT Y-12), a partnership of Babcock and Wilcox (formerly called BWXT Technologies), and Bechtel.
In 2012, three anti-nuclear-weapons protesters broke into the highest-security area of Y-12.
Another numbers factoid today. This time the number is fifty-five, along with its various associations.
Enjoy.
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The Number Fifty-Five 55
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In religion
The number 55 is used 2 times in the Bible.
The 55th word of the King James Version of the Bible’s Old Testament Genesis is “light”;
At the end of his Gospel, Saint John devotes 55 verses (chapter 20 and 21) to describe the resurrection and his appearances of the Christ which took place after his death.
The words throne and number are used 55 in the NT.
55 is the representative number of the Virgin Mary. In the New Testament the name Mary is referred to 55 times (26 times by the word mother; 10 times by the word woman; and 19 times by the name of Mary).
Fifty-five years separate the Annunciation from the Assumption of the Virgin.
A rabbinical study enumerates 55 prophets, divided into 48 prophets and 7 prophetess. This list appears in the Comment of Rachi on Meguilla 14a.
Epsilon, E, is the 5th letter of the Greek alphabet, and Lambda, L, is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet and the product of the 3rd & 5th prime numbers: 5 x 11 = 55 = EL
EL is an ancient Semitic title for God. In Assyrian-Babylonian mythology, the great trinity Anu (sky), Bel (light), and Ea (sea) emanated from EL. EL was used by the Phoenicians for the high-one. Elohim is the plural form of EL. The Hebrews associated EL or Elohim with a sun-deity absorbed by Yaw (Jah or Jehovah). In Hebrew poetry EL appears as First Cause, God, Mighty One, principle or beginning of all things.
In Cabala, EL is a name of Chesed, the 4th Sephira.
EL is Celtic for angel.
55 represent the Divine Person, according to Abellio.
55 represent the limit of the humanity, according to E. Bindel.
55 represent the total and complete man, symbolized by the two hands which join at the moment of the prayer to remake the unit in the form of ten, but being able also to express that under the form of 55, “addition in the senses of the divine wisdom” according to saint Martin.
The Bouriates knew 99 gods, divided into 55 goods and 44 bad. These two groups of gods would fight for a very long time between them.
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In Mathematics
55 is the sum of the first 10 numbers: 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10 = 55
55 is the sum of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th triangular numbers: 3 + 6 + 10 + 15 + 21 = 55
55 is the sum of the first 5 square numbers (also known as a square pyramidal number): 1 + 4 + 9 + 16 + 25 = 55
The sum of 5 odd heavenly numbers: 1+3+5+7+9 = 25; the sum of 5 even earthly numbers: 2+4+6+8+10 = 30; the sum of the heavenly & earthly series (I Ching): 25 + 30 = 55
Fifty-five is the 10th Fibonacci number and a triangular number (the sum of the numbers 1 to 10), it is the largest Fibonacci number to also be a triangular number.
55 is heptagonal number, and a centered nonagonal number.
In base 10, 55 is a Kaprekar number.
55 is a semiprime, being the product of 5 and 11 and it is the 2nd member of the (5.q) semiprime family.
In Roman numeral 55 is written as LV
55 in Binary is 00110111
In Pythagorean arithmetic, 2 is the first even number, 3 the first odd number. The even & odd tetractyes both radiate from the One, which is the source of all numbers. The sum of these two series is 55
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In Science
55 is the Atomic Number of Cesium (Cs).
The cesium clock is used as a standard in measuring time. Its accuracy is one second in 30,000 years. The cesium atomic clock is based on the frequency corresponding to hyperfine structure transition in the atoms of cesium nuclides Cs-133.
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In space
Messier object M55, is a magnitude 7.0 globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius
Messier Object M55
The New General Catalogue object NGC 55, is a magnitude 7.9 barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor
On February 9, 1986, Halley’s Comet made its closest approach to the sun (perihelion) at a distance of only about 55 million miles.
The velocity of Halley’s comet at perihelion is 55 kilometers per second.
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In politics
55 delegates attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia (1787) and 39 signed the United States Constitution.
Agitation and Propaganda against the State, also known as Constitution law 55, was a law in Communist Albania.
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia 1787
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In Books, Music, Movies and TV
A song produced by Group X was called “Schfifty Five”.
55 is the name of a song by British Indie Rock Band Kasabian. The song was released as a B side to Club Foot and was recorded live when the band performed at London’s Brixton Academy.
“I Can’t Drive 55”, is a song by Sammy Hagar
“Old 55” is the title of a song by Tom Waits and The Eagles
Cristian Vogel released an album in 2005 with the title “Station 55”
“Ol’ 55”, is an Australian rock band.
“Primer 55” is the name of an American band
“55 Cadillac”, is an album by Andrew W.K.
“55 Days at Peking” is a film starring Charlton Heston and David Niven
“55 Degrees North” (2004–2005) is a British TV series about a London detective who moves to Newcastle after blowing the whistle on a corrupt colleague.
“Class of ’55”, is a TV comedy created by writer David Seltzer, and starring Alan Alda, John Archer, Sharon Cintron
“The Fall Of ’55”, a crime drama, written by Seth Randal, about an incident in late 1955 and early 1956, when the citizens of Boise, Idaho believed there was a menace in their midst. On Halloween, investigators arrested three men on charges of having sex with teenage boys. The investigators claimed the arrests were just the tip of the iceberg-they said hundreds of boys were being abused as part of a child sex ring. There was no such ring, but the result was a widespread investigation which some people consider a witch hunt. By the time the investigation ended, 16 men were charged. Countless other lives were also touched.In some cases, men implicated fled the area. At least one actually left the country. The investigation attracted attention in newspapers across the nation, including Time Magazine. The “Morals Drive” left scars which remain to this day.
José Saramago’s novel “The Cave” features the Center, a vast multistoried shopping mall whose catalog runs to 55 volumes of 1,500 pages each, an entertainment complex offering Disneyland versions of virtual reality, and apartments, a hospital, a crematory and administrative headquarters.
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In Transportation
Speed Limit
55 was the highest speed limit allowed in the United States between 1974 and 1986 per the National Maximum Speed Law.
Yoshimura R-55 GP Style Slip-On Exhaust
The Yoshimura R-55 is a legendary exhaust building experience that gives the sportbike rider power in a lightweight, stylish package, using a tapered trapezoidal shape, finished off in either carbon fiber or stainless steel.
The R-55 on the Kawasaki ZX-14R looks seamless and will weigh less than the ones that come stock.
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BMW K55
In 1991 BMW tuner Racing Dynamics of Italy produced a special version of the 8 Series dubbed the K55 Sport Coupe. The K55 5.5 Coupe was based on the 850i, powered by the 5.0-liter M70 that was stroked to 5.5 liters, new valves, camshafts lifters and intakes along with extrude honed heads. The one US version engine producing 475 bhp (354 kW; 482 PS) and the Euro version producing 401 bhp (299 kW).
40 K55s were produced for the Euro market and one in the US.
In addition to engine modifications, The K55 offered a variety of body, suspensions, rear end options.
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Mercedes-Benz S-55
The S-Class is a series of luxury sedans produced by German automaker Mercedes-Benz, a division of German company Daimler AG.
The classification was officially introduced in 1972 with the W116 S-Class, which succeeded previous Mercedes-Benz models dating to the mid-1950s.
The S-Class has served as the flagship model for Mercedes for over fifty years in its various incarnations and has debuted many of the company’s latest innovations, including drivetrain technologies, interior features, and safety systems (such as the first seatbelt pre-tensioners).
The S-Class has ranked as the world’s best-selling luxury sedan
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Mercedes Benz G55 AMG
The G-Wagen, or Gelandewagen as it is officially named, started out as a complete off roading machine. Mercedes-Benz built it for the German armed forces and as with any military vehicle, it was designed to take on the harshest of terrain and remain rather trouble free.
A civilian version was introduced a couple years after the G-Class first made its debut, and it too displayed the same level of ruggedness and ‘go anywhere’ ability.
The G Wagen has been around since the 70s and though it has received upgrades over the years, it still remains the ultimate off roading machine that is sought after by anyone and everyone who wishes to tour the world, go lion spotting in the Savannah or drive up Mount Everest!
The G-Wagen’s reliability has grown to legendary heights and it commands an imposing presence as it drives by.
There is no doubting the fan following garnered by the G Wagen over the years and in order to cater to the growing demand, Mercedes-Benz has toyed with the vehicle to make it more exciting and usher in a level of performance and sheer ludicrousness through their AMG subsidiary.
The latest incarnation of the G Wagen is the G55 AMG. Considered to be the most powerful G Class vehicle yet, it boasts of having performance figures that one would normally find associated with sportscars and it can still handle the rough.
Photo showing the Hamann Typhoon enhanced version of the Mercedes Benz G55 AMG
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Mitsubishi Jeep J55
In 1950 the Japanese wanted a prototype 4X4 trucks and other vehicles and in response by January 1951 Toyota had produced a prototype. Toyota based their design on the Bantam vehicle that had seen military action in Malaysia. At the time there were many Jeeps being driven in Japan and the Jeep came to be the symbol of the 4X4. For this reason Toyota called it’s prototype the Toyota Jeep. These became the FJ40 that Americans found to be a rugged and reliable off road vehicle.
However, largely unknown to those in North America, there was another strong contender to the legend, the Mitsubishi Jeep. Their design was based on the Willys Jeep, the vehicle ultimately selected for procurement by the National Police Reserve Forces, and in 1953 Mitsubishi secured the rights to build the Willys under their own name. Thus the Mitsubishi Jeep was born.
In the USA the Willys was built till 1965 but in Japan Mitsubishi had a good thing going so they kept the line in production till 1998.
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In militaria
HMS Suffolk (55)
HMS Suffolk (55) was a Royal Navy County class heavy cruiser and part of the Kent subclass. She was launched on 16 March 1926, and commissioned on 25 June 1928.
Like her sister ships, Suffolk served on the China Station until the outbreak of WWII when she returned to Europe and patrolled the Denmark Straits.
In April 1940 Suffolk participated in the Norwegian Campaign and arrived at Tórshavn to commence the British pre-emptive occupation of the Faroe Islands. On 14 April 1940 Suffolk sank the German tanker Skagerrak northwest of Bodø, Norway.
On 17 April 1940, Suffolk and four destroyers, HMS Kipling, HMS Juno, HMS Janus and HMS Hereward, were sent to bombard the airfield at Sola, Norway. The operation had little effect and the retaliation from German bombers severely damaged the aft of the ship, forcing her to return to Scapa Flow.
Suffolk was out of action from April 1940 until February 1941 while she was repaired at the Clyde.
During May 1941, as part of the 4th Cruiser Squadron, Suffolk was involved in the Battle of the Denmark Strait and the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck. Suffolk had engaged the battleship twice during the battle, making several salvoes on her. Using her radar, Suffolk was able to track the Bismarck through the Denmark Strait and maintained contact long enough for other units to vector into Bismarck’s path.
After repairs Suffolk served with the Home Fleet in Arctic waters until the end of 1942, then underwent a refit between December 1942 and April 1943. On completion of this the ship was ordered to the Eastern Fleet, operating in the Indian Ocean until the end of the war.
Suffolk was scrapped on 24 June 1948.
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HMS Finisterre (D55)
HMS Finisterre (D55) was a Battle-class destroyer of the Royal Navy (RN). She was named after one of the battles of Cape Finisterre. Launched on the 22 June 1944 and commissioned on 11 September 1945.
She first joined the Home Fleet upon her commissioning. After duties in the Far East, Finisterre returned to the UK via the Mediterranean. In January 1950, she took part in the rescue attempt of the submarine HMS Truculent, which had sunk after colliding with a Swedish merchant ship Divina in the Thames Estuary. The collision had resulted in the loss of 64 of those on board. The following year Finisterre became the Gunnery Training Ship, based at Whale Island, Portsmouth as part of HMS Excellent.
In 1953, Finisterre took part in the 1953 Coronation Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
The following year Finisterre was placed in Reserve. After her sister-ship HMS Hogue collided with an Indian cruiser in 1959, Finisterre replaced her in the 1st Destroyer Squadron, based in the Far East. She was one of a number of Royal Navy ships stationed off Kuwait to keep the peace as the country gained its independence in 1961.
In 1965 she was sold for scrap.
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USS Aludra (AF-55)
The USS Aludra (AF-55) was an Alstede-class stores ship acquired by the U.S. Navy and tasked to carry stores, refrigerated items, and equipment to ships in the fleet, and to remote stations and staging areas.
Originally ordered as refrigerated cargo ship “SS Matchless” she was launched on 14 October 1944 and delivered to the United States Lines under a bare boat charter on 23 March 1945.
She operated in the Pacific Ocean during the final months of the war and during the first four years following Japan’s capitulation and then laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet berthing area at Bay Minette, Alabama.
She was reactivated in November 1950, as the result of an expansion of the Fleet to meet its greatly increased responsibilities because of the United Nations decision to oppose communist aggression in Korea. Renamed Aludra on 16 January 1951, she was assigned to Service Squadron 3, Service Force, Pacific Fleet and took up the tasks of supporting Task Force (TF) 77 in strikes along the east coast of Korea and TF 72 in patrols in the East China Sea and off Formosa.
Ending her first deployment to the western Pacific, she returned to San Francisco, California, on 4 May 1953. Thereafter, for more than 16 years, she alternated operations on the west coast of the United States with tours in the Far East resupplying ships serving in the Orient. Among the highlights of her service was her participation in Operation Passage to Freedom, the evacuation of thousands of Vietnamese refugees from communist-controlled areas of Vietnam after that country had been partitioned in 1954.
The ship again visited Vietnamese waters in March 1965 and, for a bit over three and one-half years thereafter, devoted most of her efforts to supporting American warships fighting aggression there. She left that war-torn country for the last time on 19 April 1969 and headed—via Sasebo, Japan—for home.
Aludra was decommissioned on 12 September 1969 and withdrawn from the reserve fleet on 19 January 1977 for stripping by the Navy prior to sale. She was purchased from MARAD by Sea World Processors Inc., for non-transportation use, 16 November 1977 and delivered, 16 February 1978. In 1981 she was burned and scuttled.
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USS Valcour (AVP-55)
USS Valcour (AVP-55), later AGF-1, was commissioned on 5 July 1946 as a seaplane tender from 1946 to 1965 and as a flagship from 1965 to 1973. She was the last of the 35 Barnegat-class ships to commission.
Valcour was designated as flagship for the Commander, Middle Eastern Force (ComMidEastFor) and served in the Middle East from 5 September 1950 to 15 March 1951.
On the morning of 14 May 1951, two months after she returned to Norfolk from her second Middle East tour, Valcour suffered a steering casualty and power failure and collided with another vessel. An intense fire broke out aboard Valcour causing the commanding officer, Captain Eugene Tatom, to order abandon ship. Eleven men died, 16 more were injured and another 25 were listed as “missing”, later to be confirmed as dead.
After an extensive overhaul and improvements, and from 1952–1965 she rotated yearly between the United States and the Middle East.
In January 1972 Valcour was for inactivationand was decommissioned on 15 January 1973. On 1 May 1977, the U.S. Navy sold Valcour for scrapping.
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Kh-55 (missile family)
The Kh-55 is a Soviet/Russian air-launched cruise missile, designed by MKB Raduga. It has a range of up to 3,000 km (1,620 nmi) and can carry conventional or nuclear warheads. Kh-55 is launched exclusively from bomber aircraft and has spawned a number of conventionally armed variants mainly for tactical use, such as the Kh-65SE and Kh-SD, but only the Kh-101 and Kh-555 appear to have made it into service. Contrary to popular belief, the Kh-55 was not the basis of the submarine- and ground-launched RK-55 Granat (SS-N-21 ‘Sampson’ and SSC-X-4 ‘Slingshot’).
A Kh-55 production unit was delivered to Shanghai in 1995 and appears to have been used to produce a similar weapon for China.
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RK-55 Granat
The Novator RK-55 Granat was a Soviet land-based cruise missile with a nuclear warhead.
It was about to enter service in 1987 when such weapons were banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
A version launched from submarine torpedo tubes, the S-10 Granat (SS-N-21 ‘Sampson’;GRAU:3M10), has apparently been converted to carry conventional warheads and continues in service to this day.
The RK-55 is very similar to the air-launched Kh-55 (AS-15 ‘Kent’) but the Kh-55 has a drop-down turbofan engine[3] and was designed by MKB Raduga. Both have formed the basis of post-Cold-War missiles, in particular the 3M-54 Klub (SS-N-27 ‘Sizzler’) which has a supersonic approach phase.
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55th Fighter Squadron
The 55th Fighter Squadron was originally organized as the 55th Aero Squadron at Kelly Field, Texas. By November 1917 the squadron was deployed to Issoudun, France. It was demobilized on 6 March 1919, following the end of WWI, but was reactivated in November 1930, at Mather Field, California.
At the beginning of World War II, the 55th continued to train aviators for squadrons in Europe and the Pacific. In May 1942, it was redesignated a fighter squadron and operated from several locations in the United States.
The 55th was deployed in Europe in August 1943, operating from RAF Wittering, England, and flew 175 combat missions. With the rest of the 20th Fighter Group, the 55th flew daily strafing, long-range-patrol and bomber-escort missions. In June, they provided air cover during the massive allied invasion of Normandy.
The 55th also performed escort and fighter-bomber missions supporting the Allied advance through Central Europe and the Rhineland. In December 1945, they took part in the Battle of the Bulge, escorting bombers to the battle area.
The 55th was demobilized on 18 October 1945, after the end of WWII, but was reactivated on 29 July 1946, at Biggs Field, Texas.
The 55th entered the jet age in February 1948, with the F-84G Thunderjet. In January 1950, and was redesignated the 55th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. The squadron returned to England at RAF Wethersfield in June 1952, where it was redesignated the 55th Tactical Fighter Squadron and then moved to RAF Upper Heyford in June 1970. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the 55th participated in countless North Atlantic Treaty Organization and U.S. exercises and operations, which directly contributed to containment of Soviet threats to Europe.
In January 1991, elements of the 55th deployed to Turkey during Operation Desert Storm. They flew more than 144 sorties, amassing 415 combat hours without a loss. These missions neutralized key facilities throughout northern Iraq and helped to liberate Kuwait and stabilize the region. The squadron was inactivated in December 1993.
It was transferred and reactivated on 1 January 1994, to its present home, Shaw Air Force Base, flying the A-10 Thunderbolt II. In July 1996, the squadron transferred its aircraft to Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, and stood down.
In July 1997, the 55th made history when it stood up as a combat-ready F-16CJ squadron in only 60 days. It has since made numerous deployments to Southwest Asia, continuing to contain the Iraqi threat. In the meantime, the squadron has earned awards and recognition, including the David C. Schilling Award in 1999 and 2000, as well as the Air Force Association Citation of Honor.
In the summer of 2000, the 55th deployed to Southwest Asia for Operation Northern Watch. It followed that deployment with Operation Southern Watch in the fall of 2001, and in the winter of 2002, deployed again in support of Operation Northern Watch. Most recently the 55th deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in late 2008.
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Lockheed Martin X-55
The Lockheed Martin X-55 Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft (ACCA) is an experimental twin jet engined transport aircraft intended to demonstrate new cargo-carrier capabilities using advanced composites. It is a project of the United States Air Force’s Air Force Research Laboratory, and was built by the international aerospace company Lockheed Martin, at its Advanced Development Programs (Skunk Works) facility in Palmdale, California.
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The T-55 tank
The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of medium tanks that were designed in the Soviet Union. The first T-54 prototype appeared in March 1945, just as the Second World War ended. The T-54 entered full production in 1947 and became the main tank for armored units of the Soviet Army, armies of the Warsaw Pact countries, and others. T-54s and T-55s were involved in many of the world’s armed conflicts during the late 20th and early 21st century.
The T-54/55 series eventually became the most-produced tank in history. Estimated production numbers for the series range from 86,000 to 100,000. They were replaced by the T-62, T-64, T-72, T-80, and T-90 in the Soviet and Russian Armies, but remain in use by up to 50 other armies worldwide, some having received sophisticated retrofitting.
Soviet tanks never directly faced their NATO Cold War adversaries in Europe. However, the T-54/55’s first appearance in the West in 1960 spurred the United States to develop the M60 Patton.
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K55 SPG Self-Propelled Gun
Since 1985 when it entered service, and until recently, when it has been replaced by the more miodern K9 Thunder platform, the South Korean Army relied on the K55.
It was a localized development of the US military’s M109A2 Paladin SPG family, license-produced by Samsung Techwin / Samsung Aerospace Industries (SSA).
Over 1,100 (1,180) of the type were procured by the South Korean government, supplying the Army with a long range, heavy hitter capable of lobbing conventional, chemical and nuclear shells at any potential enemies – namely North Korea.
The 25-ton K55 borrowed much from the American M109 including its conventional design consisting of an armored tracked chassis and boxy turret superstructure. The vehicle is crewed by six personnel and primary armament is a 155mm main gun of 30 caliber length. Defense is through 1 x 12.7mm K6 heavy machine gun. Power is served through a Detroit Diesel 8V-71T turbocharged, diesel-fueled engine of 450 horsepower. Maximum road speed across ideal surfaces is 56 kmh. The main gun can supply a rate-of-fire of 4 shots per minute while targeting is through manual means. A full ammunition load aboard the K55 is 36 projectiles.
The K55 entered a modernization program in 1994, producing the K55A1 designation.
The newer 47-ton K9 Thunder formally entered service in 1999 and is crewed by five personnel, carried 48 projectiles and features a rate-of-fire of 6 shots per minute with manual or automatic targeting. Additionally, the powerplant provides road speeds of up to 66 kph.
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Other stuff
55 is the code for international direct dial phone calls to Brazil
55 gallon is a standard size for a drum container
Gazeta 55, an Albanian newspaper
An Emerald wedding anniversary celebrates 55 years.
Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President” dress was assigned Lot #55 at the Christie’s Auction on October 27, 1999. It sold for a record price for a dress— $1,267,500.
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