Last week we had the BIG Christmas quiz and thank you to everyone who visited and tried it out.
And a very special thanks to the Coastal Crone who reblogged it.
Since we are all used to ‘leftovers’ at this time of the year I thought I would use my leftover questions from last week’s BIG quiz for a little one this week.
The questions still have a Christmassy theme and as usual, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below.
So enjoy what’s left of the Christmas holiday and good luck with the quiz.
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Q. 1: How many points does a snowflake have? (Sorry there’s only one point for the correct answer.)
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Q. 2: Charles Dickens is said to have considered the names ‘Little Larry’ and ‘Puny Pete’ for which character? (A bonus point is available if you can also correctly name the Dickens novel in which the character appears.)
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Q. 3: In which country that made the news a lot during 2014, and the largest country of its continent, is it said that finding a spider web on Christmas morning brings good luck, and so Christmas trees are decorated with artificial spider webs?
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Q. 4: What is New Year’s Eve called in Scotland?
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Q. 5: What former Egyptian president was born on Christmas day in 1918?
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Q. 6: Which alcoholic ingredient is used in a ‘Snowball’ cocktail?
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Q. 7: And what animal is ‘Snowball’ in George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’?
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Q. 8: Derived from the Latin word meaning ‘coming’, what is the name of the period leading up to Christmas?
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Q. 9: In the rhyme ‘Christmas is coming’, who is getting ‘fat’?
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Q. 10: The first singing radio commercial, which aired in the US on Christmas Eve 1926, was for which brand?
a) Rolex b) BMW c) Wheaties d) Durex
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Q. 11: Why is the male turkey often referred to as ‘Tom Turkey’?
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Q. 12: In what country did Christmas Trees originate?
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Q. 13: How many ‘Wise Men’ brought gifts to Jesus?
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Q. 14: Which English monarch was crowned on Christmas Day in Westminster Abbey?
a) William I b) William II c) William III d) William IV
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Q. 15: Name the two administrative and ex-colonial regions of China for which Christmas day remains a legal public holiday, whereas in the main country it is not? (A point for each that you name correctly.)
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Q. 16: The Christmas favorite of ‘Pigs in Blankets’ is chipolata sausages wrapped in what?
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Q. 17: In Mexico, it is said that wearing what color underwear on New Year’s Eve ensures finding new love the following year?
a) Yellow b) Green c) Red d) Brown
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Q. 18: Father Christmas is known as ‘Pai Natal’ in which European country?
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Q. 19: The surname ‘Chandler’ derives from the making or selling of what?
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Q. 20: What was Mr Bean searching for when he got his head stuck in a turkey?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: How many points does a snowflake have? (Sorry there’s only one point for the correct answer.)
A. 1: Six.
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Q. 2: Charles Dickens is said to have considered the names ‘Little Larry’ and ‘Puny Pete’ for which character? (A bonus point is available if you can also correctly name the Dickens novel in which the character appears.)
A. 2: The character is ‘Tiny Tim’ and he appears in ‘A Christmas Carol’.
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Q. 3: In which country that made the news a lot during 2014, and the largest country of its continent, is it said that finding a spider web on Christmas morning brings good luck, and so Christmas trees are decorated with artificial spider webs?
A. 3: The correct answer is Ukraine. (Since it is the time to be generous you can also have a point if you said ‘Poland’. Although it does not fulfill all the parameters of the question, spiders or spider webs are common Christmas trees decorations in Poland because according to legend, a spider wove a blanket for Baby Jesus. In fact, Polish people consider spiders to be symbols of goodness and prosperity at Christmas.)
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Q. 4: What is New Year’s Eve called in Scotland?
A. 4: Hogmanay.
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Q. 5: What former Egyptian president was born on Christmas day in 1918?
A. 5: Anwar Sadat.
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Q. 6: Which alcoholic ingredient is used in a ‘Snowball’ cocktail?
A. 6: Advocaat.
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Q. 7: And what animal is ‘Snowball’ in George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’?
A. 7: A Pig.
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Q. 8: Derived from the Latin word meaning ‘coming’, what is the name of the period leading up to Christmas?
A. 8: Advent.
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Q. 9: In the rhyme ‘Christmas is coming’, who is getting ‘fat’?
A. 9: The goose.
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Q. 10: The first singing radio commercial, which aired in the US on Christmas Eve 1926, was for which brand?
a) Rolex b) BMW c) Wheaties d) Durex
A. 10: The correct answer is c) Wheaties.
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Q. 11: Why is the male turkey often referred to as ‘Tom Turkey’?
A. 11: After Thomas Jefferson, because Jefferson was opposed to the idea of a turkey as the national bird.
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Q. 12: In what country did Christmas Trees originate?
A. 12: Germany. (Technically it was Latvia but at that time it was part of Germany.)
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Q. 13: How many ‘Wise Men’ brought gifts to Jesus?
A. 13: ‘More than one’ is the correct answer, the Bible does not specify how many. (If you said ‘3’ you don’t get a point.)
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Q. 14: Which English monarch was crowned on Christmas Day in Westminster Abbey?
a) William I b) William II c) William III d) William IV
A. 14: The correct answer is a) William I.
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Q. 15: Name the two administrative and ex-colonial regions of China for which Christmas day remains a legal public holiday, whereas in the main country it is not? (A point for each that you name correctly.)
A. 15: Hong Kong and Macau.
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Q. 16: The Christmas favorite of ‘Pigs in Blankets’ is chipolata sausages wrapped in what?
A. 16: Bacon.
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Q. 17: In Mexico, it is said that wearing what color underwear on New Year’s Eve ensures finding new love the following year?
a) Yellow b) Green c) Red d) Brown
A. 17: The correct answer is c) Red.
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Q. 18: Father Christmas is known as ‘Pai Natal’ in which European country?
A. 18: Portugal.
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Q. 19: The surname ‘Chandler’ derives from the making or selling of what?
A. 19: Candles.
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Q. 20: What was Mr Bean searching for when he got his head stuck in a turkey?
An Easter themed quiz this Monday appropriately enough.
Most of the questions shouldn’t prove too difficult although there are a few in there that might be challenging.
I’ve included some multiple choice too to help the odds a bit.
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: Which Jewish religious event often coincides with Easter?
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Q. 2: Who was the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection?
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Q. 3: How long does Lent last for?
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Q. 4: Egg-rolling is a traditional Easter event in seven countries. A point for each one you name correctly.
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Q. 5: How many disciples joined Jesus at the Last Supper?
a) 10 b) 12 c) 14
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Q. 6: What is the religious significance of the egg at Easter?
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Q. 7: In the Christian calendar, what is the name given to the last Sunday before Easter?
a) Palm Sunday b) Pentecost c) Whitsun
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Q. 8: In which country is there a contemporary tradition of reading or watching murder mysteries at Easter?
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Q. 9: Who starred in the movie Easter Parade?
a) Judy Garland b) Ginger Rogers c) Elaine Paige
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Q. 10: When the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate offered to release Jesus, which prisoner did the crowd demand was let go instead?
a) Herod b) Barabbas c) Judas
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Q. 11: Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the score for which Easter-based musical?
a) Evita b) Jesus Christ Superstar c) Cats Glenn
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Q. 12: Which American island is named after rabbits?
a) Coney Island b) Staten Island c) Long Island
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Q. 13: In Bermuda, the ascent of Christ is symbolized by what?
a) Balloons b) Kites c) Doves d) Fireworks
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Q. 14: What buns do people traditionally eat at Easter?
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Q. 15: What is the name of the disciple who betrayed Jesus and what did he receive as payment? (A point for each correct answer.)
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Q. 16: What does Mardi Gras have to do with Easter?
a) Mardi Gras is the first day of Lent
b) Mardi Gras is the last day to indulge before Lent.
c) Mardi Gras has nothing to do with Easter.
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Q. 17: What does the period of Lent symbolize?
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Q. 18: Which British gangster film stars Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren?
a) The Long Easter Monday b) The Long Easter Sunday c) The Long Good Friday
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Q. 19: The word ‘quarantine’ literally means ’40 days’. When Neil Armstrong went into quarantine after returning from the Moon, which musical instrument did he take with him?
a) Penny whistle b) Banjo c) Ukulele d) Hammond organ
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Q. 20: “I am the eggman” is a lyric from which song by The Beatles?
a) Paperback Writer b) I Am The Walrus c) Hey Jude
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: Which Jewish religious event often coincides with Easter?
A. 1: Passover.
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Q. 2: Who was the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection?
A. 2: Mary Magdalene.
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Q. 3: How long does Lent last for?
A. 3: 40 days.
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Q. 4: Egg-rolling is a traditional Easter event in seven countries. A point for each one you name correctly.
A. 4: US, UK, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Lithuania, and Egypt.
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Q. 5: How many disciples joined Jesus at the Last Supper?
a) 10 b) 12 c) 14
A. 5: b) 12.
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Q. 6: What is the religious significance of the egg at Easter?
A. 6: It represents the tomb Jesus rose from.
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Q. 7: In the Christian calendar, what is the name given to the last Sunday before Easter?
a) Palm Sunday b) Pentecost c) Whitsun
A. 7: a) Palm Sunday.
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Q. 8: In which country is there a contemporary tradition of reading or watching murder mysteries at Easter?
A. 8: Norway.
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Q. 9: Who starred in the movie Easter Parade?
a) Judy Garland b) Ginger Rogers c) Elaine Paige
A. 9: a) Judy Garland.
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Q. 10: When the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate offered to release Jesus, which prisoner did the crowd demand was let go instead?
a) Herod b) Barabbas c) Judas
A. 10: b) Barabbas.
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Q. 11: Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the score for which Easter-based musical?
a) Evita b) Jesus Christ Superstar c) Cats Glenn
A. 11: b) Jesus Christ Superstar.
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Q. 12: Which American island is named after rabbits?
a) Coney Island b) Staten Island c) Long Island
A. 12: a) Coney Island.
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Q. 13: In Bermuda, the ascent of Christ is symbolized by what?
a) Balloons b) Kites c) Doves d) Fireworks
A. 13: b) Kites.
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Q. 14: What buns do people traditionally eat at Easter?
A. 14: Hot cross buns.
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Q. 15: What is the name of the disciple who betrayed Jesus and what did he receive as payment? (A point for each correct answer.)
A. 15: Judas Iscariot, and he received 30 pieces of silver.
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Q. 16: What does Mardi Gras have to do with Easter?
a) Mardi Gras is the first day of Lent
b) Mardi Gras is the last day to indulge before Lent.
c) Mardi Gras has nothing to do with Easter.
A. 16: Answer b) Mardi Gras is the last day to indulge before Lent.
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Q. 17: What does the period of Lent symbolize?
A. 17: Jesus’s time in the wilderness.
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Q. 18: Which British gangster film stars Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren?
a) The Long Easter Monday b) The Long Easter Sunday c) The Long Good Friday
A. 18: c) The Long Good Friday.
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Q. 19: The word ‘quarantine’ literally means ’40 days’. When Neil Armstrong went into quarantine after returning from the Moon, which musical instrument did he take with him?
a) Penny whistle b) Banjo c) Ukulele d) Hammond organ
A. 19: He took c) a Ukulele.
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Q. 20: “I am the eggman” is a lyric from which song by The Beatles?
a) Paperback Writer b) I Am The Walrus c) Hey Jude
Get your thinking caps on for another random mixture of questions.
As usual the answers can be found waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: Which capital city is also a TV detective?
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Q. 2: Who created havoc in 1938, when his radio broadcast of “The War Of The Worlds” was believed to be true?
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Q. 3: What were ‘Benjy’ and ‘Laska’, sent into space in 1958?
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Q. 4: Name the composer of the famous musicals ‘Top Hat’ and ‘Annie Get Your Gun’.
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Q. 5: Which mountains form the backbone of South America?
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Q. 6: In which river was Jesus Baptised?
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Q. 7: Which South American country provides the setting for the climax of the 1969 movie ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’?
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Q. 8: Into which ocean does the River Amazon flow?
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Q. 9: Which South American city was shaped by architect Oscar Niemeyer?
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Q. 10: The Rio Grande forms part of the boundary between which countries? (A point for each if you like.)
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Q. 11: What name is given to the large, treeless plains south of the Amazon?
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Q. 12: Which island in the east pacific is renowned for its stone heads?
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Q. 13: Which General overthrew Salvador Allende in 1973? (A bonus point if you can name the country.)
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Q. 14: Who was in office as President of the United States when the decision was taken to declare war on Germany during World War I?
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Q. 15: He was the son of a Siberian peasant and became the most influential person at the court of Tsar Nicholas II. He was widely thought to have magical powers and was assassinated in 1916. What was his name?
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Q. 16: The Winter Olympics have just started in Russia, but in what year was London due to host the Summer Olympic Games, but couldn’t because of the Second World War?
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Q. 17: Which American President saw active service in both the first and second World Wars?
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Q. 18: Which three movies did Steven Spielberg direct that were among the top ten highest grossing films of the 20th century? (Yes, a point for each and a bonus point if you get all three.)
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Q. 19: In what country did the soup known as ‘Cullen Skink’ originate?
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Q. 20: Which literary detective had a servant called ‘Bunter’?
a) Hercule Poirot b) Lord Peter Wimsey c) Sherlock Holmes
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: Which capital city is also a TV detective?
A. 1: Columbo.
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Q. 2: Who created havoc in 1938, when his radio broadcast of “The War Of The Worlds” was believed to be true?
A. 2: Orson Welles.
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Q. 3: What were ‘Benjy’ and ‘Laska’, sent into space in 1958?
A. 3: They were Mice.
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Q. 4: Name the composer of the famous musicals ‘Top Hat’ and ‘Annie Get Your Gun’.
A. 4: Irving Berlin.
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Q. 5: Which mountains form the backbone of South America?
A. 5: The Andes.
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Q. 6: In which river was Jesus Baptised?
A. 6: In the River Jordan.
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Q. 7: Which South American country provides the setting for the climax of the 1969 movie ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’?
A. 7: Bolivia.
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Q. 8: Into which ocean does the River Amazon flow?
A. 8: The Atlantic Ocean.
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Q. 9: Which South American city was shaped by architect Oscar Niemeyer?
A. 9: Brasilia.
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Q. 10: The Rio Grande forms part of the boundary between which countries? (A point for each if you like.)
A. 10: The United States of America and Mexico.
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Q. 11: What name is given to the large, treeless plains south of the Amazon?
A. 11: The Pampas.
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Q. 12: Which island in the east pacific is renowned for its stone heads?
A. 12: Easter Island.
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Q. 13: Which General overthrew Salvador Allende in 1973? (A bonus point if you can name the country.)
A. 13: General Pinochet in Chile.
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Q. 14: Who was in office as President of the United States when the decision was taken to declare war on Germany during World War I?
A. 14: Woodrow Wilson.
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Q. 15: He was the son of a Siberian peasant and became the most influential person at the court of Tsar Nicholas II. He was widely thought to have magical powers and was assassinated in 1916. What was his name?
A. 15: Rasputin.
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Q. 16: The Winter Olympics have just started in Russia, but in what year was London due to host the Summer Olympic Games, but couldn’t because of the Second World War?
A. 16: 1944.
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Q. 17: Which American President saw active service in both the first and second World Wars?
A. 17: President Dwight D Eisenhower.
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Q. 18: Which three movies did Steven Spielberg direct that were among the top ten highest grossing films of the 20th century? (Yes, a point for each and a bonus point if you get all three.)
A. 18: “Jurassic Park”, “E.T.” and “The Lost World”.
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Q. 19: In what country did the soup known as ‘Cullen Skink’ originate?
A. 19: Scotland. (It is a thick Scottish soup made of smoked haddock, potatoes and onions.)
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Q. 20: Which literary detective had a servant called ‘Bunter’?
a) Hercule Poirot b) Lord Peter Wimsey c) Sherlock Holmes
Yes folks, this being Christmas week we have a bumper Christmassy edition of the quiz.
All the questions have a Christmas theme and there are plenty of them this week, so this quiz should keep you going over the holidays.
As usual, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but NO cheating please!
Merry Christmas and enjoy.
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Q. 1: If you were born on Christmas day, what would be your Zodiac sign?
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Q. 2: In which century was Christmas first celebrated?
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Q. 3: What significance is holly in celebrating Christmas?
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Q. 4: In the familiar song ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’, what is the gift on the fourth day?
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Q. 5: In the 1998 movie what actor whilst out Christmas shopping suddenly finds himself an “Enemy of the State”?
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Q. 6: Who discovered Christmas Island in 1777?
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Q. 7: Who wrote the song “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas”?
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Q. 8: Plus or minus one year, how long does it take a Scotch Pine Christmas tree to reach a typical retail height of 6 to 7 feet?
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Q. 9: One of the most popular floral gifts at Christmas is the Poinsetta, but what country did Poinsettias originally come from?
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Q. 10: At the end of the war in Vietnam, when Saigon fell, the signal for all Americans to evacuate was what song by Bing Crosby being played on the radio?
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Q. 11: What was Scrooge’s business partner called?
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Q. 12: When exactly is ‘The Twelfth Night’?
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Q. 13: Why was Boxing Day so named?
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Q. 14: Who composed the music for the festive season ballet ‘The Nutcracker’?
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Q. 15: Which Italian cake, popular at Christmas, belongs to Tony?
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Q. 16: What job was first taken by James Edgar in 1890?
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Q. 17: In which celebrated movie does James Stewart attempt suicide one Christmas?
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Q. 18: The Bible doesn’t say when Jesus was born. Pope Julius I made this decision in which year?
a) 50 AD b) 350 AD c) 750 AD d) 1250 AD
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Q. 19: Mr and Mrs Hilton had a little boy who was born on Christmas Day 1887, and went on to found of one of the world’s largest Hotel chains, but what was his first name?
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Q. 20: The names of which two reindeer mean ‘Thunder’ and ‘Lightning’?
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Q. 21: What is the name of the fruit sauce which is a traditional accompaniment to the Christmas Turkey?
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Q. 22: The American ad writer Robert L. May invented which colorful Christmas character in 1939?
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Q. 23: The German Christmas song ‘Tannebaum’ is translated into English as what?
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Q. 24: What does the word ‘Bethlehem’ mean?
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Q. 25: Before Pope Julius I decided that December 25th was the day Jesus was born, on which day did early Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus?
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Q. 26: Coca Cola made our modern Father Christmas for an advertising campaign, but prior to that, what color robes did he wear?
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Q. 27: Which ‘Christmas’ word means ‘turning of the sun’?
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Q. 28: Complete the title of each of the following Christmas movies.
a) Holiday… b) We’re No… c) The Bells of… d) It’s A Wonderful…
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Q. 29: What was the name of Scrooge’s clerk in a Christmas Carol?
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Q. 30: Advent candles are a popular Christmas tradition in many cultures. What does the word advent mean?
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Q. 31: Which nickname for Hollywood sounds Christmassy?
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Q. 32: Which pudding with a misleading name was banned by English Puritans because it was deemed to be ‘sinfully rich’?
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Q. 33: The Greek word for ‘Messiah’ was ‘Xristos’(Christ). What do all of these words mean translated?
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Q. 34: In the movie ‘Die Hard 2’, which airport did the terrorist take over on Christmas Eve?
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Q. 35: Many people claim that the first unofficial football (soccer) international between Germany and a Scotland-England side was played on a Christmas Day. The pitch or playing field was found between what?
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Q. 36: In which country does an ugly old witch named ‘Bafana’ deliver presents on the 6th of December?
a) Australia b) Austria c) Italy d) Mexico
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Q. 37: There are two ‘Christmas islands’, in which oceans are they located?
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Q. 38: In which city is Kevin left ‘Home Alone’ at Christmas? (the first Home Alone)
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Q. 39: “Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephan”. What is the name of the country where Wenceslas was king? (Will accept either the ‘old’ or ‘modern’ name of the country.)
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Q. 40: Which Christmas tradition, said to have originated in Germany, was banned in the Soviet Union until 1935?
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Q. 41: In which country is St. Nick called ‘Sinterklaas’?
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Q. 42: Which Christmas gift of the very highest quality, also known as ‘Oil of Lebanon’, comes from Oman?
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Q. 43: Why was December 25th chosen as Christmas Day?
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Q. 44: Who said, “You’ll want all day tomorrow, I suppose “?
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Q. 45: Which popular poem did Clement Clark Moore write for his six children in 1822?
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Q. 46: The following all mean ‘Merry Christmas’ in which language? (A point for each!)
a) Hyvaa joulua b) sung tan chuk ha c) froehliche weihnacten
d) mele kalikimaka e) god jul f) boas festas g) kala christouyenna
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Q. 47: Superstition dictates that when making mince pies for Christmas one should always stir in which direction?
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Q. 48: Which Christmas tradition did the very busy Sir Henry Cole introduce in 1843?
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Q. 49: The Christmas movie ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ has been remade many times. Who won a best supporting actor Oscar for the role of Kris Kringle in the original 1947 movie and which two time Oscar winner played Kris in the 1994 remake?
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Q. 50: Which song begins with “Are you hanging up your stocking on the wall”?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: If you were born on Christmas day, what would be your Zodiac sign?
A. 1: Capricorn.
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Q. 2: In which century was Christmas first celebrated?
A. 2: In the 4th century.
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Q. 3: What significance is holly in celebrating Christmas?
A. 3: The early church banned mistletoe, so holly was substituted.
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Q. 4: In the familiar song ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’, what is the gift on the fourth day?
A. 4: 4 Calling Birds.
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Q. 5: In the 1998 movie what actor whilst out Christmas shopping suddenly finds himself an “Enemy of the State”?
A. 5: Will Smith
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Q. 6: Who discovered Christmas Island in 1777?
A. 6: Captain Cook.
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Q. 7: Who wrote the song “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas”?
A. 7: Irving Berlin.
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Q. 8: Plus or minus one year, how long does it take a Scotch Pine Christmas tree to reach a typical retail height of 6 to 7 feet?
A. 8: 7 years.
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Q. 9: One of the most popular floral gifts at Christmas is the Poinsetta, but what country did Poinsettias originally come from?
A. 9: Mexico.
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Q. 10: At the end of the war in Vietnam, when Saigon fell, the signal for all Americans to evacuate was what song by Bing Crosby being played on the radio?
A. 10: White Christmas.
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Q. 11: What was Scrooge’s business partner called?
A. 11: Jacob Marley.
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Q. 12: When exactly is ‘The Twelfth Night’?
A. 12: The evening of the 5th of January.
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Q. 13: Why was Boxing Day so named?
A. 13: After the custom of giving Christmas Boxes/Tips to workmen/tradesmen.
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Q. 14: Who composed the music for the festive season ballet ‘The Nutcracker’?
A. 14: Tchaikovsky.
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Q. 15: Which Italian cake, popular at Christmas, belongs to Tony?
A. 15: Panettone. (Anthony or Tone’s bread).
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Q. 16: What job was first taken by James Edgar in 1890?
A. 16: He was the first department store Santa.
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Q. 17: In which celebrated movie does James Stewart attempt suicide one Christmas?
A. 17: It’s A Wonderful Life.
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Q. 18: The Bible doesn’t say when Jesus was born. Pope Julius I made this decision in which year?
a) 50 AD b) 350 AD c) 750 AD d) 1250 AD
A. 18: Answer b) 350 AD.
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Q. 19: Mr and Mrs Hilton had a little boy who was born on Christmas Day 1887, and went on to found of one of the world’s largest Hotel chains, but what was his first name?
A. 19: Conrad.
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Q. 20: The names of which two reindeer mean ‘Thunder’ and ‘Lightning’?
A. 20: Donner and Blitzen.
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Q. 21: What is the name of the fruit sauce which is a traditional accompaniment to the Christmas Turkey?
A. 21: Cranberry.
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Q. 22: The American ad writer Robert L. May invented which colorful Christmas character in 1939?
A. 22: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
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Q. 23: The German Christmas song ‘Tannebaum’ is translated into English as what?
A. 23: Christmas Tree.
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Q. 24: What does the word ‘Bethlehem’ mean?
A. 24: House of meat (Arabic) or House of bread (Hebraic)
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Q. 25: Before Pope Julius I decided that December 25th was the day Jesus was born, on which day did early Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus?
A. 25: The 6th of January or feast of the epiphany. (Greek for appearance or revelation).
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Q. 26: Coca Cola made our modern Father Christmas for an advertising campaign, but prior to that, what color robes did he wear?
A. 26: Green. (As a sign of the returning Spring.)
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Q. 27: Which ‘Christmas’ word means ‘turning of the sun’?
A. 27: Yuletide (Yule means wheel in old Norse language).
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Q. 28: Complete the title of each of the following Christmas movies.
a) Holiday… b) We’re No… c) The Bells of… d) It’s A Wonderful…
A. 28: a) …Inn b) …Angels c) …St. Marys d) …Life
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Q. 29: What was the name of Scrooge’s clerk in a Christmas Carol?
A. 29: Bob Cratchit.
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Q. 30: Advent candles are a popular Christmas tradition in many cultures. What does the word advent mean?
A. 30: Arrival.
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Q. 31: Which nickname for Hollywood sounds Christmassy?
A. 31: Tinseltown.
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Q. 32: Which pudding with a misleading name was banned by English Puritans because it was deemed to be ‘sinfully rich’?
A. 32: Plum pudding. (Incidentally, there are no plums in plum pudding, just sugar, raisons, suet, flour and various spices boiled in a bag till ‘plum’)
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Q. 33: The Greek word for ‘Messiah’ was ‘Xristos’(Christ). What do all of these words mean translated?
A. 33: The ‘annointed’ one.
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Q. 34: In the movie ‘Die Hard 2’, which airport did the terrorist take over on Christmas Eve?
A. 34: Dulles International Airport (Washington DC).
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Q. 35: Many people claim that the first unofficial football (soccer) international between Germany and a Scotland-England side was played on a Christmas Day. The pitch or playing field was found between what?
A. 35: Between the trenches in no mans land, Christmas 1914. (No match report is available but it seems the Germans won 3-2.)
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Q. 36: In which country does an ugly old witch named ‘Bafana’ deliver presents on the 6th of December?
a) Australia b) Austria c) Italy d) Mexico
A. 36: Answer c) Italy.
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Q. 37: There are two ‘Christmas islands’, in which oceans are they located?
A. 37: The Pacific and Indian oceans.
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Q. 38: In which city is Kevin left ‘Home Alone’ at Christmas? (the first Home Alone)
A. 38: Chicago.
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Q. 39: “Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephan”. What is the name of the country where Wenceslas was king? (Will accept either the ‘old’ or ‘modern’ name of the country.)
A. 39: Bohemia, now known as the Czech Republic.
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Q. 40: Which Christmas tradition, said to have originated in Germany, was banned in the Soviet Union until 1935?
A. 40: Christmas trees.
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Q. 41: In which country is St. Nick called ‘Sinterklaas’?
A. 41: Holland.
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Q. 42: Which Christmas gift of the very highest quality, also known as ‘Oil of Lebanon’, comes from Oman?
A. 42: Frankincense.
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Q. 43: Why was December 25th chosen as Christmas Day?
A. 43: To compete with a pagan celebration.
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Q. 44: Who said, “You’ll want all day tomorrow, I suppose “?
A. 44: Scrooge to Bob Cratchit in Dicken’s ‘A Christmas Carol’.
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Q. 45: Which popular poem did Clement Clark Moore write for his six children in 1822?
A. 45: A visit from St. Nicholas (The night before Christmas) “It twas the night before Christmas when all through the house……”
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Q. 46: The following all mean ‘Merry Christmas’ in which language? (A point for each!)
a) Hyvaa joulua b) sung tan chuk ha c) froehliche weihnacten
d) mele kalikimaka e) god jul f) boas festas g) kala christouyenna
A. 46: Answers a) Finnish b) Korean c) German d) Hawaiian e) Norwegian
f) Portugese and, g) Greek
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Q. 47: Superstition dictates that when making mince pies for Christmas one should always stir in which direction?
A. 47: In a clockwise direction.
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Q. 48: Which Christmas tradition did the very busy Sir Henry Cole introduce in 1843?
A. 48: The sending of Christmas wishes on mass produced Christmas cards. The first cards depicted a family toasting an absent friend with the words “Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you”.
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Q. 49: The Christmas movie ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ has been remade many times. Who won a best supporting actor Oscar for the role of Kris Kringle in the original 1947 movie and which two time Oscar winner played Kris in the 1994 remake?
A. 49: Edmund Gwenn and Richard Attenborough.
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Q. 50: Which song begins with “Are you hanging up your stocking on the wall”?
Today the number is twelve and as usual it has a lot more associations that you might at first think. So many in fact that I have decided to split this post into two parts.
The second part (next Friday) will consist of the many entries in the ‘militaria’ section, while today’s will include the rest.
Even with the split it’s still a long post, but I hope those of you interested in numbers and their associations will enjoy reading it.
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The Number Twelve 12
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In religion
The number 12 is very important in many religions, mainly Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but also found in some other belief systems.
From the Bible we know that Jacob had 12 sons, (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin), who were the progenitors of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
The New Testament describes twelve apostles of Jesus; after Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus and hanged himself, a meeting was held (Acts) to add Matthias to complete the number twelve once more.
The Book of Revelation contains much numerical symbolism, and a lot of the numbers mentioned have 12 as a divisor.
Revelation 12:1 mentions a woman—interpreted as the people of Israel, the Church or the Virgin Mary—wearing a crown of twelve stars (representing each of the twelve tribes of Israel).
Also there are 12,000 people sealed from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, making a total of 144,000 (which is the square of 12 multiplied by a thousand).
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
In Orthodox Judaism, 12 signifies the age a girl matures (bat mitzvah)
There are 12 days of Christmas; the period of thirteen days including Epiphany is sometimes known as Christmastide, thus Twelfth Night is another name for the twelfth day of Christmas or January 5 (the eve of Epiphany).
Similarly, Eastern Orthodoxy observes 12 Great Feasts.
In Twelver (or Imami) Shi’a Islam, there are twelve Imams, successors of the prophet Muhammad. These twelve early leaders of Islam were—Ali, Hasan, Husayn, and nine of Husayn’s descendants. Imamah is the Shi‘ah doctrine of religious, spiritual and political leadership of the Ummah. The Shi‘ah believe that the A’immah (“Imams”) are the true Caliphs or rightful successors of Muhammad, and Twelver and Isma‘ili Shi‘ah further that Imams are possessed of supernatural knowledge, authority, and infallibility as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Muhammad. Both beliefs distinguish the Shi‘ah from Sunnis.
In the Quran, the Sura number 12 is Sura Yusuf (Joseph), and it is located in Juz’a number 12. This Sura narrates the story of Prophet Yusuf and his 12 brothers.
In Hinduism, the sun god Surya has 12 names. Also, there are 12 Petals in Anahata (Heart Chakra. There are twelve “Jyotirlingas” in Hindu Shaivism. The Shaivites (orthodox devotees of God Shiva) treat them with great respect and they are visited by almost every pious Hindu at least once in a lifetime.
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In antiquity there are numerous magical/religious uses of twelves.
Ancient Greek religion, the Twelve Olympians were the principal gods of the pantheon.
Greek mythology has the twelve labors of Hercules.
The chief Norse god, Odin, had 12 sons.
Several sets of twelve cities are identified in history as a dodecapolis, the most familiar being the Etruscan League.
In the King Arthur Legend, Arthur is said to have subdued 12 rebel princes and to have won 12 great battles against Saxon invaders.
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In mathematics
Twelve is the smallest number with exactly six divisors, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12.
Twelve is a sublime number, a number that has a perfect number of divisors, and the sum of its divisors is also a perfect number.
Twelve is a superfactorial, being the product of the first three factorials.
The first four positive integers show up in the following equation 12 = 3 × 4, which can be continued with the equation 56 = 7 × 8.
A twelve-sided polygon is a dodecagon.
A twelve-faced polyhedron is a dodecahedron.
Regular cubes and octahedrons both have 12 edges, while regular icosahedrons have 12 vertices.
The duodecimal system (1210 [twelve] = 1012), which is the use of 12 as a division factor for many ancient and medieval weights and measures, including hours, probably originates from Mesopotamia.
In base thirteen and higher bases (such as hexadecimal), twelve is represented as C. In base 10, the number 12 is a Harshad number.
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In science and technology
Twelve is the atomic number of magnesium in the periodic table.
The human body has twelve cranial nerves.
The duodenum (from Latin duodecim, “twelve”) is the first part of the small intestine, that is about twelve inches (30 cm) long. More precisely, this section of the intestine was measured not in inches but in fingerwidths. In fact, in German the name of the duodenum is Zwölffingerdarm and in Dutch the name is twaalfvingerige darm, both meaning “twelve-finger bowel”.
Vitamin B12, also called cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin with a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, and for the formation of blood. It is one of the eight B vitamins. The vitamin is the largest and most structurally complicated vitamin and can be produced industrially only through bacterial fermentation-synthesis.
Dichlorodifluoromethane (R-12), a colorless gas usually sold under the brand name Freon-12, is a chlorofluorocarbon halomethane (CFC), used as a refrigerant and aerosol spray propellant. Complying with the Montreal Protocol, its manufacture was banned in the United States along with many other countries in 1996 due to concerns about damage to the ozone layer. It is soluble in many organic solvents. Dichlorodifluoromethane was also the main component of Silly String.
Force 12 on the Beaufort wind force scale corresponds to the maximum wind speed of a hurricane.
There are twelve function keys on most PC keyboards (F1 through F12)
There are twelve keys in any standard digital telephone (1 through 9, 0, * and #)
Microsoft’s Rich Text Format specification assigns numbers congruent to 12 mod 256 to variants of the French language.
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In space
Messier object M12 is a magnitude 8.0 globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.
The New General Catalogue object NGC 12 is a magnitude 13.1 spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces.
The 12th moon of Jupiter is Lysithea.
Twelve people have walked on Earth’s moon.
Telstar 12, is a commercial broadcast satellite used in telecommunications, operated by Loral Skynet. It is a Ku band satellite with coverage of North America as far West as Cleveland, Ohio, the majority of South America, Europe as far East as the United Arab Emirates and South Africa. Telstar 12 also has the capability to provide intercontinental connectivity including trans-Atlantic to the Mid-East.
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Apollo 12
Apollo 12 was the sixth manned flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon (an H type mission).
It was launched on November 14, 1969 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, four months after Apollo 11. Mission commander Charles “Pete” Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean performed just over one day and seven hours of lunar surface activity while Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon remained in lunar orbit. The landing site for the mission was located in the southeastern portion of the Ocean of Storms.
Unlike the first landing by Apollo 11, Conrad and Bean achieved a precise landing at their expected location, the site of the Surveyor 3 unmanned probe, which had landed on April 20, 1967. They carried the first color television camera to the lunar surface on an Apollo flight, but transmission was lost after Bean accidentally destroyed the camera by pointing it at the Sun. On one of two moonwalks, they visited the Surveyor, and removed some parts for return to Earth.
The mission ended on November 24 with a successful splashdown.
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STS-12
During the Space Shuttle program, several missions were cancelled. Many were cancelled as a result of the Challenger and the Columbia disasters. Many early missions were cancelled due to delays in the development of the shuttle. Others were cancelled because of changes in payload and missions requirements.
STS-12 was originally scheduled for launch on 30 January 1981. The crew of three were to place the satellites TDRS-C and Anik-C2 into orbit during the 2-day mission. An alternate mission was also planned which replaced the TDRS-C with an Intelsat-V satellite, and would last five days instead of two. TDRS-C was eventually made as the replacement for the destroyed TDRS-B and launched from Discovery on STS-26 in September 1988.
The crew of STS-12 were, Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr. (Commander); Michael L. Coats (Pilot); and Mission Specialists Richard M. Mullane, Steven A. Hawley and Judith A. Resnik.
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Majestic 12
According to UFO conspiracy theory, Majestic 12 (or MJ-12) is the supposed code name of an alleged secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials, formed in 1947 by an executive order by U.S. President Harry S. Truman. The purpose of the committee was to investigate the recovery of a UFO north of Roswell, New Mexico during July 1947.
Initial indications of such a group’s existence appeared in 1978 in declassified Canadian documents. Another reference to a classified group called “MJ-12” was discovered in 1980, but was later identified to be a hoax. In 1984 a set of documents was discovered in United States archives, which closely resemble real declassified documents, but which the FBI have declared to be “completely bogus”.
UFO conspiracy theories and the popular media based on them sometimes incorporate Majestic 12.
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In politics
The 12th President of the United States of America (1849–1850) was Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850). An American military leader, his 40-year military career ended with far-reaching victories in the Mexican–American War. His status as a national hero won him election to the White House despite his vague political beliefs. His top priority as president was preserving the Union, but he died 16 months into his term, before making any progress on the status of slavery, which had been inflaming tensions in Congress.
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The Twelfth Amendment (Amendment XII) to the United States Constitution provides the procedure for electing the President and Vice President. It replaced Article II, Section 1, Clause 3, which provided the original procedure by which the Electoral College functioned. Problems with the original procedure arose in the elections of 1796 and 1800. The Twelfth Amendment was proposed by the Congress on December 9, 1803, and was ratified by the required number of state legislatures on June 15, 1804.
The United States of America is divided into twelve Federal Reserve Districts (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco); American paper currency has serial numbers beginning with one of twelve different letters, A through L, representing the Federal Reserve Bank from which the currency originated.
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There are 12 stars are featured on the Flag of Europe
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The French department Aveyron is number twelve.
In Northern Ireland the Twelfth of July is the main day of celebration and commemoration for the Protestant and Unionist community, and a public holiday.
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In sport
The competition that was founded in 2001 as the Celtic League changed its name in 2011 to Pro12, reflecting its status as a 12-team league after it expanded in 2010 to include teams from Italy.
The Southern Hemisphere competition now known as Super Rugby was known from 1996 through 2005, an era in which it had 12 teams, as Super 12.
In both soccer and American football, the number 12 can be a symbolic reference to the fans because of the support they give to the 11 players on the field.
Texas A&M University reserves the number 12 jersey for a walk-on player who represents the original “12th Man”, a fan who was asked to play when the team’s reserves were low in a college American football game in 1922.
Bayern Munich, Hammarby, Feyenoord, Atlético Mineiro, Flamengo, Seattle Seahawks, Portsmouth and Cork City do not allow field players to wear the number 12 on their jersey because it is reserved for their supporters.
The jersey number 12 has been retired by several North American sports teams in honor of past playing greats (or, in one case, a team’s fans):
In Major League Baseball: the Tampa Bay Rays, for Hall of Famer Wade Boggs; the Toronto Blue Jays, for Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar.
In the NFL: the Buffalo Bills, for Hall of Famer Jim Kelly; the Miami Dolphins, for Hall of Famer Bob Griese; the New York Jets, for Hall of Famer Joe Namath; the San Francisco 49ers, for John Brodie; the Seattle Seahawks, for their fans (the “12th Man”); the Dallas Cowboys have a policy of not retiring numbers, however, the team has not issued #12 since the retirement of Hall of Famer Roger Staubach; the Pittsburgh Steelers currently have a policy of not retiring numbers, having retired only one number (70) in their earlier history, however, the Steelers have not issued #12 since the retirement of Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw.
In the NBA: the New York Knicks, for Dick Barnett; the Utah Jazz, for Hall of Famer John Stockton; the Cincinnati Royals, for Hall of Famer Maurice Stokes, who suffered a career-ending head injury in 1958, the team’s first season in Cincinnati and the franchise continues to honor the number in its current incarnation as the Sacramento Kings.
In the NHL: he Detroit Red Wings, for Hall of Famer Sid Abel; the Montreal Canadiens, for Hall of Famers Yvan Cournoyer and Dickie Moore; the Vancouver Canucks, for Stan Smyl; the jersey number 12 has also been retired by the men’s basketball program of the University of North Carolina for Phil Ford.
In Canadian football, 12 is the maximum number of players that can be on the field of play for each team at any time.
In ten-pin bowling, 12 is the number of strikes needed for a perfect game.
In curling, the House or the circular scoring area, is 12 feet in diameter.
In cricket, another sport with eleven players per team, teams may select a “12th man”, who may replace an injured player for the purpose of fielding (but not batting, bowling or keeping wicket).
In association football, 12 was also the number of teams in the finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in its first two editions in 1991 and 1995.
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In books, music, movies and TV
Books
‘Twelfth Night’ is a comedy by William Shakespeare.
‘Twelve Angry Men’ by Reginald Rose, was adapted from his own teleplay (see TV below).
‘The Twelve’ is a poem by Aleksandr Blok.
‘Twelve’ is a novel by Nick McDonell.
‘The Twelve Chairs’ is a satirical novel by the Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov.
‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ is a 1946 novel by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses’ is a folk tale.
‘The Aeneid’, an epic poem by Virgil is divided into two halves composed of twelve books.
‘Paradise Lost’, an epic poem by John Milton is divided into twelve books perhaps in imitation of the Aeneid.
In ‘The Hunger Games’, the fictional country of Panem is separated into twelve districts.
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Music
Twelve is the number of pitch classes in an octave; the total number of major keys; and the total number of minor keys.
The twelfth is the interval of an octave and a fifth. Instruments such as the clarinet which behave as a stopped cylindrical pipe overblow at the twelfth.
The twelve-tone technique (also dodecaphony) is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg. Music using the technique is called twelve-tone music.
One of the most famous classical music pieces is the 1812 overture by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
The 12-inch single is a vinyl record format.
B12 are a British electronic music duo consisting of Mike Golding and Steve Rutter.
There is a group called ‘Twelve Girls Band’.
‘Twelfth Night’ is a progressive rock band.
‘12 Play’ is an R. Kelly album.
‘The Number 12 Looks Like You’ is a mathcore band.
‘Twelve’ is an album by Patti Smith.
‘Twelve Deadly Cyns…and Then Some’ is an album by Cyndi Lauper.
‘D12’ a rap group also known as the ‘Dirty Dozen’.
There is a musical group named ‘12 Stones’.
‘12’, a Song from Brave Murder Day by Katatonia.
‘12’ is a studio album by German singer Herbert Grönemeyer.
‘12’ is the 12th studio album by Keller Williams.
‘12 Hundred’ is a song by band Mushroomhead of their Savior Sorrow album.
‘12’ (“Dodeka” in Greek) is one of the most well-known hits by Anna Vissi.
‘Twelve drummers drumming’ is the gift on the twelfth day of Christmas in the carol ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’.
‘12:59 Lullaby’ by Bedouin Soundclash.
‘Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35’ by Bob Dylan.
‘Little 12 Toes’ by Chavez (band).
‘12 Hours’ by Davenport Cabinet.
‘12’ by Hot Chip.
‘Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses’ by Kathy Mattea.
‘Twelve Reasons Why’ by My Life Story.
‘Dozen Wicked Words’ by The Longpigs.
‘Prelude 12’ by Styx.
‘12:51’ by The Strokes.
‘12 Steps’ by Violent Femmes.
‘The 12th Of September’ by Xavier Rudd.
‘12 Fingers’ by Young the Giant.
‘12-Bar Original’ by The Beatles.
Twelve is the number of studio albums ‘The Beatles’ released.
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Movies
Movies with the number twelve or its variations in their titles include
12
12.01
12 Angry Men (1957 and 1997)
Cheaper by the Dozen
Ocean’s Twelve
12 Monkeys
The Dirty Dozen
12 Rounds
Twelve
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Television
The number twelve plays a significant role in the television franchise Battlestar Galactica. The characters come from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol and worship the twelve lords of Kobol. In the re-imagined series, there are also twelve models of the humanoid version of Cylons.
Twelve Angry Men, the original 1954 live performance on the anthology television series Studio One.
‘Number 12 Looks Just Like You’ is an episode of the television show The Twilight Zone.
Schoolhouse Rock! portrayed an alien child using base-twelve arithmetic in the short ‘Little Twelvetoes’.
12 Oz Mouse was an animated television show on Adult Swim.
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In transport
Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior
The Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior, more commonly known as the Lockheed 12 or L-12, is an eight-seat, six-passenger all-metal twin-engine transport aircraft of the late 1930s designed for use by small airlines, companies, and wealthy private individuals.
A scaled-down version of the Lockheed Model 10 Electra, the Lockheed 12 was not popular as an airliner but was widely used as a corporate and government transport. Several were also used for testing new aviation technologies.
Aviator Milo Burcham flew a Lockheed 12A in the 1937 Bendix Trophy Race from Burbank, California to Cleveland, Ohio. This 12A had been modified with extra fuel tanks in the cabin, allowing it to save time by making the entire 2,043-mile (3,288 km) trip non-stop. The 12A came in fifth at an average speed of 184 mph (296 km/h); this was an impressive performance, since the first and fourth-place winners were both privately owned Seversky P-35 fighters.
Another Lockheed 12A, owned by Republic Oil Company and named The Texan, was modified by aviator Jimmie Mattern for a round-the-world flight attempt. Mattern filled the 12A’s cabin with fuel tanks and removed the cabin windows and door; the crew would enter the aircraft via a cockpit hatch. The aircraft was denied a U.S. permit for the flight following the Earhart incident (she had been flying a Lockheed 10 Electra), however it was pressed into action September 1937 in a long range search effort for Sigizmund Levanevsky who crashed somewhere between the North pole and Barrow, Alaska. “The Texan” was outfitted as a luxury transport afterward, and lost in a hangar fire in January 1938.
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Hispano-Suiza J12
The Hispano-Suiza J12 was a luxury automobile made by Hispano-Suiza from 1931 to 1938. It replaced the Hispano-Suiza H6. The J12 was powered by a V12 engine with pushrod-operated overhead valves.
Hispano-Suiza suspended automobile production in 1938 to concentrate on the manufacture of aircraft engines.
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Renault 12
The Renault 12 is a family car produced by French automaker Renault between 1969 and 1980. Available as a saloon (Berline) and estate (Break), it was also produced under license in many countries across the globe into the early 21st century.
In its first few years the 12 received praise from the European press for its spacious, comfortable interior, its styling, its performance and its low fuel consumption. However it fared worse in the North American press: in a test of the 1974 model, Road & Track was critical of the engine’s “obtrusive” noise, and called the heavy, non-power steering “a serious design flaw”. They also gave it “very poor marks” for the ventilation system.
Renault 12 production and sales ended in western Europe in 1980, but the model continued to be produced and sold by Renault affiliates elsewhere. The last R12 was produced in 1999 in Turkey, whilst Romanian automaker Dacia continued producing the R12-based 1310 sedan and estate until 2004 and the R12-based Dacia Pick-Up until December 2006.
In terms of sales the Renault 12 was a successful car, selling 2.5 million units.
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McLaren M12
The McLaren M12 was an open-cockpit racing car developed by Bruce McLaren Motor Racing in 1969, solely for the purpose of selling to customers in the Can-Am series.
The M12 combined elements from two of McLaren’s previous efforts, the M6 series and the M8 series.
One of the more notable owners of an M12 was Chaparral Cars, who used the McLaren in the early 1969 Can-Am season while their own model’s development had been delayed.
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BMW E12
The BMW E12 BMW 5-Series was made between 1972 and 1981. The E12 was the first series to bear the 5 Series name: the ‘5’ denoting BMW’s fifth ‘New Class’ platform. Designed as a replacement for the popular BMW New Class mid-size sedan, the E12 5-Series models were smaller than the large BMW E3 sedan but larger than the two-door 2002 models.
The E12 was replaced by the BMW E28 5 Series in 1981, although production continued until 1984 in South Africa.
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Volkswagen W12 Coupe
The Volkswagen W12 Coupe (also known as the Volkswagen Nardò, with reference to the Nardò Ring vehicle test track, near to the Italian city of Nardò) was a concept car created by Volkswagen Passenger Cars in 1997.
The car is portrayed in games such as Heat Online, Gran Turismo, and the Test Drive series.
This car also featured in an April Fools joke as the new Volkswagen 2015 LeVanto.
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Vector M12
The Vector M12 was a vehicle designed by parent company Megatech LTD the Vector Motors Corporation, and was the first vehicle produced after the hostile takeover of the company from Jerry Wiegert by the Indonesian company Megatech.
The vehicle was a rebodied Lamborghini Diablo with a chopper gun fiberglass body set on a lengthened Diablo chassis. It was a loose copy of the Vector AWX-3, which was not released due to the Megatech hostile takeover.
The M12 was able to accelerate from zero to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 4.8 seconds and had a top speed of 189 mph (304 km/h) and was produced from 1995 to 1999, when production was halted, partly due to slow sales of the cars and alleged mismanagement of the company.
The average price of the vehicle was $184,000 (USD). Today you can purchase a M12 normally for $65,000 to an astounding $189,000 paid by a purchaser of a purple M12 at Barrett Jackson for a record sale price.
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Noble M12
The Noble M12 is a two-door, two-seat model, originally planned both as a coupe and as a convertible.
All M12s have been powered by modified bi-turbocharged Ford Duratec V6 engines. The M12 has a full steel roll cage, steel frame, and G.R.P. (fibreglass) composite clam shell body parts.
These famed “Ferrari killers” are extremely lightweight and stiff. Although looking to be track derived, the M12 performs very well on both road and track, with surprisingly good ride quality, but a rigid feel. This is achieved by having no anti-roll bars on the car. This allows the suspension to be stiff yet comfortable.
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Ferrari F12 Berlinetta
The Ferrari F12 berlinetta (also unofficially referred to as the F12 Berlinetta or the F12) is a front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive grand tourer produced by Italian sports car manufacturer Ferrari. The F12 Berlinetta, introduced to the public at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, replaces the Ferrari 599 series grand tourers.
The F12berlinetta was named “The Supercar of the Year 2012” by car magazine Top Gear.
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Spyker E12 Zagato
Spyker Cars shareholder and CEO, Victor Muller hinted at a Maserati Quattroporte, Porsche Panamera rival with an eight-cylinder (the E8) or a twelve-cylinder (the E12) engine, but due to problems getting the D8 into production, the idea was ignored until recently when Muller has said he “believes now could be the time to resurrect the saloon.”
Muller believes it will take about four years from time E8/E12 is revealed to the time it starts production. In March 2011, Muller stated that the production version of the Spyker E8/E12 will use a twelve-cylinder instead of the proposed eight-cylinder engine.
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V12 engine
A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft.
Since each cylinder bank is essentially a straight-6, this configuration has perfect primary and secondary balance no matter which V angle is used and therefore needs no balance shafts. A V12 with two banks of six cylinders angled at 60°, 120° or 180° (with the latter configuration usually referred to as a flat-12) from each other has even firing with power pulses delivered twice as often per revolution as a straight-6.
This allows for great refinement in a luxury car. In a racing car, the rotating parts can be made much lighter and thus more responsive, since there is no need to use counterweights on the crankshaft as is needed in a 90° V8 and less need for the inertial mass in a flywheel to smooth out the power delivery. In a large displacement, heavy-duty engine, a V12 can run slower than smaller engines, prolonging engine life.
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W12 engine
A W12 engine is a twelve cylinder piston internal combustion engine in a W configuration.
W12 engines are manufactured in two distinct configurations. One configuration uses four rows of three cylinders merged into two ‘cylinder banks’ (two narrow-angle VR6 engine blocks), coupled to a common crankshaft – as in the Volkswagen Group W12. Another uses three banks of four cylinders coupled to a common crankshaft – as in the Napier Lion.
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Other stuff
There are twelve basic hues in the color wheel; 3 primary colors (red, yellow, blue), 3 secondary colors (orange, green & purple) and 6 tertiary colors (names for these vary, but are intermediates between the primaries and secondaries).
There are 12 ounces in a troy pound (used for precious metals)
There are 12 signs of the zodiac.
In English, twelve is the number of greatest magnitude that has just one syllable.
There are normally twelve pairs of ribs in the human body.
The Twelve Tables or Lex Duodecim Tabularum, more informally simply Duodecim Tabulae was the ancient legislation underlying Roman law.
In the United States, twelve people are appointed to sit on a jury for felony trials in all but four states, and in federal and Washington, D.C. courts. The number of jurors gave the title to the play (and subsequent films) Twelve Angry Men.
There are 12 inches in a foot.
Twelve shillings made up one British pound in pre decimal currency.
There are 12 face cards in a normal card deck.
Alcoholics Anonymous has 12 steps, 12 traditions and 12 concepts for world service.
Most calendar systems have twelve months in a year.
The Western zodiac has twelve signs, as does the Chinese zodiac.
The Chinese use a 12 year cycle for time-reckoning called Earthly Branches.
There are twenty-four hours in a day, the hours being numbered from one to twelve for both the ante meridiem (a.m.) half of the day and the post meridiem (p.m.) half of the day. The basic units of time (60 seconds, 60 minutes, 24 hours) can all perfectly divide by twelve.
My father, who I loved and respected deeply, passed quite suddenly many years ago one August 12th. Now don’t worry, tissues not required, this isn’t going to be one of those sentimental posts as you will see in a moment, just setting a principle.
You see ever since that day I always know that when August 12th comes round that is the anniversary of his passing. Not that I do much to commemorate it or anything, but every year – same date – that’s it.
So why am I talking about something that happened in mid August now at the end of March?
Well, because they tell me this weekend is Easter and that always messes with my logic circuits.
Easter is a day that is honored by nearly all of contemporary Christianity to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which took place on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary.
So here’s a simple question.
If someone we know dies on a certain day of a certain month that date remains constant, it does not change, the anniversary is the same every year.
So why do we celebrate the Resurrection (death plus three days) of Jesus on such wildly varying dates?
For example in 2011 it was April 24th, last year it was April 8th, this year it is March 31st and next year it will be April 20th.
The only way that makes sense, is if the date we are told to celebrate has as little to do with the Resurrection and Christianity as have eggs, bunnies or candy.
It doesn’t seem to matter any more in America and many other western countries because the powers that be are intent on abandoning their Christian ethos for fear of offending those who refuse to abandon their religious beliefs. They are quite happy with the confusion.
It is, however, fairly clear if you do even a little bit of research on the subject, (and I encourage you to do your own research and not take my word for it), that most of the things people now commonly associate with Easter have in fact pagan, rather than Christian, origins.
And the pagan roots of Easter lie in the worship of pagan gods and in celebrating the spring equinox, which marks the end of winter and beginning of spring. Biologically and culturally, it represents for northern climates the end of a “dead” season and the rebirth of life, as well as the importance of fertility and reproduction.
References to a similar holiday have been found as far back as 2400 BC (that’s ‘B’ as in ‘before’ ‘C’ Christ) when, for example, the city of Ur apparently had a celebration dedicated to the moon and the spring equinox which was held some time during our months of March or April.“Ishtar”, which is pronounced “Easter” was a day that commemorated the resurrection of a pagan ‘god’ called “Tammuz”, who was believed to be the only begotten son of the moon-goddess and the sun-god. In other cultures he acquired different names, including “Osiris”, “Orpheus”, and “Dionysus”.
The Phrygian fertility goddess “Cybele”, was one of the most popular of these pagan gods, and worship of “Cybele” started in Rome around 200 BC. Ironically, a cult dedicated to her was even located on what is today Vatican Hill.
Even today modern Wiccans and neo-pagans celebrate “Ostara,” or “Eostre” which are derived from the Anglo-Saxon lunar goddess, “Eostre”.“Eostre’s” feast day is held on the first full moon following the vernal equinox – a similar calculation as is used for Easter among Western Christians. On this date the goddess “Eostre” is believed by her followers to mate with the solar god, conceiving a child who would be born nine months later on Yule, the winter solstice which falls on December 21st.
Two of “Eostre’s” most important symbols are the hare (both because of its fertility and because ancient people saw a hare in the full moon) and the egg, which symbolized the growing possibility of new life. Each of these symbols continues to play an important role in modern celebrations of Easter.
So Easter, like many other things the establishment encourages us to believe, is not quite what it purports to be.
I’ll leave the last word to someone smarter than me,
Today a number that many people like and hold to be ‘lucky’.
The Number 21
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In religion
Number of the perfection by excellence, 3 x 7, according to the Bible.
21 represents the harmony of the creation.
Mary, mother of Jesus, lived 21 years after the death Jesus
There were 21 years between the presentation of Jesus to the Temple at 12 years old and his death at 33 years old.
In the same day, Jesus appears in 21 different places in Palestine to confirm in His Resurrection.
The word angel is pronounced 21 times by Jesus, always to the plural.
The words Flood and star are used 21 times in the Bible.
In the Revelation, the word “capacity” (capacity of decision or to act, by opposition to “power”) is used 21 times.
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In mathematics
21 is a Triangular, Octagonal, Fibonacci, and Motzkin Number.
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In science & technology
The Chemical Element Scandium has an atomic number of 21.
There are 21 amino-acids.
21 is the standard TCP/IP port number for FTP connections
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In space and aviation
Messier 21 or M21
Messier 21 or M21 (also designated NGC 6531) is an open cluster of stars in the constellation of Sagittarius. It was discovered and catalogued by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764.
It is tightly packed but contains about 57 stars. A few blue giant stars have been identified in the cluster, but Messier 21 is composed mainly of small dim stars. With a magnitude of 6.5, M21 is not visible to the naked eye; however, with the smallest binoculars it can be easily spotted on a dark night.
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Expedition 21
Expedition 21 was the 21st long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition began on 30 September 2009, with Frank de Winne becoming the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission.
The handover between Expedition 20 and Expedition 21 required three Soyuz vehicles being docked to the station at the same time, the first time this has occurred.
Soyuz TMA-16 brought the final members of Expedition 21 to the ISS, along with space tourist Guy Laliberté. Laliberté returned to Earth on Soyuz TMA-14 with two members of Expedition 20 on 11 October 2009.
Nicole P. Stott was the last ISS expedition crew member to fly on the Space Shuttle. She returned to Earth aboard STS-129 in November 2009.
Expedition 21 crew portrait (from the left) are Flight Engineers Nicole Stott, Frank De Winne and Roman Romanenko. Pictured on the back row (from the left) are Flight Engineer Maxim Suraev, Commander Jeffrey Williams and Flight Engineer Robert Thirsk. Image credit: NASA
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Luna 21
Luna 21 (Ye-8 series) was an unmanned space mission of the Luna program, also called Lunik 21. The spacecraft landed on the Moon and deployed the second Soviet lunar rover (Lunokhod 2). The primary objectives of the mission were to collect images of the lunar surface, examine ambient light levels to determine the feasibility of astronomical observations from the Moon, perform laser ranging experiments from Earth, observe solar X-rays, measure local magnetic fields, and study mechanical properties of the lunar surface material.
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Number 21
Number 21 is the name of the plane alleged flown by Gustave Whitehead two years before the Wright brothers’ flight
In politics
21st President of the United States
Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was the 21st President of the United States (1881–85). He became President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield.
Born in Fairfield, Vermont, Arthur grew up in upstate New York and practiced law in New York City. He devoted much of his time to Republican politics and quickly rose in the political machine run by New York Senator Roscoe Conkling.
Appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to the lucrative and politically powerful post of Collector of the Port of New York in 1871, Arthur was an important supporter of Conkling and the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party.
In 1878 the new president, Rutherford B. Hayes, fired Arthur as part of a plan to reform the federal patronage system in New York. When James Garfield won the Republican nomination for President in 1880, Arthur was nominated for Vice President to balance the ticket by adding an eastern Stalwart to it.
After just half a year as vice president, Garfield was assassinated and Arthur unexpectedly became the 21st President of the united states.
To the surprise of reformers, Arthur took up the reform cause that had once led to his expulsion from office. He signed the Pendleton Act into law, and enforced its provisions vigorously.
Suffering from poor health, Arthur made only a limited effort to secure renomination in 1884; he retired at the close of his term. As journalist Alexander McClure would later write, “No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted as Chester Alan Arthur, and no one ever retired … more generally respected, alike by political friend and foe.”
Chester A Arthur, 21st President of the United States of America
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21st Amendment
The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, thereby ending Prohibition.
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21st State
Illinois – the ‘Land of Lincoln’ – was the 21st state to join the United States.
Abraham Lincoln moved to Illinois when he was 21 and he met his future wife – Mary Todd – in Springfield when she was 21.
Illinois currently has 21 electoral votes in the US Presidential Election.
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Canada – Pier 21
Pier 21 was, from 1928 to 1971, was the place where immigrants entered Canada. It was called the “Gateway to Canada.”
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France – King Louis XVI
21 was a significant number in the life of French King Louis XVI
On January 21, 1770, Louis XVI became engaged;
On June 21, 1770, he got married;
On January 21, 1782, he promulgated the suspension of a tax;
On January 21, 1784 an enormous obelisk of snow was raised for him on the place Louis XV;
On June 21, 1791, Louis XVI was arrested; and,
On January 21, 1793, he goes up to the scaffold.
Finally, the 5 letters of his first name added to XVI gives 21.
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Japan-China
The Twenty-One Demands were a set of demands which were sent to the Chinese government by the Japanese government of Okuma Shigenobu in 1915.
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Poland
The 21 Demands of MKS led to the foundation of Solidarity in Poland.
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In folklore, legends and mythology
The Mayan Calendar
December 21st 2012, according to some interpretations of the Mayan calendar was the predicted date of an apocalyptic event: ‘The planets are aligned the sun will activate, let the deluge come’.
A ghost ship, also known as a phantom ship, is a ship with no living crew aboard. It may be a ghostly vessel in folklore or fiction, such as the Flying Dutchman, or a real derelict found adrift with its crew missing or dead, like the Mary Celeste. The term is sometimes also used for ships that have been decommissioned but not yet scrapped.
There have been many examples throughout history, for example,
Undated: The Caleuche is a mythical ghost ship which, according to local folklore and Chilota mythology, sails the seas around Chiloé Island, Chile, at night.
1738 onwards: The Palatine Light, a ship who lost half her crew running aground off Rhode Island, possibly being lured there and pillaged by the locals. Said to appear every December.
1748 onwards: The Lady Lovibond is said to have been deliberately wrecked on Goodwin Sands on 13 February and to reappear off the Kent coast every fifty years.
1786 onwards: The Ghost Ship of Northumberland Strait, a burning ship seen regularly between Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
1795 onwards: The Flying Dutchman, a ship manned by a captain condemned to eternally sail the seas, has long been the principal ghost ship legend among mariners and has inspired several works.
1813 onwards: After the American schooner Young Teazer was sunk in an explosion during the War of 1812, a burning apparition known as the “Teazer Light” has been reported off Maine.
1858 onwards: The Eliza Battle, a paddle steamer that burned in 1858 on the Tombigbee River in Alabama, is purported to reappear, fully aflame, on cold and windy winter nights to foretell of impending disaster.
1878 onwards: An apparition has been reported where the HMS Eurydice sank off the Isle of Wight. Witnesses include a Royal Navy submarine in the 1930s and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, in 1998.
1872 or 1882: The Iron Mountain riverboat, according to legend, mysteriously disappeared while travelling the Mississippi River and left the barges it was towing adrift. In reality, the ship sank in 1882 near Vicksburg after running aground, and its fate was never mysterious.
1928: The København was last heard from on December 28, 1928. For two years following its disappearance sightings of a mysterious five-masted ship fitting its description were reported in the Pacific Ocean.
Historically attested
1855: HMS Resolute was discovered drifting off the coast of Baffin Island. It had been one of four vessels from Edward Belcher’s search expedition for John Franklin that had been abandoned the previous year when it was trapped in pack ice in Viscount Melville Sound. The ship drifted some 1,200 miles (1,900 km) before it was found, freed from the ice.
1872: Amazon (later renamed Mary Celeste). In 1872 the Mary Celeste, perhaps the most historically famous derelict, was found abandoned between mainland Portugal and the Azores archipelago. It was devoid of all crew, but largely intact and under sail, heading toward the Strait of Gibraltar. While Arthur Conan Doyle’s story “J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement” based on this ship added some strange phenomena to the tale (such as that the tea found in the mess hall was still hot), the fact remained that the last log entry was 11 days prior to the discovery of the ship.
1884: In 1884 the Resolven was found abandoned between Baccalieu Island and Catalina, Newfoundland and Labrador, with its lifeboat missing. Other than a broken yard, it had suffered minimal damage. A large iceberg was sighted nearby. It has been claimed that none of the seven crew members or four passengers were accustomed to northern waters and it was suggested that they panicked when the ship was damaged by ice,[9] launched the lifeboat, and swamped, though no bodies were found. Three years later, Resolven was wrecked while returning to Newfoundland from Nova Scotia with a load of lumber.
1917: Zebrina, a sailing barge, departed Falmouth, England, with a cargo of Swansea coal bound for Saint-Brieuc, France. Two days later she was discovered aground on Rozel Point, south of Cherbourg, without damage except for some disarrangement of her rigging, but with her crew missing.
1921: The Carroll A. Deering, a five-masted cargo schooner, was found stranded on a beach on Diamond Shoals, North Carolina. The ship’s final voyage had been the subject of much debate and controversy, and was investigated by six departments of the US government, largely because it was one of dozens of ships that sank or went missing within a relatively short period of time. While paranormal explanations have been advanced, the theories of mutiny or piracy are considered more likely.
1931: The Baychimo was abandoned in the Arctic Ocean when it became trapped in pack ice and was thought doomed to sink, but remained afloat and was sighted numerous times over the next 38 years without ever being salvaged.
1933: A lifeboat from the 1906 wreck of the passenger steamship SS Valencia off the southwest coast of Vancouver Island was found floating in the area in remarkably good condition 27 years after the sinking. Sailors have also reported seeing the ship itself in the area in the years following the sinking, often as an apparition that followed down the coast.
1955: The MV Joyita was discovered abandoned in the Pacific. A subsequent inquiry found the vessel was in a poor state of repair, but determined the fate of passengers and crew to be “inexplicable on the evidence submitted at the inquiry”.
1959: A ghost submarine was found floating without a crew in the Bay of Biscay off northern Spain. It was later discovered that the empty sub was being towed by another vessel and the chain had snapped.
1969: The Teignmouth Electron was found adrift and unoccupied in the Atlantic Ocean. Investigation led to the conclusion that its sole crewmember, Donald Crowhurst, had suffered a psychiatric breakdown while competing in a solo around-the-world race and committed suicide by jumping overboard.
2003: The High Aim 6 was found drifting in Australian waters, 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) east of Rowley Shoals, with its crew missing. The derelict was subsequently scuttled.
2006: The tanker Jian Seng was found off the coast of Weipa, Queensland Australia in March. Its origin or owner could not be determined, and its engines had been inoperable for some time.
2006: In August the “Bel Amica” was discovered off the coast of Sardinia. The Coast Guard crew that discovered the ship found half eaten Egyptian meals, French maps of North African seas, and a flag of Luxembourg on board.
2007: A 12-metre catamaran, the Kaz II, was discovered unmanned off the coast of Queensland, northeast Australia in April.[18] The yacht, which had left Airlie Beach on Sunday 15 April, was spotted about 80 nautical miles (150 km) off Townsville, near the outer Great Barrier Reef on the following Wednesday. When boarded on Friday, the engine was running, a laptop was running, the radio and GPS were working and a meal was set to eat, but the three-man crew were not on board. All the sails were up but one was badly shredded, while three life jackets and survival equipment, including an emergency beacon, were found on board. A search for the crew was abandoned on Sunday 22nd as it was considered unlikely that anyone could have survived for that period of time.
2008: The abandoned 50 ton Taiwanese fishing vessel Tai Ching 21 was found drifting near Kiribati on 9 November. The ship had suffered a fire several days previously, and its lifeboat and three life rafts were missing. No mayday call was received, and the ship had last been heard from on 28 October. A search of 21,000 square miles (54,000 square km) of the Pacific Ocean north of Fiji by a US Air Force C-130 Hercules and a New Zealand Air Force P-3 Orion found no trace of the Taiwanese captain or crew (18 Chinese, 6 Indonesians, and 4 Filipinos).
2012: The Ryou-Un Maru, a Japanese fishing vessel swept away by the March 2011 tsunami, was found floating adrift towards Canada after nearly a year at sea, no crew believed to be on board. The vessel was sunk on April 5, 2012 by the United States Coast Guard.
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In sports
The jersey number 21 has been retired by several North American sports teams in honor of past playing greats or other key figures:
In Major League Baseball: the Cleveland Indians, for Hall of Famer Bob Lemon, the Milwaukee Braves, for Hall of Famer Warren Spahn (the number continues to be honored by the team in its current home of Atlanta); the Pittsburgh Pirates, for Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente (following his death in a plane crash while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua);
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In the NBA: the Atlanta Hawks, for Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins; the Boston Celtics, for Hall of Famer Bill Sharman; the Detroit Pistons, for Hall of Famer Dave Bing; the Sacramento Kings, for Vlade Divac; the Minnesota Timberwolves have not retired the number, but have not issued it since Kevin Garnett was traded from the team in 2007.
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In the NHL: the Chicago Blackhawks, for Hall of Famer Stan Mikita; the Colorado Avalanche, for likely future Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg; the Pittsburgh Penguins, for Michel Brière; the Toronto Maple Leafs have a policy of not retiring numbers unless the player honored either died or suffered a career-ending incident while a member of the team. Other players whose numbers would otherwise be retired instead have their numbers enshrined by the team as “Honored Numbers”, which remain in circulation for future players. The number 21 is currently honored for Hall of Famer Börje Salming.
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No NFL team has retired the number 21.
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In basketball: 21 is a variation of street basketball, in which each player, of which there can be any number, plays for himself only (i.e. not part of a team); the name comes from the requisite number of baskets.
In 3×3, a formalized version of three-on-three half-court basketball, the game ends by rule once either team has scored 21 points in regulation. Scoring is significantly different from traditional basketball rules, with free throws and baskets made from inside the three-point arc worth 1 point, and baskets made from outside the arc worth 2 points.
In badminton, and table tennis (before 2001), 21 points are required to win a game.
Eyeshield 21 is a Japanese anime about football.
In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series the number 21 has long been the car number for Wood Brothers Racing
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In books, music, tv and movies
21 is the sophomore album from British singer-songwriter Adele, recently acclaimed for her title song for the Bond movie Skyfall.
Century 21 Television (producers of Sylvia and Gerry Anderson Supermarionation shows like Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons).
Cinema 21 is an independently-owned movie theatre in Portland, Oregon featuring art house films. Cinema 21,616 NW 21st Avenue,Portland, Oregon 97209 USA
Cinema 21, is also the name of the largest cinema chain in Indonesia, established in the entertainment industry in 1987.
“21” is the fact-based story about six MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings.
Wedding In Las Vegas is a docu-drama about a group of students who, using a wedding as a cover story, also defeat the casino’s Blackjack tables using card counting techniques.
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In militaria
Mig-21
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed “balalaika”, from the aircraft’s planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or olówek (English: pencil) by Polish pilots due to the shape of its fuselage.
Early versions are considered second-generation jet fighters, while later versions are considered to be third-generation jet fighters.
Some 50 countries over four continents have flown the MiG-21, and it still serves many nations a half-century after its maiden flight. The fighter made aviation records. At least by name, it is the most-produced supersonic jet aircraft in aviation history and the most-produced combat aircraft since the Korean War, and it had the longest production run of a combat aircraft (1959 to 1985 over all variants).
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IAI Kfir F-21
The Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir F-21 is an Israeli-built all-weather, multirole combat aircraft based on a modified French Dassault Mirage 5 airframe, with Israeli avionics and an Israeli-made version of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine.
The Kfir entered service with the IAF in 1975, the first units being assigned to the 101st “First Fighter” Squadron. Over the following years, several other squadrons were also equipped with the new aircraft. The role of the Kfir as the IAF’s primary air superiority asset was short-lived, as the first F-15 Eagle fighters from the United States were delivered to Israel in 1976.
The Kfir’s first recorded combat action took place on November 9, 1977, during an Israeli air strike on a training camp at Tel Azia, in Lebanon. The only air victory claimed by a Kfir during its service with the IAF occurred on June 27, 1979 when a Kfir C.2 shot down a Syrian MiG-21.
Twenty-five modified Kfir C.1s were leased to the US Navy and the US Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989, to act as adversary aircraft in dissimilar air combat training (DACT). These aircraft, designated F-21A Kfir, had narrow-span canard foreplanes and a single small rectangular strake on either side of the nose which considerably improved the aircraft’s maneuverability and handling at low speeds.
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Blücher 21 cm/45 (8.27″) SK L/45
Used afloat only on the Armored Cruiser Blücher which was sunk at the World War I battle of Dogger Bank. After her sinking, four reserve guns were given to the German Army.
During World War II these guns were used as coastal artillery. They were then supplied with a better ballistically shaped shell and with a larger propellant charge for increased range.
Constructed of a tube, two layers of hoops and a jacket. Used the Krupp horizontal sliding wedge breech block. About 16 guns were made.
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21-K
The 45 mm anti-aircraft gun (21-K) was a Soviet design adapted from the 45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 (53-K). This was a copy of a 3.7 cm (1.5 in) German weapon designed by Rheinmetall that was sold to the Soviets before Hitler came to power in 1933 that had been enlarged to 45 mm (1.8 in) in increase its penetrating power.
It was used by the Soviet Navy to equip almost all of their ships from 1934 as its primary light anti-aircraft gun until replaced by the fully automatic 37 mm 70-K gun from 1942 to 1943.
It was used in World War II and during the Cold War as the Soviets exported their World War II-era ships to their friends and allies.
However it was not very effective as its slow rate of fire and lack of a time fuze required a direct hit to damage targets.
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GAU-21 (M3M)
The M3M was designated by the U.S. Navy as the GAU-21 in 2004 and is currently used by all services within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
An evolution of the M3 .50-caliber heavy machine gun, it produces a blistering 1,100 rounds per minute cyclic rate of fire through the use of open-bolt operation and a dual recoil buffer system. Operating independent of either electrical or hydraulic power sources, the M3M/GAU-21’s unique soft mount system enhances weapon accuracy and minimizes the firing vibration transmitted to the airframe.
FN Herstal has been awarded a solesource U.S. Navy contract to produce the M3M .50 caliber machine guns under the Gun, Aircraft, Unit-21 (GAU-21) designation for Navy and Marine Corps rotary-wing assault aircraft.
The FN GAU-21 (M3M) is a .50 caliber (12.7x99mm) single barrel rapid-fire machine gun suitable for rotary-wing aircraft applications providing defensive firepower ranging out to nearly 2000 meters.
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BRNO 21
BRNO is neither German nor Austrian (although it was once located in the Austro-Hungarian Empire), but they produced the BRNO model designation 21 and 22 as post-War sporting rifles.
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GLOCK 21
Almpst an American icon, the Glock 21 is a .45 caliber pistol. Countless law enforcement units swear by this superior pistol for more than just its above-average magazine capacity of 13 rounds.
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SIG SAUER® P210®
The SIG SAUER® P210®, the timeless pistol of the Swiss Army, is once again in production by SIG SAUER GmbH in Germany. This historic gun features the same precision and reliability as its ancestors, but also offers a number of modern improvements.
The return of the SIG SAUER P210 Legend will now ensure that many more shooters will be able to enjoy one of the world’s most accurate and legendary firearms.
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21st Century Commander
Internally, the 21st Century Commander is classic Colt. The stainless 4.25-inch barrel is rifled in the standard 1:16-inch left-hand twist. Each 21st Century Commander is serialized with a unique number that contains the letters “WC” for Wiley Clapp.
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21 Series Beretta
The 21 Series Beretta pocket pistol (Bobcat) has the same dedication to advanced design, uncompromising quality and strict quality control that make the 92F, Cougar and Cheetah such international standouts.
It has a user-friendly design, exclusive tip-up barrel allowing the user to easily load a round directly into the chamber or assisting in the safe clearing of the pistol by allowing a live round to be easily removed from the chamber and the bore quickly checked. Jamming and stovepiping problems are virtually eliminated by the open slide design shared by all small frame Berettas.
Chambered for .22LR or .25ACP (6.35 mm), this compact, rugged small frame measures just 4.9 inches (125 mm) overall and weighs only 11.5 ounces (325 grams). It features a lightweight, alloy frame, blued steel slide, tip-up barrel, and double/single action. The Bobcat comes with a 7-round magazine for .22LR ammunition, or an 8 round magazine for .25 (6.35 mm)caliber cartridges.
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Twenty-one Gun Salute
Legend has it that Twenty-one guns are fired in U.S. national military salutes because the digits in 1776 add up to 21. However, despite the fact that the year 1776 is deeply significant to Americans and the total of its digits does add up to 21, the legend is untrue because the custom of the 21-gun salute antedates the American Revolution by at least several decades.
Also interesting is the fact that, although we now view weaponry salutes as honors proudly bestowed by fighting men upon those of high rank or great achievement, saluting in days long ago was an act of submission; a tangible way of demonstrating that the one performing the action was voluntarily placing himself in the power of the one being saluted. Guns would be emptied a ritual number of times, or sails would be lowered, or spears would be pointed towards the ground, the significance being that those carrying out the act were saying “I yield to your authority, and as proof I’ve just rendered my weapon incapable of being used against you.”
Over time the practice evolved into a custom honorary and ceremonial as well as practical. Today’s salute is far more a mark of respect than an act of submission.
Cannons became part of weaponry salutes in the 14th century. A just-emptied cannon was a useless piece of ordnance and so made a fine visible display of the lack of hostile intent. Warships took to firing honorary seven-gun salutes, with that number likely chosen for its astrological and biblical significance. Because those crewing cannons on land had access to far greater supplies of powder, they were able to fire three guns (a number chosen for its mystical significance) for every shot fired afloat, making the honorary salute by shore batteries 21 guns.
Eventually, an understanding was reached that the international salute should be established as 21 guns.
Today, the national salute of 21 guns is fired in honor of a national flag, the sovereign or chief of state of a foreign nation, a member of a reigning royal family, and the President, ex-President, and President-elect of the United States. It is also fired at noon of the day of the funeral of a President, ex-President, or President-elect; Washington’s Birthday; Presidents’ Day; and the Fourth of July. On Memorial Day, a salute of 21 minute guns (i.e., guns discharged at one-minute intervals) is fired at noon while the flag is flown at half staff.
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In other stuff
We are currently living in the 21st Century, which spans the years from 2001 to 2100;
There are 21 letters in the Italian alphabet;
21 is the number representing the maturity and the responsibility for an individual;
In most USA states 21 is the drinking age;
In some countries 21 is the voting age;
Cities on latitude 21 North include: Aguascalientes, Cancún, and León, in Mexico; Jeddah, and Mecca in Saudi Arabia; Honolulu, Hawaii; Nagpur, Maharashtra, India; and Hanoi, Vietnam.
Cities on latitude 21 South include: Francistown, Botswana; and Nuku’Alofa, Tonga.
Cities on longitude 21 West include: Reykjavík, Iceland.
Cities on longitude 21 East include: Warsaw, Poland; Pristina, Kosovo; and Skopje, Macedonia.21 is a card game, also called vingt-et-un (French for “twenty-one”), pontoon, or blackjack;
Twenty One, was the name of a TV quiz show that ran from 1956 to 1958, most remembered for the scandal that the wins were fixed – it was remade in 2000;
There are 21 spots on a standard cubical (six-sided) die (1+2+3+4+5+6);
There are 21 trump cards of the tarot deck if one does not consider The Fool to be a proper trump card;
In Israel, the number is associated with the profile 21 (the military profile designation granting an exemption from the military service);
21 grams is the weight of the soul, according to research by Duncan MacDougall;
21 is the designation of a US Highway connecting Wytheville, Virginia and Beaufort, South Carolina, a truncation of a route that once connected Cleveland, Ohio and Jacksonville, Florida, among other highways past and present;
21 is the number of the French department Côte-d’Or;
In France XXI is a journal devoted to long-form journalism;
’21’ is a landmark New York restaurant perfectly positioned in midtown Manhattan;
Forever 21 is an American chain of clothing retailers with branches in major cities in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East that offers trendy clothing and accessories for young women, men, and girls at low, affordable prices.
The factoid number for this Friday is forty. As usual there is more associated with it than you might think. Whatever your interest you will probably find something in here that you didn’t know about the number forty.
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The Number Forty 40
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In religion
40 is probably the most frequently used number in the Bible and corresponds to many major events. For example,
During the great flood it rained for forty days and forty nights [Genesis 7:4, 12, 17,8:6].
Isaac was forty years of age when he married Rebekah [Genesis 25:20].
Moses’ life is divided into three 40-year segments, separated by his fleeing from Egypt, and his return to lead his people out.
Moses spent three consecutive periods of “forty days and forty nights” on Mount Sinai; during the forty days during which he received the Law of the Sinai Covenant [Exodus 24:18], the children of Israel were tested [Exodus 32:1].
The Hebrew people lived in the Sinai desert for “forty years”. This period of years represents the time it takes for a new generation to arise.
Forty days after his birth a male child of Israel was dedicated to God at the Sanctuary [Leviticus 12:1-4].
The Israelite spies reconnoitered the land of Canaan for forty days [Numbers 13:25]; and Caleb was forty years of age when Moses sent him to reconnoiter Canaan [Joshua 14:7].
There were forty year intervals of peace in the age of the Judges (Judges 3:11; 5:31; 8:28)
There were forty years of war between Israel and the Philistines.
Several Jewish leaders and kings are said to have ruled for “forty years”, that is, a generation. (Examples: Eli, Saul, David, Solomon.)
Goliath challenged the Israelites twice a day for forty days before David defeated him.
40 lashes is one of the punishments meted out by the Sanhedrin, though in actual practice only 39 lashes were administered.
Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days before His temptation [Matthew 4:2; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2].
Jesus taught His disciples for forty days after the Resurrection. On the fortieth day He ascended to the Father [Acts 1:3].
In modern Christian practice, Lent consists of the 40 days preceding Easter. In much of Western Christianity, Sundays are excluded from the count; in Eastern Christianity, Sundays are included.
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In Islamic belief Muhammad was forty years old when he first received the revelation delivered by the archangel Gabriel.
Masih ad-Dajjal roams around the Earth in forty days, a period of time that can be as many as forty months, forty years, and so on.
The Quran says that a person is only fully grown when they reach the age of 40.
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Some Russians believe that ghosts of the dead linger at the site of their death for forty days.
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In Hinduism, some popular religious prayers consist of forty shlokas or dohas (couplets, stanzas). The most common being the Hanuman Chalisa (chaalis is the Hindi term for 40).
In Hindu system some of the popular fasting period consist 40 days and is called the period One ‘Mandl kal’ Kal means a period and Mandal kal means a period of 40 days. For example the devotees of ‘Swami Ayyappa’, the name of a Hindu God very popular in Kerala, India ( Sabarimala Swami Ayyappan ) strictly observed forty days fasting and visit ( Only male devotees are permitted to enter into the God’s Temple) with their holy submittance or offerings on 41st or a convenient day after a minimum 40 days practice of fasting. The offering is called ‘Kanikka’.
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In science
Forty is the atomic number of zirconium.
Negative forty is the unique temperature at which the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales correspond; that is, -40°F=-40°C. It is referred to as either “minus forty” or “forty below”.
Negative forty -40°F=-40°C
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In space
The planet Venus forms a pentagram in the night sky every eight years with it returning to its original point every 40 years with a 40 day regression (some scholars believe that this ancient information was the basis for the number 40 becoming sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims).
planet Venus
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Messier object M40, is a magnitude 9.0 double star in the constellation Ursa Major
Messier Object M40
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STS-40
Although designated STS-40, this was in fact the 41st flight of the Space Shuttle and the 11th flight of Columbia. Its mission was to conduct the Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS-1) experiments, the first spacelab dedicated to life sciences research. This included experiments that explored how the heart, blood vessels, lungs, kidneys and hormone-secreting glands respond to microgravity, the causes of space sickness and changes in muscles, bones and cells during the microgravity environment of space flight and in the readjustment to gravity upon returning to Earth.
Launch took place on June 5, 1991, 9:24:51 a.m. EDT. It was originally set for May 22,1991, but postponed less than 48 hours before launch when it became known that a leaking liquid hydrogen transducer in orbiter main propulsion system which was removed and replaced during a leak testing in 1990, had failed an analysis by vendor. Engineers feared that one or more of the nine liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen transducer protruding into fuel and oxidizer lines could break off and be ingested by the engine turbopumps, causing engine failure.
In addition, one of orbiter five general purpose computers failed completely, along with one of the multiplexer demultiplexers that control orbiter hydraulics ordinance and orbiter maneuvering system / reaction control system functions in aft compartment.
New general purpose computer and multiplexer demultiplexer were installed and tested. One liquid hydrogen and two liquid oxygen transducers were replaced upstream in propellant flow system near 17-inch disconnect area, which is protected by internal screen. Three liquid oxygen transducers replaced at engine manifold area, while three liquid hydrogen transducers here were removed and openings plugged. Launch reset for 8 a.m. EDT, June 1, but postponed again after several attempts to calibrate inertial measurement unit 2 failed. Unit was replaced and retested, and launch was rescheduled for June 5. Launch Weight: 251,970 lbs.
The Commander STS-40 was Marine Corps Col. Bryan D. O’Connor. Other crew, Air Force Lt. Col. Sidney M. Gutierrez (Pilot), James P. Bagian, M.D.; Tamara E. Jernigan, Ph.D.; and Margaret Rhea Seddon, M.D. The payload specialists, Francis Andrew Gaffney, M.D., and Millie Hughes-Fulford, Ph.D.
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In politics
South Dakota ranks 16th in size among the 50 states. It was the 40th state to join the Union in 1889. South Dakota encompasses 77,123 square miles, averaging 10 people per square mile.
South Dakota State flag
Ronald Reagan, former actor and Governor of California (1967-75) was the fortieth President of the United States of America, from January 20, 1981 to January 20, 1989. His Vice President was George H. W. Bush.
Ronald Reagan 40th President of the United States of America
Reagan’s Presidency was notable for at least two incidents.
On March 30, 1981, only 69 days into the new administration, Reagan, his press secretary James Brady, Washington police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy were struck by gunfire from would-be assassin John Hinckley, Jr. outside the Washington Hilton Hotel. Although “close to death” during surgery, Reagan recovered and was released from the hospital on April 11, becoming the first serving U.S. President to survive being shot in an assassination attempt. The attempt had great influence on Reagan’s popularity; polls indicated his approval rating to be around 73%. Reagan believed that God had spared his life so that he might go on to fulfill a greater purpose.
A couple of videos, the first rather long but interesting in that it shows the live story of the assassination attempt developing, and the second President Reagan recounting the assassination attempt from his personal perspective.
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Another controversial incident involving President Reagan happened in summer of 1981 when PATCO, the union of federal air traffic controllers, went on strike, violating a federal law prohibiting government unions from striking. Reagan declared the situation an emergency as described in the 1947 Taft–Hartley Act, and stated that if the air traffic controllers “do not report for work within 48 hours, they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated”. They did not return and on August 5, Reagan fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored his order, and used supervisors and military controllers to handle the nation’s commercial air traffic until new controllers could be hired and trained. As a leading reference work on public administration concluded, “The firing of PATCO employees not only demonstrated a clear resolve by the president to take control of the bureaucracy, but it also sent a clear message to the private sector that unions no longer needed to be feared.”
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In sport
In football (soccer), forty is generally considered to be the number of points that a Premier League team (or, by extension, a team in any 20-team league with a standard home-and-away season) needs to avoid relegation.
In baseball, each team in Major League Baseball is allowed to have 40 players under major-league contracts at any given time (not including players on the 60-day disabled list). From September 1 to the end of the regular season, teams are allowed to expand their game-day rosters to include the entire 40-man roster.
In tennis, the number 40 represents the third point gained in a game. A score of 40-40 (three points each) is called “deuce”, at which time a player must score two consecutive points to win the game.
Beginning with the 2013 season, forty cars will run each race in NASCAR’s second-level Nationwide Series.
The jersey number 40 has been retired by several North American sports teams in honor of past playing greats or other key figures:
In Major League Baseball: the Houston Astros, for Don Wilson; the Pittsburgh Pirates, for Danny Murtaugh, most noted as the team’s longtime manager.
In the NBA: the Denver Nuggets, for Byron Beck; the Detroit Pistons, for Bill Laimbeer.
Byron Beck
In the NFL: the Arizona Cardinals, for Pat Tillman; the Chicago Bears, for Hall of Famer Gale Sayers; the New England Patriots, for Hall of Famer Mike Haynes; the New York Giants, for Joe Morrison; the Philadelphia Eagles, for Tom Brookshier.
Gale Sayers
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In militaria
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
Manufactured by Curtiss-Wright Corporation of Buffalo, New York and designed by Donovan Berlin, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk’s first flight was on 14 October 1938. Over 13,700 were built and during its twenty year life it was used by the United States Army Air Forces, the Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, and many others. A single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft, it was used extensively by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in front line service until the end of the war.
The British Commonwealth and Soviet air forces used the name Tomahawk for models equivalent to the P-40B and P-40C, and the name Kittyhawk for models equivalent to the P-40D and all later variants.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk USAF
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PPD40
The PPD (Pistolet-Pulemyot Degtyarova) was developed by famous Russian small arms designer Fedor Degtyarov. It was formally adopted by the Red Army in 1935 and entered limited production as the PPD-34. Made in small numbers, it was mostly relegated for NKVD use, mostly for border guards. Slightly modified in 1938, it was then produced until 1939 in PPD-34/38 variation, with newly developed 71 rounds drum with long neck.
After the Winter War experience (1940 war between USSR and Finland), new version of PPD has been rapidly developed, with the most visible change being the two-part stock, cut to accept new pattern of drums, which had no neck. This became the PPD-40.
After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic Warin 1941, it was soon been discovered that the PPD-40 is less than ideal for wartime production, so it was quickly replaced by the more efficient and inexpensive PPSh-41, which appeared in great numbers and was widely used by Red Army.
Pistolet-Pulemyot Degtyarova PPD40
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MP40
One of the most famous submachine gun designs in history, the M.P. 38 submachine gun started its life under requirements from German Heereswaffenamt (HWA, Army Weapons Office), which saw the need for a compact submachine gun, suitable for use by armored vehicles crews and paratroopers.
German arms-making company Erfurter Maschinenfabrik Gmbh, better known under its trade name Erma, began the development of a new weapon under HWA specifications. It was manufactured for just 2 years, when it was replaced in production by externally similar, but less expensive MP-40, which used more stamped parts instead of machined parts, found in MP-38.
There also were minor variations in design of MP-38, such as shape of cocking handle etc. MP-40 was also produced in a number of variations, which differed in shape of certain parts; also, toward the end of the war, several production shortcuts were introduced to save the costs of manufacturing. probably the most interesting variation of the MP-40 were the MP-40-II and MP-40-II. These guns featured dual magazine housings which hold two magazines in a laterally sliding bracket. This increase the total ammunition capacity “in the gun” to 64 rounds, in a desperate attempt to catch up with 71-round magazine capacity of Soviet PPSh-41. The later variant, MP-40-II, was made in limited numbers, but turned out to be a failure – sliding dual-magazine housing was a constant source of jams and failures, and was very sensitive to dirt and fouling.
Nevertheless, the MP-40 submachine guns were of good design, and set the pattern for so called “second generation” of submachine guns (“first generation” being represented by the wood-stocked and carefully machined MP-18, MP-28 and the like). The second generation weapons usually were of compact design, and made using mostly steel stampings and pressings, or castings.
Many MP-40 that survived the WW2, continued to serve up until late 1970s or early 1980s, in few European armies such as Austrian or Norwegian.
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Taurus MP40
During the 1990s Taurus replaced in production its MT-12A submachine gun (licensed copy of the Beretta PM-12) with another foreign design, this time purchased from Chile.
Originally known as the FAMAE SAF, in Brazil it is made in a slightly modified form as the Taurus MT-9 (in 9mm Luger) and MT-40 (in .40SW, especially for the Brazilian police forces that favor this caliber). In this case, the MT index stands for Metralhadora Taurus – Taurus Submachine gun, and the digits denote a caliber.
Taurus also makes an interesting offshoot of the MT-40, the CT-40 semi-automatic carbine, which is also intended for police and security use but is restricted to semi-automatic fire and has somewhat longer barrel.
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SVT-40
The SVT-38 (Samozaryadnaya Vintovka Tokareva – Tokarev Self-loading rifle) was originally adopted in the 1938 after more than 20 years of the research and development, done by famous Russian arms designer Fedor Tokarev.
This rifle was made in relatively large numbers (more than 1 million made prior to 1945), and was originally issued as a standard infantry rifle, replacing the obsolete Mosin-Nagant M1891/30 bolt action rifles. A few SVT-40 were also manufactured in the sniper variant, (only about 50 000) equipped with scope mounts and telescopic sights, but accuracy was not sufficient.
The SVT-40 had a somewhat controversial reputation. It was highly regarded by the enemies (Finns and Germans) and it was a very sought-after war trophy, re-issued to both German and Finnish troops. On the other hand, it was often considered unreliable and over-complicated by the Soviet troops (when comparing with old Mosin-Nagant rifles), but it was more to the poor training and maintenance, than to the rifle itself. Some better trained and educated Soviet troops, such as Sea Infantry (Marines, which always were some kind of elite in the Soviet army) used the SVT-40 with great deal of success.
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Husqvarna M/40
The ‘Luger-like’ L-35 pistol was developed by the Finnish designer Aimo Lahti and manufactured by Finnish company VKT from 1935 until 1985 or so. It was adopted as a standard sidearm for Finnish army in 1935.
In 1940, Sweden purchased a license for Lahti pistol, simplified it and began production as a Husqvarna M/40 pistol. Due to simplification and poor quality of steel used in M/40, these guns tended to crack when fired 9mm “submachinegun” ammunition, and also M/40 were less reliable than original L-35s, so in the 1980s almost all M/40s were recalled from military service and replaced by older m/07 pistol (licensed Browning M1903 pistols) as an emergency feature.
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HK-UMP40
The UMP (Universal Machinen-Pistole = Universal Submachine Gun) had been developed by the Heckler & Koch company of Germany in the mid- to late- 1990s and first appeared on the markets in 1999. The key idea behind the UMP was to create a lightweight and powerful submachine gun, that was also cheaper than one of the H&K’s flagships, the MP-5. UMP, being targeted primary for USA law enforcement market, first appeared in .45ACP and .40SW chamberings, and later – in 9mm.
The UMP is a blowback-operated select-fire submachine gun, being fired from the closed bolt. The receiver is made from the polymer, the controls are fully ambidextrous. UMP can be fired in full-auto, in single shots, and in 2 or 3 round bursts (optional). UMP also has bolt hold-open device, which traps the bolt in the open position when the last round from magazine had been fired. UMP has side-folding buttstock and two set of picatinny rails – one on the top of the receiver, and the other – on the forend. These rails can accept wide variety of sighting and other equipment, such as red-dot sights, laser pointers, tactical grips and flashlights. The barrel has quick mount for snap-on silencer.
Heckler & Koch Universal Machinen-Pistole
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In books, music and movies
Forty Shades of Green is a visual term for rural Ireland, Johnny Cash popularised it with his 1961 song of the name.
“40” is a 1983 song by U2 from their album War
“40′” is the title of a song by Franz Ferdinand
The American-Japanese rock band Crush 40 from Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog video game series with Hardline vocalist Johnny Gioeli and guitarist Jun Senoue
Canadian hip-hop producer Noah Shebib is known as “40”.
A well known radio program is the American Top 40
Rick Dees hosts a Weekly Top 40 radio program
The best known story from a Thousand and One Nights is Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves which has been made in movie and cartoon versions
Movies with ’40’ in their titles include
“40 Carats”, about a forty year old woman who was vacationing in Greece
“40 Days and Nights”, a modern take on a Noah’s Ark tale
“The 40 Year Old Virgin”, a comedy about, well, a 40 year old virgin
“This is 40”, a sequel to the 2007 movie ‘Knocked Up’ about at the lives of characters Pete and Debbie a few years on.
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Other stuff
The expression “forty winks”, meaning a short sleep
There is the famous Saying “Life begins at forty”
Forty years of marriage is a ruby wedding anniversary
The international direct dial phone code for Romania is 40
The number of weeks for an average term of pregnancy, counting from the woman’s last menstrual period is forty.
There is an Arabic proverb that says, ‘To understand a people, you must live among them for 40 days.’
A regular work week in some western countries consists of forty hours.
There are forty spaces in a standard Monopoly game board
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And finally,
Last, but definitely not least, perhaps one of the greatest ever inventions also carries the ’40’ tag. It is WD-40.
WD-40 is the trademark name of a penetrating oil and water-displacing spray, developed in 1953 by Norm Larsen, founder of the Rocket Chemical Company, in San Diego, California.
The term ‘WD-40’, is an abbreviation of the phrase “Water Displacement, 40th formula”.
Larsen was attempting to create a formula to prevent corrosion in nuclear missiles, by displacing the standing water that causes it. He claims he arrived at a successful formula, which is primarily composed of various hydrocarbons, on his 40th attempt.
WD-40 was first used by Convair to protect the outer skin, and more importantly, the paper thin “balloon tanks” of the Atlas missile from rust and corrosion.
WD-40 first became commercially available on store shelves in San Diego in 1958
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