First Day Of September, First Quiz Of September

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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First day of September 2014 and because it’s a Monday that means the first Quiz of September 2014.

Get your thinking caps on, you’ll probably need them for some of these questuons, although there some easy one in there too. Easy if you know the answers, that is!

As usual if you do get stuck you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

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Q.  1:  Where are human triceps muscles to be found?

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Q.  2:  What aviation first was performed by Ellen Church in 1930?

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Q.  3:  ‘Captain John Joseph Yossarian’ is the central figure of which 1961 novel?

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Q.  4:  Which artistic movement was founded by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso?

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Q.  5:  Which former country was originally called ‘The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes’?

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Q.  6:  In what unit do barometers and weather maps usually display atmospheric pressure?

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Q.  7:  Which famous horror novel is subtitled ‘The Modern Prometheus’?

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Q.  8:  Who led the Luftwaffe in the Second World War?

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Q.  9:  What piece of computer equipment was invented by Douglas Engelbart of Stanford Research Institute in 1963?

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Q. 10:  Which acid is found in car batteries?

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Q. 11:  “Egghead weds hourglass” was the headline when playwright Arthur Miller married which actress?

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Q. 12:  Edmund Barton in 1901 was the first prime minister of where?

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Q. 13:  The ‘Battle of Balaclava’ is a famous battle in which war?

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Q. 14:  Fulgencio Batista was overthrown as the leader of which country on January 1 1959?

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Q. 15:  The Canary Islands were named after which animal?

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Q. 16:  What was Buzz Aldrin’s mother’s maiden name?

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Q. 17:  Which ancient battle gave its name to an athletics race?

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Q. 18:  What is a four letter word ending in ‘k’ that means intercourse?

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Q. 19:  In which ship did Captain James Cook sail on his first voyage of exploration between 1768 and 1771?

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Q. 20:  Who was The Quiet Man?

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ANSWERS

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Q.  1:  Where are human triceps muscles to be found?

A.  1:  At the back of the upper arm

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Q.  2:  What aviation first was performed by Ellen Church in 1930?

A.  2:  She was the first air hostess –  or female flight attendant as they now like to be referred to.

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Q.  3:  ‘Captain John Joseph Yossarian’ is the central figure of which 1961 novel?

A.  3:  Catch 22.

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Q.  4:  Which artistic movement was founded by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso?

A.  4:  Cubism.

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Q.  5:  Which former country was originally called ‘The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes’?

A.  5:  Yugoslavia.

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Q.  6:  In what unit do barometers and weather maps usually display atmospheric pressure?

A.  6:  Millibars.

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Q.  7:  Which famous horror novel is subtitled ‘The Modern Prometheus’?

A.  7:  Frankenstein.

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Q.  8:  Who led the Luftwaffe in the Second World War?

A.  8:  Hermann Goering.

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Q.  9:  What piece of computer equipment was invented by Douglas Engelbart of Stanford Research Institute in 1963?

A.  9:  The Mouse.

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Q. 10:  Which acid is found in car batteries?

A. 10:  Sulphuric.

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Q. 11:  “Egghead weds hourglass” was the headline when playwright Arthur Miller married which actress?

A. 11:  Marilyn Monroe.

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Q. 12:  Edmund Barton in 1901 was the first prime minister of where?

A. 12:  Australia.

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Q. 13:  The ‘Battle of Balaclava’ is a famous battle in which war?

A. 13:  The Crimean.

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Q. 14:  Fulgencio Batista was overthrown as the leader of which country on January 1 1959?

A. 14:  Cuba.

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Q. 15:  The Canary Islands were named after which animal?

A. 15:  Dogs.

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Q. 16:  What was Buzz Aldrin’s mother’s maiden name?

A. 16:  It was ‘Moon’.

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Q. 17:  Which ancient battle gave its name to an athletics race?

A. 17:  Marathon.

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Q. 18:  What is a four letter word ending in ‘k’ that means intercourse?

A. 18:  Talk. (Well, really, you should be ashamed of yourself.)

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Q. 19:  In which ship did Captain James Cook sail on his first voyage of exploration between 1768 and 1771?

A. 19:  The Endeavour

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Q. 20:  Who was The Quiet Man?

A. 20:  John Wayne, playing American/Irish ex-prizefighter Sean Thornton. Here he is being not so quiet in the movie…

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These Quizzes Might Not Quite Be Legend, But Today One Of The Questions Is!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Yes indeed, today one of the questions is legend.

So get your thinking caps on and have a go.

And remember if you get stuck you can find all the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

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Q.  1: George Washington was the first President of the United States of America, who was the second?

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Q.  2:  Barbie’s friend Ken has a last name, what is it?

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Q.  3:  Most of us have played the board game “Monopoly”, but can you name the six tokens available to the players? (And yes, you get a point for each correct answer.)

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Q.  4:  Which capital city is also the name of a very hot spice used in the kitchen?

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Q.  5:  American writer Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel called “I Am Legend” was adapted for a movie of the same name in 2007 starring Will Smith. But this was the third adaptation of the novel, what were the first two and what were the names of the actors in the starring roles? (A point for the name of each movie and further points if you can name the starring actors.)

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Q.  6:  The world was declared safe from which virus in 1979, after it had killed more than one billion people?

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Q.  7:  What is the second highest mountain in the world?

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Q.  8:  Which famous World War II general, who just before retreating from the Philippines in 1942 said, “We shall return”?

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Q.  9:  Which Colombian city was notorious for being the center of the cocaine smuggling business, the drug cartel responsible even taking the name?

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Q. 10:  Which island did Turkish troops invade in 1974?

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Q. 11:  The 25th President of the USA had the highest peak in North America named after him, what was his name?

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Q. 12:  Who was the British actress who starred in the epic movie “Gone With The Wind” and what part did she play? (A point for each correct answer.)

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Q. 13:  What was the name of the national airline of Belgium that operated from 1923 until bankruptcy forced its cessation in 2001?

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Q. 14:  Much in the news currently, what is the capital city of Ukraine?

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Q. 15:  Josip Broz led the Communist partisans to victory against foreign occupation forces in Yugoslavia during the Second World War. By what name was he later better known?

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Q. 16:  What was the name of the seafaring people based in Scandinavia, who raided, traded, explored, and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia, and the North Atlantic islands, from the late 8th to the mid-11th centuries?

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Q. 17:  What is the name of the Japanese delicacy consisting of very fresh raw meat or fish sliced into thin pieces?

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Q. 18:  Which Russian word meaning “Speaking Aloud” was a policy of Mikhail Gorbachev in order to liberalize various aspects of Soviet life?

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Q. 19:  Who was the South African surgeon who carried out the first heart transplant operation?

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Q. 20:  Which famous singer songwriter and guitarist from the 1950s had his most famous hit, and only number one recording, in the 1970s with his ding-a-ling?

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ANSWERS

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Q.  1: George Washington was the first President of the United States of America, who was the second?

A.  1:  John Adams.

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Q.  2:  Barbie’s friend Ken has a last name, what is it?

A.  2:  It’s Carson, the little dude’s full name is Ken Carson!

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Q.  3:  Most of us have played the board game “Monopoly”, but can you name the six tokens available to the players? (And yes, you get a point for each correct answer.)

A.  3:  The Monopoly tokens are a Battleship, a Boot, a Dog, a Flat Iron, a Racing Car, and a Top Hat.

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Q.  4:  Which capital city is also the name of a very hot spice used in the kitchen?

A.  4:  Cayenne (French Guyana).

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Q.  5:  American writer Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel called “I Am Legend” was adapted for a movie of the same name in 2007 starring Will Smith. But this was the third adaptation of the novel, what were the first two and what were the names of the actors in the starring roles? (A point for the name of each movie and further points if you can name the starring actors.)

A.  5:  The first big screen adaptation of the novel was “The Last Man on Earth” (1964) which starred Vincent Price, and the second adaptation was “The Omega Man” (1971) starring Charlton Heston.

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Q.  6:  The world was declared safe from which virus in 1979, after it had killed more than one billion people?

A.  6:  Smallpox.

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Q.  7:  What is the second highest mountain in the world?

A.  7:  Located Pakistan, “K2” (also known as Chhogori/Qogir, Ketu/Kechu, and Mount Godwin-Austen) is the second-highest mountain in the world with a peak elevation of 6,811 meters (28,251 feet).

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Q.  8:  Which famous World War II general, who just before retreating from the Philippines in 1942 said, “We shall return”?

A.  8:  General Douglas MacArthur.

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Q.  9:  Which Colombian city was notorious for being the center of the cocaine smuggling business, the drug cartel responsible even taking the name?

A.  9:  Medellin, now thankfully a much more peaceful place.

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Q. 10:  Which island did Turkish troops invade in 1974?

A. 10:  Cyprus.

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Q. 11:  The 25th President of the USA had the highest peak in North America named after him, what was his name?

A. 11:  William McKinley.

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Q. 12:  Who was the British actress who starred in the epic movie “Gone With The Wind” and what part did she play? (A point for each correct answer.)

A. 12:  Vivien Leigh, who played Scarlett O’Hara.

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Q. 13:  What was the name of the national airline of Belgium that operated from 1923 until bankruptcy forced its cessation in 2001?

A. 13:  Best known internationally by the acronym Sabena (SABENA), which is the answer I’m looking for, it was The Societé Anonyme Belge d’Exploitation de la Navigation Aérienne, or Belgian Corporation for Air Navigation Services.

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Q. 14:  Much in the news currently, what is the capital city of Ukraine?

A. 14:  Kiev.

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Q. 15:  Josip Broz led the Communist partisans to victory against foreign occupation forces in Yugoslavia during the Second World War. By what name was he later better known?

A. 15:  President Tito.

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Q. 16:  What was the name of the seafaring people based in Scandinavia, who raided, traded, explored, and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia, and the North Atlantic islands, from the late 8th to the mid-11th centuries?

A. 16:  They were called Vikings or Norsemen, take a point if you gave either answer.

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Q. 17:  What is the name of the Japanese delicacy consisting of very fresh raw meat or fish sliced into thin pieces?

A. 17:  Sashimi. (Not Sushi, which includes cooked vinegared rice.)

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Q. 18:  Which Russian word meaning “Speaking Aloud” was a policy of Mikhail Gorbachev in order to liberalize various aspects of Soviet life?

A. 18:  Glasnost.

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Q. 19:  Who was the South African surgeon who carried out the first heart transplant operation.

A. 19:  Dr Christian Barnard.

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Q. 20:  Which famous singer songwriter and guitarist from the 1950s had his most famous hit, and only number one recording, in the 1970s with his ding-a-ling?

A. 20:  Chuck Berry, have a listen….

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Time For The Monday Quiz!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Yes, time for the Monday quiz.

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

A. 20:  b) Lord Peter Wimsey

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Did You Know? – Another Random Fact Feast!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Random fact feast it is.

Another selection of hopefully interesting facts that you didn’t know you didn’t know.

Enjoy.

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In Raiders of the Lost Ark there is a

wall carving of R2-D2 and C-3P0 behind the ark

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Chinese Checkers is not Chinese.

It was created in America to circumvent the

patent for a popular boardgame called Halma,

invented by a Boston surgeon named George Howard Monks.

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In the 17th century,

the value of pi was known to 35 decimal places.

Today, to 1.2411 trillion.

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Technically speaking, Alaska is the northernmost,

westernmost, and easternmost state of the United States.

Parts of the Aleutian Islands cross over the 180th meridian.

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The original story from “Tales of 1001 Arabian Nights” begins,

“Aladdin was a little Chinese boy.”

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There is a hotel in Sweden built entirely out of ice;

it is rebuilt every year.

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In 1959, the USSR launched a craft called the Mechta towards the Moon.

It missed, and instead became (inadvertently) the first

man-made satellite to go into orbit around the Sun.

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It has been calculated that in the last 3,500 years,

there have only been 230 years of peace throughout the civilized world.

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In the 1987 movie ‘Predator’, the character of the Predator

was originally set up for Jean-Claude Van Damme

to play a martial-arts fighting Predator.

However the producers realized much of the cast

were bodybuilders over 6 feet tall (and Van Damme was clearly smaller)

so they cast the enormous 7’ 21/2” Kevin Peter Hall

so that the Predator could realistically physically dominate

the film’s human characters.

Interestingly Hall also appears in the movie

as the helicopter pilot at the end.

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Gatorade’s inventor later created an alcoholic variation,

Hop ’n Gator

— essentially, lemon lime Gatorade mixed with beer.

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At the Great Gettysburg Reunion of 1913,

two men purchased a hatchet,

walked to the site where their regiments had fought,

and buried it.

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Though it’s rarely used,

the word referring to half a computer byte

is a “nibble.”

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Because of the angle at which its esophagus enters its stomach,

the horse is physically unable to vomit.

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The reason why hair turns gray as we age

is because the pigment cells in the hair follicle start to die,

which is responsible for producing “melanin”

which gives the hair colour

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Hydrogen gas is the least dense substance in the world,

at 0.08988g/cc

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The purpose of gasoline rationing during the Second World War

was not to conserve gas, but to conserve TIRES.

The primary source for natural rubber at the time was Southeast Asia,

much of which was under Japanese control.

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The concept of Boxing Day, which is on December 26th,

was to give boxes of food and clothing to the poor.

It is now viewed in some countries as a time

to get merchandise from stores at reduced prices

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Jewelers Tiffany & Co., based in New York, are responsible

for making the Super Bowl trophy

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The world’s most expensive cigarettes.

In 2009, Josh Muszynski used his Visa to buy cigarettes.

Due to a Visa “glitch,” he was charged over 23 quadrillion dollars.

To be exact: $23,148,855,308,184,500

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The popular hip-shaking dance, the merengue,

got its name from the whisking motion required to make meringue.

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Significant Number Factoid Friday – Today The Number Is Twelve 12 (Part 2)

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Last week the number that came up as the significant number was twelve.

It turned out to be a number with a lot of associations, so many in fact that for the first time I decided to split the post into two parts.

Today we have the second part, which deals with the ‘militaria’ associations. So if you have an interest in this kind of thing I hope you will enjoy looking at this post.

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In militaria

• HMS E12
• HMS E12 was a British E class submarine built by HM Dockyard, Chatham and commissioned on 14 October 1914.
• Her forward hydroplanes became entangled in anti submarine nets in the Dardanelles which sent her down to 245 feet, at the time the greatest depth achieved by any British submarine. E12 managed to surface only to come under fire by shore batteries. She avoided further damage.
• HMS E12 was sold in Malta on 7 March 1921.

HMS E18 bliźniaczy do E12

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• HMS H12
• HMS H12 was a British H-class submarine built by Fore River Yard, Quincy, Massachusetts and commissioned in 1915.
• HMS H12 along with HMS H11 and HMS H13 to HMS H20 were all built in America but were interned by the United States government until the USA entered World War I.
• HMS H12 was sold in April 1920 in Dover.

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• USS O-12
• The USS O-12 (SS-73) was an O-class submarine of the United States Navy launched on 29 September 1917.
• These later O-boats, O-11 through O-16, designed by Lake Torpedo Boat, were to different specifications than the earlier Electric Boat designs. They performed poorly as compared to the Electric Boat units, and are sometimes considered a separate class.

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• SM U-12
• SM U-12 or U-XII was a U-5-class submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy (German: Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine or K.u.K. Kriegsmarine) before and during the First World War.
• Click here to listen to “The Hunt for U12, broadcast BBC Radio Scotland, 6th June 2009”.

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• HMS Achates (H-12)
• HMS Achates was an A-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy launched on 4 October 1929 and commissioned on 27 March 1930. She was sunk on 31 December 1942 in the Battle of the Barents Sea.

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• L12 Molotovets
• The Leninets or L-class were the second class of submarines to be built for the Soviet Navy. They were minelaying submarines and were based on the British L-class submarine, HMS L55, which was sunk during the British intervention in the Russian Civil War. Some experience from the previous Dekabrist-class submarines was also utilized.
• The boats were of the saddle tank type and mines were carried in two stern galleries as pioneered on the pre-war Krab, the world’s first mine-laying submarine.
• These boats were considered successful by the Soviets and 25 were built in 4 groups between 1931 and 1941. Groups 3 and 4 had more powerful engines and higher speed.

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• Z12 Erich Giese
• The Z12 Erich Giese was a Type 1934A-class destroyer built for the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) in the late 1930s. At the beginning of World War II, the ship was used in the German Bight to lay minefields in German waters. In late 1939 the ship made one successful minelaying sortie off the English coast that claimed two merchant ships. While returning from that sortie, she torpedoed a British destroyer without being detected and continued on her way. During the early stages of the Norwegian Campaign, Erich Giese fought in both naval Battles of Narvik in mid-April 1940 and was sunk by British destroyers during the Second Battle of Narvik.

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• O 12
• The O 12 was a O 12-class submarine of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Built at Koninklijke Maatschappij De Schelde in Vlissingen, it was launched in 1930 but was unable to take part in military action during World War II. During the German attack on the Netherlands in 1940, O 12 was in the naval wharf of Willemsoord, Den Helder for periodic maintenance. Unable to make the trip across the North Sea to England, the ship was scuttled.
• The German occupying forces had O 12 raised and sent it to the Wilton-Fijenoord wharf in Rotterdam for repairs. On January 30, 1943, it was taken into service by the German Navy, the Kriegsmarine, as the U-D2.
• On July 6, 1944, it was taken out of service and moved to Kiel, where it was scuttled in the harbor just before the end of the war.
• Afterwards, O 12 was raised and demolished.

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• USS S-12
• The USS S-12 (SS-117) was a second-group (S-3 or “Government”) S-class submarine of the United States Navy. She was launched on 4 August 1921.
• In addition to service in the northeast through 1928, from 1929 into 1936, S-12 served almost exclusively in the Panama Canal area although she visited Baltimore, Maryland, from 15 May to 5 June 1933, and New London from 15 May to 1 June 1935.
• Departing Coco Solo on 13 June 1936, S-12 decommissioned at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 30 September 1936.
• S-12 was recommissioned on 4 November 1940 and following voyages to Bermuda, Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, and Coco Solo, S-12 operated at St. Thomas from December 1941 into March 1942; in the Panama Canal area from April into June; at Guantánamo from June into December; in the Panama Canal area from that month into May 1944; at Trinidad from May into July; and at Guantánamo from July into 1945.
• Departing from Guantánamo on 25 March, S-12 was decommissioned on 18 May 1945 at Philadelphia, and sold on 28 October that year to Rosoff Brothers of New York City. Resold to Northern Metals Company of Philadelphia, on an unspecified date, she was scrapped.

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• I-12 Submarine
• The submarine I-12 was a Japanese A2 type long-range fleet submarine built at the Kawasaki’s shipyard in Kobe.
• The I-12 was used during 1944 to disrupt American shipping between the west coast and the Hawaiian Islands. She torpedoed and sank the Liberty ship John A. Johnson, on 30 October 1944 and, after ramming and sinking the lifeboats and rafts, then machine-gunned the 70 survivors in the water, killing 10.
• A Pan American Airways plane spotted the John A. Johnson’s remaining men soon thereafter, and the USS Argus recovered them at 21:35 on 30 October. The Argus disembarked the men at San Francisco on 3 November.

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• HMS Ocean L12
• HMS Ocean of the Royal Navy is an amphibious assault ship (or landing platform helicopter) and is the sole member of her class. She is designed to support amphibious landing operations and to support the staff of Commander UK Amphibious Force and Commander UK Landing Force.
• She was constructed in the mid-1990s by Kvaerner Govan Ltd on the Clyde and fitted out by VSEL at Barrow-in-Furness prior to first of class trials and subsequent acceptance in service.
• She was commissioned in September 1998 at her home port HMNB Devonport, Plymouth.

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• Curtiss A-12 Shrike
• The Curtiss A-12 Shrike was the United States Army Air Corps’ second monoplane ground-attack aircraft, and its main attack aircraft through most of the 1930s.
• It was based on the A-8, but had a radial engine instead of the A-8’s inline, water-cooled engine, as well as other changes.

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• Curtiss XF12C-1
• In 1932, the U.S. Navy gave Curtiss a contract to design a parasol two-seat monoplane with retractable undercarriage and powered by a Wright R-1510 Whirlwind, intended to be used as a carrier-based fighter.
• The resulting aircraft, designated the XF12C-1, flew in 1933. Its chosen role was changed first to a scout, and then to a scout-bomber (being redesignated XS4C-1 and XSBC-1 respectively), but the XSBC-1’s parasol wing was unsuitable for dive bombing. A revised design was produced for a biplane, with the prototype, designated the XSBC-2, first flying on 9 December 1935.

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• Miles M.12 Mohawk
• The Miles M.12 Mohawk was a 1930s British two-seat, tandem cabin monoplane built by Phillip & Powis Aircraft (later to become Miles Aircraft) to the order of Charles Lindbergh in 1936.
• After being used by Lindbergh in Europe it was impressed into service with Royal Air Force as a communications aircraft in 1941.

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• Vultee V-12
• The Vultee V-11 and V-12 were American attack aircraft of the 1930s.
• The V-11 and V-12 were purchased by several nation’s armed forces, including China, who used them in combat against Japanese forces in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
• The United States Army Air Corps purchased seven V-11s as the Vultee YA-19 in the years before World War II, testing them to gather data to compare against twin engine light attack planes.

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• Fiat G.12
• The G.12 was an all-metal low-wing cantilever personnel transport aircraft. It had three radial engines, one mounted on the fuselage nose and the other two in wing-mounted nacelles.
• The engines drove three-blade feathering metal propellers. The mainwheels of its landing gear retracted into the nacelles; the tailwheel was fixed. The flight deck and cabin were fully enclosed. Access was via a port-side access door aft of the wing.
• The G.12 was designed as a civil aircraft, but served mainly in military roles during the war. Only a limited number were built, some as late as 1944, after the Italian armistice. The G.12 inspired the postwar G.212 “Flying Classroom”, the last Italian three-engine transporter. Crew:4

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• Republic XF-12 Rainbow
• The Republic XF-12 Rainbow was an American four-engine, all-metal prototype reconnaissance aircraft designed by the Republic Aviation Company in the late 1940s.
• Like most large aircraft of the era, it used radial engines—in this case, the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 “Wasp Major.” The aircraft was designed with maximum aerodynamic efficiency in mind. The XF-12 was referred to as an aircraft that was “flying on all fours” meaning: four engines, 400 mph cruise, 4,000 mile range, at 40,000 feet. A
• lthough highly innovative, the postwar XF-12 Rainbow was fated to compete against more modern jet engine technology and was not to enter production.

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• Lockheed A-12
• The Lockheed A-12 was a reconnaissance aircraft built for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) by Lockheed’s famed Skunk Works, based on the designs of Clarence “Kelly” Johnson. The A-12 was produced from 1962 to 1964, and was in operation from 1963 until 1968.
• The single-seat design, which first flew in April 1962, was the precursor to both the twin-seat U.S. Air Force YF-12 prototype interceptor and the famous SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft.
• The aircraft’s final mission was flown in May 1968, and the program and aircraft retired in June of that year. The A-12 program was officially revealed in the mid-1990s.

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• McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger II
• The McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger II was a proposed American attack aircraft from McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics. It was to be an all-weather, carrier-based stealth bomber replacement for the Grumman A-6 Intruder in the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Its Avenger II name was taken from the Grumman TBF Avenger of World War II.
• The projected cost of the program was $57 billion, with an estimated per unit cost of $84 million.
• The development of the A-12 was troubled by cost overruns and several delays, causing questions of the program’s ability to deliver upon its objectives; these doubts led to the development program being canceled in 1991. The manner of its cancellation has been contested through litigation to this day.

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• Rockwell XFV-12
• The Rockwell XFV-12 was a prototype supersonic United States Navy fighter which was built in 1977.
• The XFV-12 design attempted to combine the Mach 2 speed and AIM-7 Sparrow armament of the F-4 Phantom II in a VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) fighter for the small Sea Control Ship which was under study at the time.
• On paper, it looked superior to the subsonic Hawker Siddeley Harrier attack fighter, however, it proved unable to produce enough thrust for vertical flight, even with an installed engine with more thrust than its empty weight, and the project was abandoned.

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• C-12 Huron
• The C-12 Huron is the military designation for a series of twin-engine turboprop aircraft based on the Beechcraft Super King Air and Beechcraft 1900.
• C-12 variants are used by the United States Air Force, United States Army, United States Navy and United States Marine Corps.
• These aircraft are used for various duties, including embassy support, medical evacuation, as well as passenger and light cargo transport. Some aircraft are modified with surveillance systems for various missions, including the Cefly Lancer, Guardrail and Project Liberty programs.

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• Bell Helicopter XR-12
• During 1946, Bell Helicopter began development of a new utility helicopter, the Model 42. Three prototypes were built but serious rotor problems and complexity of mechanical systems precluded production.
• A production batch of 34 helicopters was ordered, under the designation R-12A, but cancelled in 1947.
• Another enlarged prototype (the XR-12B, Model 48A) with seats for eight plus two pilots and a more powerful 600 horsepower (447 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1340-55 engine was also ordered, followed by 10 pre-series YR-12B helicopters, with a glazed nose, instead of the car-like nose of the Model 42 and XR-12. Whilst under flight test the helicopter was re-designated the H-12, but the results were not satisfactory, there were major problems with the main rotor due to blade weaving and poor rotor governor performance.

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• Mil V-12
• The Mil V-12 (also referred to as the Mi-12) is the largest helicopter ever built.
• The name “Mi-12” would have been the name for the production helicopter, however, since the V-12 never went into production and only two prototypes were built, the name “Mi-12” was never officially adopted.

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• NAMC J-12
• The NAMC J-12 was a lightweight supersonic fighter built in the People’s Republic of China for use by the PLAAF. It was one of first serious attempts taken by Chinese aircraft manufacturers to develop a modern jet fighter of indigenous design. Weighing 6,993 lb (3,172 kg) empty, it is one of the lightest jet fighters ever built.
• Neither the J-12 nor the related Shenyang J-11 (Not to be confused with the Shenyang J-11 Flanker B+ that entered service in 1998) entered service.
• Nine J-12s are believed to have been built, but in 1977, development of the J-12 was abandoned, probably because the Chengdu J-7, based on the Soviet MiG-21F, was considered superior.

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• Beriev Be-12 Chayka
• The Beriev Be-12 Chayka (“Seagull”) is a Soviet turboprop-powered amphibious aircraft designed for anti-submarine and maritime patrol duties.

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• Boeing P-12
• The Boeing P-12 or F4B was an American pursuit aircraft that was operated by the United States Army Air Corps and United States Navy.

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• Harbin Y-12
• The Harbin Y-12 is a high wing twin-engine turboprop utility aircraft built by Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (HAMC).

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• Rans S-12 Airaile
• The Rans S-12 Airaile is a family of related American single-engined, pusher configuration, high-wing monoplanes designed by Randy Schlitter and manufactured by Rans Inc. Production of the S-12S Airaile, S-14 Airaile, S-17 Stinger and S-18 Stinger II was ended as part of Rans’ extensive reorganization of its product line on 1 June 2006.
• The S-12XL Airaile was originally intended to be cut from the line at the same time, but the customer demand convinced the company to retain the model and it is still available.

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• P-12 “Yenisei”
• The P-12 “Yenisei” was an early 2D VHF radar developed and operated by the former Soviet Union.

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• T-12
• The T-12 (also known as Cloudmaker) demolition bomb was developed by the United States from 1944 to 1948 and  designed to attack targets invulnerable to conventional “soft” bombs, such as bunkers and viaducts.
• It achieved this by having an extremely thick hardened nose section, which was designed to penetrate deeply into hardened concrete structures and then detonate inside the target after a short time delay. This created an “earthquake effect”.
• The final T-12 weighed 43,600 lb (nearly 20 metric tons). This was twice the size of the United States’ previous largest bomb.

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• Mark-12 nuclear bomb
• The Mark-12 nuclear bomb was a lightweight nuclear bomb designed and manufactured by the United States of America which was built starting in 1954 and which saw service from then until 1962.
• The Mark-12 was notable for being significantly smaller in both size and weight compared to prior implosion-type nuclear weapons.
• There was a planned W-12 warehead variant which would have been used with the RIM-8 Talos missile, but it was cancelled prior to introduction into service.

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• Convair X-12
• The SM-65B Atlas, or Atlas B, also designated X-12 was a prototype of the Atlas missile.
• First flown on 19 July 1958, the Atlas B was the first version of the Atlas rocket to use the stage and a half design. Ten flights were made. Nine of these were sub-orbital test flights of the Atlas as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, with five successful missions and four failures. The seventh flight, launched on 18 December 1958, was used to place the SCORE satellite into low Earth orbit, the first orbital launch conducted by an Atlas rocket.
• All Atlas-B launches were conducted from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Launch Complexes 11, 13 and 14.

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• Dyrenkov-12
• D-12 (Dyrenkov-12) was a Soviet light armored car based on the GAZ-A automobile. It was a further development of N.I. Dyrenkov’s D-8 design and was intended for infantry support and anti-aircraft roles.
• The D-12 served during the early 1930s and was observed on Red Square during November 7th parades. Some vehicles remained in service during the war in 1941 and a few participated in the victory parade in Mongolia in 1945.

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• Gun Motor Carriage M12
• The 155 mm Gun Motor Carriage M12 was a U.S. self-propelled gun developed during the Second World War. Only 100 were built; 60 in 1942 and a further 40 in 1943.
• It had an armored driver’s compartment, but the gun crew were located in an open topped area at the back of the vehicle. An earth spade (similar to a bulldozer blade) at the rear was employed to absorb recoil. This layout—large gun mounted in an open mount at the rear, with a spade—was the pattern adopted for many years by other heavy self-propelled artillery.

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• T-12 Anti-Tank Gun
• The 2A19 or T-12 is a Soviet smoothbore 100-mm anti-tank gun, which served as the main Eastern Bloc towed anti-tank gun from 1955 until the late 1980s.

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• Winchester Model 1912
• The Winchester Model 1912 (also commonly known as the Model 12, or M12) is an internal-hammer pump-action, shotgun with an external tube magazine.
• Popularly-named the Perfect Repeater at its introduction, it largely set the standard for pump action shotguns over its 51 year high-rate production life – from August 1912 until first discontinued by Winchester in May 1964.
• Nearly two million Model 12 shotguns were produced in various grades and barrel lengths.

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• Beretta Model 12
• The Beretta Model 12 is a 9×19mm Parabellum caliber submachine gun. Production started in 1962, the first users being the Italian Carabinieri and the Italian State Police. The Italian Air Force bought a large number of M12S and M12S2 for the airport security units.
• Its debut in combat came during the Tet Offensive in 1968 when the Marines guarding the U.S. embassy in Saigon repelled the assault by the Viet Cong using the Beretta M12.
• It is also used by various South American and African countries, and made under license in Brazil by Taurus and in Indonesia by PT Pindad.

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• Halo P-12
• The Halo P-12 is a pump-action bullpup shotgun featuring a large magazine designed to accept only 2¾” shotgun shells, in-line with the barrel much like that found on the FN P-90.
• The P-12 has an overall length of around 27 inches (69 cm) and weighs less than 9 pounds (4.1 kg) fully loaded.

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• Y-12 National Security Complex
• The Y-12 National Security Complex is a United States Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration facility located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
• It was built as part of the Manhattan Project for the purpose of enriching uranium for the first atomic bombs. In the years after World War II, it has been operated as a manufacturing facility for nuclear weapons components and related defense purposes.
• Y-12 is managed and operated under contract by B&W Y-12 (formerly called BWXT Y-12), a partnership of Babcock and Wilcox (formerly called BWXT Technologies), and Bechtel.
• In 2012, three anti-nuclear-weapons protesters broke into the highest-security area of Y-12.

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Significant Number Factoid Friday – Today The Number Is Twenty-Eight 28

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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It’s been a few weeks since we had a numbers factoid. Today we are having a look at the number twenty-eight, so if that’s your lucky number or your date of birth or if you are just interested in numbers and things associated with them then read on.

And enjoy.

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The Number Twenty-Eight 28

 

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In religion

• In Hebrew, the first verse of the Bible “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis I.1) has seven words and 28 letters.
• The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits. (Exodus, 26.2)
• The length of one curtain was twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: the curtains were all of one size. (Exodus, 36.9)
• In Chapter 28 in Genesis: Isaac blesses Jacob; Jacob’s Ladder; God’s promise; Stone of Bethel:

Artistic impression of Jacob’s Ladder

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In mathematics

• 28 is a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14.
• Twenty-eight is the second perfect number. As a perfect number, it is related to the Mersenne prime 7, since 22(23 – 1) = 28. The next perfect number is 496, the previous being 6.
• Twenty-eight is a harmonic divisor number, a happy number, a triangular number, a hexagonal number, and a centered nonagonal number.
• Twenty-eight is the ninth and last number in early Indian magic square of order 3.
• There are twenty-eight convex uniform honeycombs.

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In science & technology

• 28 is the atomic mass of silicon and the atomic number of nickel.
• 28 is the molecular weight of nitrogen, (N2 = 28.02) and the molecular weight of carbon monoxide, (CO = 12 + 16 = 28.01); also interesting in that while carbon monoxide is poisonous, nitrogen is essential to life, yet they have the same molecular weight of 28 daltons.
• 28 is the fourth magic number in physics.
• The average human menstrual cycle is 28 days although no link has been established with the nightlighting and the Moon.
• Skin research has discovered that the epidermis is constantly regenerating itself, and all of its cells are replaced every 28 days.
• By the age of fourteen most people have 28 permanent teeth; the last four molars, the wisdom teeth, erupt only if the jaw allows space for them.
• The curing time of concrete is classically considered 28 days.

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In space

• Our universe is 28 billion light years in distance from edge to edge.
• The revolution time of the surface of the Sun on itself is 28 days while its core is revolving in 33 days.
• The moon completes 4 phases once it has wandered through the 28 lunar mansions.
• 28 Bellona is a large main belt asteroid between Mars and Jupiter. Bellona was discovered by R. Luther on March 1, 1854. It is named after Bellona, the Roman goddess of war; the name was chosen to mark the beginning of the Crimean War. Its diameter is 120.9 km, rotation period of 15.7 hours, and orbital period of 4.63 years.
• The New General Catalogue object NGC 28, an elliptical galaxy in the constellation Phoenix.
• Messier object M28 is a magnitude 8.5 globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius.

Messier object m28

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• STS-28
• STS-28 was the 30th NASA Space Shuttle mission, and the fourth dedicated to United States Department of Defense purposes. It was also the eighth flight of Space Shuttle Columbia.
• The mission launched on 8 August 1989 and traveled 2.1 million miles during 81 orbits of the Earth, before landing on runway 17 of Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 13 August.
• The mission details of STS-28 are classified, but the payload is widely believed to have been the first SDS-2 communications satellite.
• The crew consisted of Commander Brewster H. Shaw, Jr., Pilot Richard N. Richards, and three Mission Specialists, James C. Adamson, David C. Leestma and Mark N. Brown.

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• Space Shuttle Challenger
• One of the worst space related disasters happened on January 28 1986.
• On that fateful day Space Shuttle Challenger (mission STS-51-L) broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members.
• The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida at 11:38 EST (16:38 UTC). Disintegration of the entire vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it sealed, allowing pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the right-hand SRBs aft attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces promptly broke up the orbiter.
• The crew compartment and many other vehicle fragments were eventually recovered from the ocean floor after a lengthy search and recovery operation. Although the exact timing of the death of the crew is unknown, several crew members are known to have survived the initial breakup of the spacecraft. However, the shuttle had no escape system and the impact of the crew compartment with the ocean surface was too violent to be survivable.
• The disaster resulted in a 32-month hiatus in the shuttle program and the formation of the Rogers Commission, a special commission appointed by United States President Ronald Reagan to investigate the accident. The Rogers Commission found NASA’s organizational culture and decision-making processes had been key contributing factors to the accident. NASA managers had known contractor Morton Thiokol’s design of the SRBs contained a potentially catastrophic flaw in the O-rings since 1977, but failed to address it properly. They also disregarded warnings from engineers about the dangers of launching posed by the low temperatures of that morning and had failed to adequately report these technical concerns to their superiors.
• What Rogers did not highlight was the fact the vehicle was never certified to operate in temperatures that low.
• Many viewed the launch live because of the presence of crew member Christa McAuliffe, the first member of the Teacher in Space Project and the (planned) first female teacher in space.
• The Challenger disaster has been used as a case study in many discussions of engineering safety and workplace ethics.

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In politics

• 28th President of the United States is Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), who served (1913-1921). Wilson was President of Princeton University (1902-1910), where he graduated (1879) and taught as Professor of Jurisprudence & Political Economy (1890-1902). Wilson won the 1919 Peace Nobel Prize.

President Woodrow Wilson portrait December 2 1912

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• 28th State to enter the Union is Texas (December 29, 1845)

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In sport

• The jersey number 28 has been retired by several North American sports teams in honor of past playing greats or other key figures:
• In Major League Baseball: the Minnesota Twins, for Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven.

• In the NFL: the Chicago Bears, for Willie Galimore; the Kansas City Chiefs, for Abner Haynes; the New York Jets, for Hall of Famer Curtis Martin; the St. Louis Rams, for Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk.

• Car number twenty-eight was formerly run in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series by Yates Racing. The most notable driver was Davey Allison, who had the ride for his entire Cup Series career.

• Baseball’s 28th All-Star Game was played at Municipal Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri, on July 11, 1960.
• In the British game of cricket, the wicket is made of three wooden stakes each 28 inches high stuck into the ground.
• The widely used 6-6 domino set contains 28 pieces. 

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In books, music and movies

• In Quebec, Canada, François Pérusse, made a parody of Wheel of Fortune in which all of the letters picked by the contestant were present 28 times. As a result, 28 became an almost Mythical number used by many Quebec youths, the phrase “Y’en a 28” (There are 28 [Letters]) became a running gag still used and recognized more than 15 years later.
• The Preludes, Opus 28 consists of Frédéric Chopin’s 24 preludes for piano, ordinarily but not necessarily played together in concert.
• 28 Days (2000) is a 104-minute movie directed by Betty Thomas and starring Sandra Bullock, Viggo Nortensen, Dominic West, Diane Ladd. A big-city newspaper columnist is forced to enter a drug and alcohol rehab center after ruining her sister’s wedding and crashing a stolen limousine.
• 28 Days Later (2002). Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.
• 28 Weeks Later (2007). Six months after the rage virus was inflicted on the population of Great Britain, the US Army helps to secure a small area of London for the survivors to repopulate and start again. But not everything goes to plan.  
• 28 Hotel Rooms (2012). A novelist and an accountant meet while they are traveling for work, and though they both are in relationships, their one-night stand could become something more.

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In militaria, shipping and aviation

• T-28 Trojan
• T-28 Trojan is a training military aircraft. In 1948 the U.S. Air Force originally acquired the T-28A as a trainer to replace the venerable AT-6. The T-28B and T-28C were acquired by the U.S. Navy and included a tailhook for carrier landing training. T-28 was shown on Card #15 of Topps Wings: Friend or Foe (1952).

 

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• Miles M.28 Mercury
• The Miles M.28 Mercury was a British aircraft designed for either training or communications during the Second World War. It was a single-engine, monoplane of wooden construction with a twin tail and a tailwheel undercarriage with retractable main units.
• Originally, the M.28 had been planned as a replacement for the Whitney Straight and Monarch, but this was shelved when war broke out.
• In 1941, the project was revived in response to a requirement for a training and communications aircraft. The design was produced as a private venture by Ray Bournon using Miles’ normal wooden construction. The resulting machine introduced several features not found on trainers ncluding retractable undercarriage and trailing edge flaps. In the communications role, the M.28 had four seats and a range of 500 miles (800 km).
• Owing to Miles’ heavy commitment to war-production, however, only six aircraft were built, of slightly varying specifications, the last being the Mercury 6 which first flew in early 1946.  Examples were operated in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and Australia.

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• XB-28
• The North American XB-28 (NA-63) was an aircraft proposed by the North American Aviation to fill a strong need in the United States Army Air Corps for a high-altitude medium bomber. It never entered into full production, with only two aircraft having been built.

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• MiG-28
• The MiG-28 is a fictional aircraft that has appeared in several different unrelated works. These fictional aircraft have been independently created and the aircraft share nothing but a name.
• The first instance of a “MiG-28” was in the 1978 Quiller novel The Sinkiang Executive written by Adam Hall. Referred to in the work as the MiG-28D, it was an aircraft that resembled a somewhat modified MiG-25, but with sharper air intakes and swept wings.
• In the 1986 film Top Gun, Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) squared off against MiG-28s of unspecified nationality. These were actually US Northrop F-5s, which at the time were being used as aggressor aircraft for dissimilar air combat training at the real TOPGUN seminar (now known as the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School). The F-5s “acting” as MiG-28s were painted flat black to indicate their villainous status, and retained those paint jobs after production closed. The paint also increased the aircraft’s visibility, a plus for filmmaking.
• Another MiG-28 is “seen” in the 1988 ABC television series Supercarrier. This MiG-28 was a fictional Soviet stealth fighter. An F-16 fighter in Soviet-style markings was used to “simulate” the Soviet fighter.

Top Gun pretendy MiG-28

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• Fokker F-28 Fellowship
• The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a short range jet airliner designed developed in Holland (1964) and assembled by defunct Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. The Fokker F-28 Fellowship jet was to complement Fokker’s highly successful F-27 turboprop.
• Announced by Fokker in April 1962, production was a collaboration between a number of European companies, namely Fokker, MBB of West Germany, Fokker-VFW (also of Germany), and Short Brothers of Northern Ireland. There was also government money invested in the project, with the Dutch government providing 50% of Fokker’s stake and the West German government having 60% of the 35% German stake.
• In total 241 Fokker F-28s were sold, including 160 in commercial service and 10 used as corporate jets.
• The Fokker F-28 shown on a 40¡ Nauru stamp. Postage stamps with Fokker airplanes

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• Enstrom F-28
• The Enstrom F-28 and 280 are a family of small, light piston-engined helicopters produced by the Enstrom Helicopter Corporation.[1]
• Since delivering their first helicopter shortly after Federal Aviation Administration type certification of the F-28 model in April 1965, Enstrom helicopter has produced (as of 2007) approx 1,200 aircraft.[2]
• The company produces three models, the F-28, the more aerodynamic 280 and the turbine-engined 480, each with their own variants. The F-28 and 280 both use Lycoming piston engines virtually identical to those found in general aviation fixed-wing aircraft

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• T-28 Tank
• The Soviet T-28 multi-turret medium battle tank was among the world’s first medium tanks and became a symbol of the Red Army as was its heavier “brother” the T-35. Its silhouette is well known from pre-war newsreel about Soviet military parades in Moscow’s Red Square.
• 41 T-28 tanks were built in 1933 with hightest production of 131 in 1939. In the summer of 1941, the design of the T-28 became obsolete due to the drawbacks of multi-turret vehicles. The T-28 could hit any German tank from long distances.

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• The B28
• The B28, originally Mark 28, was a thermonuclear bomb carried by U.S. tactical fighter bombers and bomber aircraft. From 1962 to 1972 under the NATO nuclear weapons sharing program, American B28s also equipped six Europe-based Canadian CF-104 squadrons known as the RCAF Nuclear Strike Force. It was also supplied for delivery by UK-based Royal Air Force Valiant and Canberra aircraft assigned to NATO under the command of SACEUR. Also USN carrier based attack aircraft such as the A3D Skywarrior and the A4D Skyhawk were equipped with the MK 28.

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• HMS Kandahar (F28)
• HMS Kandahar (F28) was a K-class destroyer of the Royal Navy, named after the Afghan city of Kandahar.
• Kandahar was launched on 21 March 1939, and on 21 February 1941, in company with HMS Kimberley and HMS Manchester, she captured the German blockade runner SS Wahehe off Iceland. On 19 December 1941, she was part of British Force K, tasked to intercept an Italian convoy bound for Tripoli when she was irreparably damaged by a newly laid Italian mine whilst attempting to rescue the stricken HMS Neptune. She was scuttled the next day by Jaguar. 73 men went down with the ship.

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• HMS Cleopatra (F28)
• HMS Cleopatra (F28) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy, built at HMNB Devonport. She was launched on 25 March 1964 and commissioned on 4 January 1966.
• Upon Cleopatra’s commissioning, she joined the 2nd Destroyer Squadron, Far East Fleet and then participated in the Beira Patrol, which was designed to prevent oil reaching the landlocked Rhodesia via the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique (Lorenzo Marques).
• In 1969, Cleopatra was present at the Evans-Melbourne collision.
• In 1972, Cleopatra took part in escort duties during the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s South East Asia tour.
• In 1973, Cleopatra was dispatched to protect British trawlers against the Icelandic Coast Guard in the Second Cod War.
• Afterwards, Cleopatra began her modernisation, becoming the first Batch Two Leander to do so, which included the removal of her one twin 4.5-in gun to allow the addition of the Exocet anti-ship missile system.
• On 31 January 1992, Cleopatra was decommissioned. The following year, Cleopatra was sold for scrap.

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• Mosin–Nagant M/28
• The Mosin–Nagant is a bolt-action, internal magazine-fed, military rifle created under the government commission by Russian inventors, and used by the armed forces of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and various other nations.
• It has gone through many variations, the M/28 designed by the White Guard. The M/28 differs from the Army’s M/27 primarily in the barrel band design, which is a single piece compared to the M/27’s hinged band, and an improved trigger design. Barrels for the M/28 were initially purchased from SIG, and later from Tikkakoski and SAKO.
• The M/28-30 is an upgraded version of the M/28. The most noticeable modification is a new rear sight design.

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• Smith & Wesson (S & W) Model 28
• The most famous handgun with the 28 designation is the Smith & Wesson (S & W) Model 28, also known as the Highway Patrolman. It is an N-frame revolver chambered for the .357 Magnum cartridge, in production from 1954 to 1986. It is a budget version of the S&W Model 27.

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Other stuff

• The Roman numeral for 28 is XXVIII.
• The Arab alphabet has 28 letters
• Cities located at 28o latitude include: New Delhi, India.
• Cities located at 28o longitude include: Johannesburg, South Africa; Pretoria, South Africa; and Istanbul, Turkey.
• 28 is not yet used as the code for international direct dial phone calls.
• Two Cleveland skyscrapers have 28 floors, the McDonald Investment Center (1969): East 9th St. at Superior Ave. (305 ft);and the Marriott at Key Tower (1991): 127 Public Square, Cleveland (320 ft)
• Parker Brothers Monopoly board game consists of 40 squares with 28 properties for sale. In the U.S. version, the properties are named after locations in Atlantic City, NJ.

• The Runik alphabet, also called Futhark, used by Germanic peoples of northern Europe, Britain, Scandinavia, and Iceland (3rd century to the 16th or 17th century AD) has 28 letters.
• In Gematriya, the system of Hebrew Numerology, the number 28 corresponds to the word koakh, meaning “power”, “energy”.
• The number of days in the shortest month of the Gregorian calendar, February (except in leap years, when there are twenty-nine).
• The Gregorian calendar follows a 28-year cycle for the most part, since there are seven days in a week and leap year generally occurs every four years; usually, a calendar from any year is the same as that from 28 years earlier (e.g., 2008 and 1980 or 2009 and 2037). However, that rule holds only when there have been exactly seven leap days in a 28-year interval; years divisible by 100 but not by 400 are not leap years. Indeed, 1900 (as well as 2100, 2200, etc.) does not use the same calendar as 1872 (2072, 2172, etc., respectively) for the simple reason that 1900 is not a leap year. In 28 years, any day-of-the-week and date combination occurs exactly four times. February 29 will fall on each day of the week once.
• In Jewish tradition there is a 28 year solar cycle in which the sun returns to its place in Creation every 28 solar years. This is commemorated in April every 28 years with the recitation of Birkat Hachama, the blessing of the sun.
• There are 28 wheels on a Lockheed C-5 Galaxy.

• 28 is the common name for the parrot ‘Barnardius zonarius semitorquatus’, widely distributed in Western Australia and South Australia, because its call sounds like “wenniate”.
• In neo-Nazi circles, twenty-eight indicates Blood and Honour (28 = BH – B – second letter of the alphabet and H – the eight letter).
• The number of Chinese constellations, “Xiu” or “mansions” (a literal translation), equivalent to the 12 western zodiac constellations.
• 28 is the postal code of the province of Madrid, in Spain.
• Twenty Eight is a popular game played in Kerala India.
• 28 is the number of the French department Eure-et-Loir.
• There are approximately twenty-eight grams in an ounce, a measure frequently used in the illegal drug trade.
• In horticulture the America and Cherish Roses have 28 orange pink petals; the Black Velvet Rose has 28 dark red petals; the Maestro Rose has 28 petals with a red center, pink edges and speckles; the Garden Party Rose has 28 white blend petals; and the Ophelia Rose has 28 light pink petals.

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