Sunday, March 29, 2015

Turning 43 Is Trivial

I turned 43 this week. 43 seems nondescript. It's not a recognized milestone of any sort. It's not even a particularly interesting number. Basically, 43 seems... trivial.


With that in mind, this year, my Facebook birthday greeting response theme was: "43 TRIVIA." For every birthday greeting on my wall, I replied with a hand-curated, randomly selected piece of trivia involving the number 43.

Initially, they all came from the 43 Wikipedia page (e.g. "43 is the 14th-smallest prime number."), which is why the first batch are math-y and not particularly interesting. That vein got tapped out quickly and I had to hit Google. Eventually, I got desperate, and started using any appearance of "43" that I could find, then "forty three."
  1. Forty-three is the 14th smallest prime number.
  2. The previous prime is forty-one.
  3. 43 is the smallest prime that is not a Chen prime.
  4. 43 degrees Centigrade is 109.4 degrees Fahrenheit, or 316.15 Kelvin.
  5. In the year 43 CE, the Roman conquest of Britain began.
  6. 41 and 43 comprise a twin prime.
  7. Movie 43 (2013), is a film consisting of a series of interconnected short stories, featuring some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, which make up the insane storylines a washed-up producer is pitching to a movie company. (It has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 4, which is... bad.)
  8. 43 is the maximum number of cars participating in a NASCAR race in the Cup Series, and, through the 2012 season, the Nationwide Series.
  9. 43 is also the third Wagstaff prime.
  10. Number 43, in Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850), is one of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's most famous poems
  11. 43 is the Saros number of the lunar eclipse series which began on August 27, 1482 BCE and ended on March 15, 70 CE. The duration of Saros series 43 was 1550.5 years, and it contained 87 lunar eclipses.
  12. The chemical element with the atomic number 43 is technetium. It does indeed have has the lowest atomic number of any element that does not possess stable isotopes. Also, its melting point is 2430 Kelvin (2157 degrees Celsius, 3915 degrees Fahrenheit)
  13. 43 is the smallest prime number expressible as the sum of 2, 3, 4, or 5 different primes
  14. +43 is the code for direct dial international phone calls to Austria.
  15. The website 43(dot)com is a parked domain. Facebook deems it a security threat, and wouldn't let me include a link to it.
  16. Over in Asia, during the year 43, Vietnam was designated a province of China.
  17. In the US's National Football League, the number 43 was worn by Jim Norton of the Houston Oilers. The Oilers (now the Tennessee Titans) retired the number.
  18. 43 is the largest natural number that is not a (original) McNugget number.
  19. 43 is a centered heptagonal number.
  20. Joey Savatgy will run the number 43 in the 2014 250MX and 250SX series and is sponsored by Armswag
  21. 43 in binary is 101011.
  22. The New General Catalogue object NGC 43, a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Andromeda.
  23. 43 is the designation of Interstate 43, a freeway in Wisconsin.
  24. "43" is a song on the album Level 42 by Level 42
  25. 43 was the number used by Jan Alston (ZSC Lions, Zurich, Switzerland) from 2001 to 2010
  26. Messier object M43, a magnitude 7.0 H II region in the constellation of Orion, a part of the Orion Nebula, and also sometimes known as de Mairan's Nebula.
  27. 1/2 oz. of Camembert cheese is 43 calories
  28. The aircraft carrier U.S.S. Coral Sea was CV-43
  29. Psalm 43 begins "Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation. Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked."
  30. At the 43rd Grammy Awards in 2001, Steely Dan's Two Against Nature took Album of the Year.
  31. Dennis the Dachshund lost 43 pounds, going from 56 to 13 pounds in January 2015.
  32. 43 is the fourth term of Sylvester's sequence, one more than the product of the previous terms (2 × 3 × 7).
  33. Now That's What I Call Music! 43! (a.k.a. Now 43) topped the Billboard 200 in August, 2012, and featured Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe," Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend," and Maroon 5's "Payphone."
  34. Cafe 43 is the restaurant at the George W. Bush Presidential Center:
  35. 43 in Morse Code is ....- ...--
  36. Acetylcholinesterase, with the symbol ACHE, has a gene ID of 43. (I have no idea what anything on that page means)
  37. According to Pro Football Talk, as of Tuesday, NFL teams have traded 2015 draft selections 43 times.
  38. 43 million streams of “Happy” on Pandora earned Pharrell Williams $2,700 in royalties.
  39. A serving of 6 medium raw oysters is 43 calories.
  40. Celebrities who died at 43 include: John Candy, Natalie Wood, porn star John Holmes, and Lisa Robin Kelly of That '70s Show
  41. Article 43 of the UN Charter says that member nations should make available to the Security Council armed forces, assistance, and facilities.
  42. 43 is a Heegner number.
  43. WPMT FOX43 is Central Pennsylvania’s FOX station serving Harrisburg, York, Lancaster, Lebanon Pennsylvania, and surrounding areas.
  44. Oban 14 (a single malt scotch whiskey) is 43% alcohol (86 proof)
  45. 43 is a repdigit in base 6 (111).
  46. In 2009's Super Bowl XLIII (43), the Steelers defeated the Cardinals 27-23.
  47. The Federalist #43 was written by James Madison and contains the only reference to the Copyright Clause in The Federalist Papers.
  48. The Mark 43 Iron Man armor will appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron
  49. Route 43 is a DC Metrobus route that serves the Mount Pleasant Line
  50. Fairfax County does not currently have a Fire Station 43. (Its newest station is station 42, Wolftrap.)
  51. 43 is the number for Richard Petty's race car when he won his seven Winston Cup Championships. He also won 200 races in his career, 95% of them in the famous #43.
  52. The parallel 43° North forms most of the boundary between the State of Nebraska and the State of South Dakota.
  53. 1⁄2 cup fat-free Greek yogurt with 1 tsp sugar-free strawberry jam (43 calories)
  54. Windows Error Code 43: Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems
  55. At the 43rd Primetime Emmy Awards in 1991, Cheers took Best Comedy and L.A. Law took Best Drama.
  56. 43 is the Saros number of the solar eclipse series which began on April 29, 1513 BCE and ended on June 5, 233 BCE. The duration of Saros series 43 was 1280.1 years, and it contained 72 solar eclipses.
  57. 43 was used by Patrice Brisebois (Montreal Canadiens) from 1991 to 2004
  58. Washington Redskin Larry Brown wore 43; the number has not been used since he retired.
  59. Federalist #43 also deals with the Treason Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
  60. George W. Bush was the 43rd President of the United States.
  61. The Mark 43 torpedo was the first and smallest of the United States Navy light-weight anti-submarine torpedoes.
  62. WASP-43b is an exoplanet discovered in 2011.
  63. Idaho became the 43rd state in 1890.
  64. "43" is a song by Mushroomhead on the album Mushroomhead.
  65. NASA's X-43 was an unmanned experimental hypersonic aircraft using a scramjet engine.
  66. Expedition 43 is the 43rd and current expedition to the International Space Station. The second part of the expedition began with the launch of Soyuz TMA-16M on Friday, March 27, 2015.
  67. STS-43 was the ninth mission of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
  68. At the 43rd Academy Awards in 1971, George C. Scott became the first actor to reject an Oscar. His Best Actor Oscar was for his role in Patton, which also took Best Picture. 
  69. In September 2014, 43 males students in the Mexican state of Guerrero disappeared, presumably kidnapped and killed by a crime syndicate.
  70. Part 43 of the Federal Acquisition Regulations references Contract Modifications.
  71. 43% of Americans identified politically as independents in 2014  
  72. Here is the episode list for Sesame Street season 43
  73. 43 is the number worn by Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland Athletics (MLB), and has been retired.
  74. 43 is the number used by Ken Block on his rally cars. 
  75. 43 calories is 179.9 joules
  76. Part 43 of the Federal Aviation Regulations covers Maintenance, preventitive maintenance, rebuilding, and alteration.
  77. Duke basketball player Mike Gminiski's jersey, #43, was retired.
  78. The next prime after 43 is 47.
  79. The most recent Washington Nationals player to use #43 was Ross Ohlendorf in 2013.
  80. Licor 43 (or Cuarenta y tres) is a popular Spanish liqueur, which is distilled with 43 different herbs and spices.
  81. On the Washington Capitals, number 43 is worn by right wing Tom Wilson.
  82. In Mac OS X, error -43 is "The operation cannot be completed because one or more required items cannot be found." 
  83. 43 was the jersey number of Brad Daugherty, ESPN NASCAR analyst and retired American basketball player. It was retired by the Cavaliers on March 1, 1997.
  84. 4:3 is the standard television aspect ratio (1.33:1)
  85. The Russian GM-94 grenade launcher fires a projectile 43mm in diameter.
  86. Federalist #43 references a desire that the national government be given exclusive jurisdiction over a new national capitol and provides the rationale for what later became the District Clause of Article I of the U.S. Constitution.
  87. This week, Glock announced its Model 43. The Glock 43 is a single-stack 9mm handgun.
  88. Mark43 is a police records management system
  89. Brad Daugherty's #43 jersey was a number he picked as a tribute to NASCAR legend Richard Petty (whom Daugherty lists as his favorite sportsman)
  90. This is Edvard Grieg's Six Lyric Pieces, Opus 43
  91. In the Yu-Gi-Oh! collectible card game, card number 43 is the Manipulator of Souls
  92. In the South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 43 deals with Social Services.  
  93. The Price Is Right is currently in its 43rd season
  94. Chapter 43 of the Texas Penal Code covers public indecency, with subchapters on prostitution and obscenity  
  95. Huckleberry Finn has 43 chapters  
  96. The GBU-43/B is the MOAB, officially known as the Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, commonly known as the "Mother Of All Bombs"
  97. Title 43 of the United States Code outlines the role of Public Lands
  98. On the Dublin (Ireland) bus system, bus 43 runs from Talbot St. towards Swords Business Park
  99. From June to November 2014, Kim Kardashian's mobile game made $43 million
  100. The 43 Bar & Grill is a sports bar in Sunnyside, NY
  101. On the Fortune 500 2014, PepsiCo is 43
  102. The Code of Virginia Title 43 deals with Mechanics' and Certain Other Liens
  103. 1:43 scale is a popular size of die-cast model cars in Europe, Asia and the US.
  104. The week ending February 6, 2015, the TSA discovered 43 firearms in carry-on bags. Of those, 40 were loaded and 17 had rounds chambered.  
  105. The Nebraska Revised Statutes Chapter 43 deals with Infants and Juveniles
  106. Property sales in Ireland rose 43% in 2014  
  107. 4/3 or Fourth Thirds is a standard created by Olympus and Kodak for digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) and mirrorless camera design and development.
  108. The world record for data transfer is 43 terabits per second, set by researchers at the Technical University of Denmark in 2014.  
  109. In physical cosmology, the Planck epoch (or Planck era) is the earliest period of time in the history of the universe, from zero to approximately 10−43 seconds (Planck time).  
  110. In 2013, The Monty Python reunion performance at London's O2 Arena sold out in 43 seconds.
  111. 43 Years With the Same Bird is a book written by Daily Mirror columnist Brian Reade. It documents his lifelong following of Liverpool F.C.  
  112. Reportedly, Converse sells a pair of Chuck Taylors every 43 seconds.  
  113. Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans has twice hit his career-high of 43 points, most recently in a March 9, 2015 game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
  114. In an English Premier League game last week, Liverpool's Steven Gerrard was red-carded 43 seconds after entering the game as a second-half substitute for stamping on the leg a Manchester United player.
    Liverpool player Steven Gerrard, with a heat map showing his movements in the game where he was ejected after 43 seconds.
  115. The Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the crew of the B-29 bomber Enola Gay was set to detonate 43 seconds after release
  116. Section 43 of the Mormon Doctrine and Covenants ends with "Be sober. Keep all my commandments. Even so. Amen."
  117. The height of a stack of 100 one-dollar bills measures .43 inches. (Presumably, a stack of 10,000 one-dollar bills would be 43 inches high.)  
  118. 43 is the smallest prime that is not the sum of two palindromes
  119. There is a blog, Interstate Forty-Three, dedicated to the number 43. It was last updated in 2008, and I didn't find it until this point, which probably would have made this whole exercise much easier.
  120. 43 is the smallest prime formed from reverse concatenation of two consecutive numbers
  121. According to the Mayo Clinic, men with a waist circumference of 43 inches were at 52 percent greater risk of death than men with a 37-inch waist.
  122. 43 is the smallest prime that is not the sum of two palindromes
  123. This is the translation of poem 43 of Roman poet Catullus:
    "Greetings, you girl with neither a little nose, handsome feet, black little eyes long fingers, a dry mouth, and truly tongue not exceedingly elegant. Sweetheart of a Formian debtor, does the province say that you are beautiful? Is our Lesbia compared with you? Oh insensible and coarse generation!"
  124. 43 West 43rd Street in New York City houses a law firm.
  125. 43 is the smallest prime whose index (14) is divisible by the sum of its digits (4+3)
  126. The 43-star flag became the official United States flag on July 4th, 1890. Five stars were added for the admission of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, and Idaho. The flag lasted for just one year.
     
  127. Division 43 of the American Psychological Association is the Society for Family Psychology.
  128. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 43 covers the Syracuse, Utica and Oswego areas of New York.
  129. When polled, 43% of Americans over the age of 18 replied "what." (Note: not an actual fact.)
  130. 43 is the smallest non-palindromic prime which on subtracting its reverse gives a perfect square (i.e., 43 - 34 = 32)
  131. The 3M Steri-Drape Fluoroscope Drape 1012 measures 35 inches x 43 inches
  132. The 43rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army was active from 1925-2967.
  133. Forty Three Seconds is a song by the band Swing Kids
  134. 43 in German is "dreiundvierzig"
  135. The top-rated Urban Dictionary entry for 43 claims that the number stands for "LOVE YOU", representing the numbers in each word. A competing definition claims it stands for a similarly structured but less polite two-word phrase.
  136. Latitude 43 is a full-service restaurant and bar located on the harbor in Gloucester, Cape Ann, Massachusetts.
  137. In February 2015, the UK's Daily Mail tabloid reported on model Robert Paulat, who has had 43 cosmetic surgery procedures.
  138. Atkin Guitars' "The Forty Three" is an acoustic guitar designed to pay homage to Buddy Holly's 1943 J-45 guitar.
  139. The Urban Dictionary entry for "forty three" would seem to be of incredibly limited usage.
  140. The Gewehr 43 or Karabiner 43 (abbreviated G43, K43, Gew 43, Kar 43) is a 7.92×57mm Mauser caliber semi-automatic rifle developed by Nazi Germany during World War II.
  141. The USS S-43 was an US Navy S-class submarine used in World War II. Its designation was SS-154, not to be confused with SS-43, which was the USS L-4.
  142. The Circle Jerks' song Live Fast Die Young has the lyric, "I don't want to live / to be forty-three / I don't like / What I see going on around me." The song is 93 seconds long:
  143. This is the Vocabulary.com entry for "forty-three": adj. being three more than forty
  144. A Metafilter post from 2014 lists 43 Werner Herzog films available for streaming.
  145. This is a book: Cop - Forty-Three Years in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
  146. US Supreme Court case 108 U.S. 491 is UNITED STATES  v.  FORTY-THREE GALLONS OF WHISKY
  147. 43 in French is quarante-trois
  148. According to this indubitably authoritative web site, forty-three would represent trial and testing with some divine goal in mind.
  149. The World Socialist Web Site says that more than 43 million US households pay excessive shares of income for housing according to The State of the Nation’s Housing 2013, released last week by Harvard University’s Center for Housing Studies.
  150. 43 Brown Street is a sensational boutique development positioned on the northern side of Brown Street, Ponsonby, Auckland, New Zealand
  151. Forty-three patients who had been managed with rotationplasty for the treatment of a femoral or tibial bone tumor were evaluated clinically and functionally.
  152. Forty Three is a poem by Wayne Visser.
  153. The 43 Assembly of God Church is in Van Buren, Arkansas
  154. If you want to know how to make the Coffee Forty-Three mixed drink, you should click this link
  155. This is the Unicode Character for "Circled Number Forty Three":  ㊸
  156. Table Forty Three is a restaurant in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
  157. Here's the Pandora page for the band Cold Forty Three
  158. FDNY Fireboat Three Forty Three (Marine 1) was completed in late 2009.
  159. Tibetan Folks Tales: Forty-Three is "The Wily Poor Man."
  160. This is the Shutterstock image search results page for "43"
  161. Here is Confessions Forty Three from the blog Diary of a Zulu Girl
  162. This is how you say 43 in American Sign Language. (It's pretty straightforward):
  163. The First-Person Narratives of the American South project includes the full text of the book The Experience of Thomas H. Jones, Who Was a Slave for Forty-Three Years, printed in 1862 
  164. "Why the Average American Dies at Forty-three" is an article in Scientific American, Volume 116, Issue 14, published April 7, 1917
  165. American Airlines Flight 43 flies between Detroit Metro Wayne County (KDTW) and Dallas/Forth Worth International (KDFW). Flight time is 2 hours, 15 minutes. 
  166. In 1876, the US Supreme Court tried a case, United States v. Forty-three Gallons of Whiskey (I accidentally included two references to this case.)
  167. Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls has 43 chapters
  168. Wesley Lee Fox, a recipient of the Medal of Honor, retired from the US Marine Corps as a colonel after 43 years of service. (Also, he was born in Herndon).
  169. The Web site at http://www.fortythree.com is a gallery of stencil work
  170. 170 is the limit of how many bits of 43 trivia I'll dig up.