Monday, March 28, 2016

This Is 44

I've been dreading my birthday this year, because it meant having to come up with a whole new batch of 44 factoids with which to reply to my Facebook well-wishers.


Sure, the first few dozen are easy; they're straight pulls from Wikipedia. But then things start getting ugly.

This year, I topped out at about 150 factoids:

F-44 is the NATO designation for JP-5 jet fuel

The Q44 is a vital inter-borough transit link, connecting the Bronx and Queens while providing connections to several subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road.

The Z44 Corvette Z06 427 edition was built in 2008.

HMS Lagos (D44) is a 1944 British Royal Navy Battle-class destroyer

The T-44 is a medium tank first produced near the end of the World War II by the Soviet Union.

S44 is the postcode for Bolsover, North East Derbyshire in the UK

The W44 was an American nuclear warhead used on the ASROC tactical anti-submarine missile system. It has a yield of 10 kilotons.

Z44 is an Italian distilled dry gin

Interstate 44 (I-44) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States, running from Wichita Falls, Texas to St. Louis, Missouri

V44 is a brand of pure super premium wheat-vodka produced by the Bratislava-based company European Spirits and Liquor.

The Robinson R44 is a four-seat light helicopter produced by the Robinson Helicopter Company since 1992.

Papyrus 44 is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

C44 is the chess opening King's Pawn Game

C44 is the FAA code for Toutant Airport in Putnam, Connecticut

The Y44 is an OHV V8, 16 valve, 4 barrel down draught carb engine produced for the Nissan President and since 1975 used electronic fuel injection.

6Q0B44E, sometimes abbreviated to B44E, is a small object, probably an item of space debris, currently orbiting Earth outside the orbit of the Moon.

The Xccelerator X44 is a 4-string electric bass from Carvin Guitars

The M44 was an American-made self-propelled 155mm howitzer

The M44 is a planned motorway in Hungary.

The BMW M44 is a straight-4 dual overhead cam piston engine that was produced from 1996-2001.

The M44 is a carbine variant of the Russian Mosin-Nagant rifle.

The 44th atomic bomb test at the Nevada proving grounds was approximately 25 kilotons and occured on April 15, 1955.

According to Transparency International, Rwanda is ranked 44th on the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index

Utah is the 44th most obese state in the US, with 21.8% of adults classed as obese.

In the 2016 NCAA tournament, Gonzaga was the 44th overall seed.

44 in Morse Code is ....- ....-

Matthew 22:44 -- "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?"

In the presidential election of 1964, Lyndon Johnson won 44 of the 50 states (plus DC)

Exit 44 on the Garden State Parkway is Pomona Road in Pamona, New Jersey

The Passage Island Lighthouse in Michigan is 44 feet high.

"44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out" is a TV movie about the famous bank robbery in Los Angeles.

44 in binary is 101100

Ivory Snow soap was advertised as being 99 and 44/100% pure

44 stone Public House is a gastropub in Columbia, MO and has live tap cams

In 2015, the Coast Guard rescued a man who was stranded 44 miles off the Jersey shore, and had been treading water for 4 hours.

Dennis the dachshund lost 44 pounds, going from 56 to 12 pounds

"44 Inch Chest" is a 2009 movie; its IMDB summary is "A jealous husband and his friends plot the kidnapping of his wife's lover with the intention of restoring his wounded ego. "

44º Celsius is 111º Fahrenheit (and 44º Fahrenheit is 6.66º Celsius)

44º North Vodka is made in Idaho from Idaho potatoes.

Fire Station 44 in San Diego serves Eastern Mira Mesa and its surrounding areas. Engine 44's district is 6.58 square miles.

Batman #44 was published Dec. 1947/Jan. 1948, and features the Joker.

This year was the running of the 44th Iditarod sled race, won by four-time winner Dallas Seavey.

The 44th episode of Futurama is "The Route of All Evil", where Dwight and Cubert take over Planet Express.

The 44th National Organic Chemistry Symposium occurred June 28-July 2, 2015 at the the University of Maryland, College Park.

The 44th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) was staffed at the onset of the Korean War, June 1950

Eric Idle was the host of the 44th episode of Saturday Night Live, broadcast April 23, 1977.

The 44th Fighter Group is a classic association partnered with the 325th Fighter Wing at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., as well as a subordinate unit under the 301st Fighter Wing, Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas. The unit's mission involves F-22 5th generation aircraft and T-38A Adversary aircraft.

The Royalton hotel in New York is located at 44 West 44th Street.

The 44th Session of the UN General Assembly ran from Sept 19, 1989 to Sept 17, 1990

The weekly e-newsletter of the New York City Bar Association is named the 44th Street eNews. It goes out on Mondays.

Schumann's Piano Quintet in E flat major, Opus 44 was composed in 1842:


The FCC's Auction 44 occurred between August 27 and September 18, 2002 for the Lower 700MHz Band.

Title 44 of the South Carolina Code of Laws covers Health.

The Powerball lottery is played in 44 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

The No. 44 Society is a book collectors' club at the University Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

NO-44 was a satellite built by Navy midshipmen launched September 30, 2001 aboard the “Kodiak Star”, a Lockheed-Martin Athena I launch vehicle.

44 Interactive is a digital advertising agency in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Route 44 of the King County (Seattle) Metro system runs from Ballard to Wallingford to UW Station

The winner of Best Original Song at the 44th Academy Awards was the Theme from Shaft.

Earlier in 2016, a man posted a video showing himself learning to juggle from scratch in 3 hours and 44 minutes

The Breitling Chronomat 44 Blacksteel retails for $9,930

In 2015, the world's first 3D printed car was finished in 44 hours

The work time in Brazil is 44 hours per week, usually 8 hours per day and 4 hours on Saturday or 8.8 hours per day.

Italian runner Gianclaudio Marengo was found on a subway 44 hours after starting the New York City marathon.

The Newhouse 44 consists of 44 Syracuse University graduates who are experts in the various facets of the communications industry.

The Chicago Board of Trade North Building is 44 stories.

UTV44 (WJTC) is an independent television station located in Pensacola, Florida, that also serves Mobile, Alabama.

The Twitter handle @44 belongs to Menotti Minutillo

The Ferno Model 44 Rescue Seat is constructed of tough reinforced vinyl that is easy to clean and resists blood and bodily fluids.

The Model 44 Aristocrat is a Manley Aristocrat popcorn popper.

The 44th Army Surgeon General is Maj. Gen. Nadja West, the Army's first black female to hold the rank of lieutenant general.

The John Deere Model 44 is a front end loader.

The IBM System/360 Model 44 was a specialized variation of IBM's System 360 computer architecture designed for scientific and real-time computing and process control.

The Model 44 was announced August 16, 1965 and withdrawn September 24, 1973.

In this year's NCAA tournament, Texas A&M came back from 12 down with 44 seconds to play to beat the Northern Iowa Panthers in double overtime.

PBS and PBS KIDS Receive 44 Daytime Emmy Nominations for the 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards

Kevin James to Suit Up for Inspirational Football Movie '44'

Psalm 44 begins, "We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago."

U.S. Code: Title 44 is about public printing and documents.

The 44th Annual World Series of Poker was in 2013 at the Rio in Paradise, Nevada.

Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock died at the age of 44.

The 44th day of the year is February 13.

Wyoming became the 44th state on July 10, 1890.

For her 44th birthday, Koko the gorilla received 2 kittens.

The 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference was held in The Woodlands, Texas, March 18-22, 2013.

The Algonquin Hotel, home of the famous Algonquin Round Table, is located at 59 West 44th Street.

The 44th Precinct in New York City contains Yankee Stadium, the Bronx County Building, the Bronx Hall of Justice, the Grand Concourse, Concourse Plaza Mall, Concourse Village and 146,000 residents.

F. Scott Fitzgerald died at the age of 44.

Minneapolis is located at 44°59′N 93°16′W

The 44th parallel north crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean.

The 44th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia.

In the 44th Primetime Emmy Awards, Murphy Brown took Best Comedy.

In the 44th Grammy Awards, Alicia Keys won Best New Artist

The Swiss liqueur Tempus Fugit Liqueur De Violettes is 44 proof

A 1.5 ounce shot is 44 milliliters

After drinking 24 shots in less that 2 hours, Michigan State University Bradley McCue died with a blood alcohol level of .44

In the 44th Academy Awards, The French Connection won Best Picture

Super Bowl XLIV was between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts, Feb. 7, 2010.

Expedition 44 to the International Space Station consisted of Commander Gennady Padalka, Mikhail Kornienko, Scott Kelly, Oleg Kononenko, Kjell Lindgren, Kimiya Yui

Herod Agrippa of Judea died in the year 44.

Julius Caesar was assassinated 44 BC

Billie Holiday died July 17, 1959 at the age of 44.

In the year 44, Boudicca married Prasutagus, king of the British Celtic tribe the Iceni.

Marvin Gaye died at the age of 44, one day shy of his 45th birthday.

In the year 44, the emperor Claudius returns from his British campaign in triumph, the southeast part of Britannia now held by the Roman Empire, but the war will rage for another decade and a half.

In the TV series Lost, Jacob and the Man in Black were born in the year 44 on an island in the South Pacific Ocean.

In the year 44, Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus (that's one guy) and Titus Statilius Taurus become Roman consuls.

The denomination 44 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Year 44 was known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Crispus and Taurus (or, less frequently, year 797 Ab urbe condita).

Municipal Okrug 44 is the former name of Moskovskaya zastava Municipal Okrug in the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia

44 figures prominently in the famous Dirty Harry quote:
"I know what you're thinking: "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?"
44M Tas Rohamlöveg is a Hungarian tank destroyer design of World War II, derived from the 44M Tas tank

44M Tas is a Hungarian medium/heavy tank design of World War II

In an operation to capture Zulkifli Abdhir and Abdul Basit Usman, 44 of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force died during the Mamasapano clash, they were later dubbed as The Fallen 44 or SAF 44.

Number 44 (Russian: Номер 44) is the Russian localized title for a 2015 American-British mystery thriller film Child 44.

44 is an agent in the American Television series Get Smart. Agent 44 is usually assigned to small, enclosed, unexpected spots to meet Maxwell Smart, agent 86.

There are 44 candles in a box of Hanukkah candles.

Mark Twain's The Mysterious Stranger features Satan's supposed nephew, whose alternate name in parallel works is "44".

Barack Obama is the 44th President of The United States of America.

Wyoming was the 44th state to join The United States of America.

44 is the largest number for which Wolfram Alpha offers a visual representation.

Forty-Four is the name of a blues song, also known as "44 Blues"

44 is the number of the French department (a region kind of like a state)

Vicks Formula 44 is a cough suppressant

In the song 44 fours by Jay Z, he rhymes the words four, for and fore 44 times. This song is a follow up from the song 22 two's.

+44 is the name of the band including Blink-182 vocalist/bassist Mark Hoppus and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker.

44 is the common name for the .44 Magnum or .44 Special revolver cartridges

44 is a poker game in which each player is dealt four cards down, and four cards are dealt face down on the table in a row. The first three cards on the table are "community" cards and may be used in any player's hand. The fourth card and any card matching it in rank is wild, and can also be used in a hand (each player is guaranteed one wild card). For each of four rounds, one "community" card is flipped up and a round of betting occurs. After the last round, the winner is the person with the highest poker hand.

44 is the name of a mysterious savior of Poland prophesied by the Polish national poet Adam Mickiewicz in his masterpiece dramatic poem Dziady (Forefathers): In scene 5 of act 3, the priest Piotr announces a "reviver of the nation" who is to bring back the lost freedom of Poland, and describes him with these words:
Born from a foreign mother, his blood of ancient heroes,
And his name will be forty and four.

Pennsylvania Route 44 (PA 44) is a long state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania

U.S. Route 44 is a highway that runs from New York to Massachusetts

Interstate 44 is a freeway that runs from Texas to Missouri

44 is the code for international direct dial phone calls to the United Kingdom.

44 is the number of a car once driven by Dale Jarrett in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (then known as the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series)

44 is the Formula 1 driver number for Lewis Hamilton commencing from the start of the 2014 season.

44 was worn by a number of football legends at Syracuse University, worn most notably by Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, and Rob Konrad. Although the number was officially retired in 2005, the legend of 44 remains an important part of the identity of Syracuse University.

Jeff Mullins wore the #44 during his Duke career. The number was retired in 1994

44 is the retired NBA number for Dan Issel, (Denver Nuggets); Jerry West (L.A. Lakers); Paul Westphal (Phoenix Suns); Sam Lacey (Sacramento Kings); and George Gervin (San Antonio Spurs).

44 is the retired NFL number for Floyd Little (Denver Broncos) and Pete Retzlaff (Philadelphia Eagles)

44 is the retired number for former baseball players Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey and Reggie Jackson; the number is sometimes considered to be a "hitter's number".

44 is the Saros number of the lunar eclipse series which began on October 1, 1363 BC and ended on March 27, 153. The duration of Saros series 44 was 1514.5 years, and it contained 85 lunar eclipses.

44 is the Saros number of the solar eclipse series which began on April 30, 1448 BC and ended on June 7, 168 BC. The duration of Saros series 44 was 1280.1 years, and it contained 72 solar eclipses.

The New General Catalogue object NGC 44 is a double star in the constellation Andromeda

Messier object M44 is a magnitude 4.0 open cluster in the constellation Cancer, also known as the Beehive Cluster

44 is the atomic number of ruthenium.

In decimal notation (base 10), 44 is a palindromic number and a happy number.
   
Given Euler's totient function, φ(44) = 20 and φ(69) = 44.

The aliquot sequence of 44 is (44,40,50,43,1,0).

Since the greatest prime factor of 442 + 1 = 1937 is 149 and thus more than 44 twice, 44 is a Størmer number.

Forty-four is a tribonacci number, an octahedral number and the number of derangements of 5 items.

44 (forty-four) is the natural number following 43 and preceding 45.

The M44 cyanide device is used for the elimination of suspected livestock predators. It uses a spring to propel a dose of sodium cyanide into the predator's mouth.

Navy Capt. Daniel Dusek will spend 44 months in prison for trading classified info for booze, food & sex

In a news story this week, "A Scottish man surgically outfitted with a so-called “bionic penis” has lost his virginity at age 44 with a sex worker who donated the session."

The Federalist No. 44 was written by James Madison and is entitled, "Restrictions on the Authority of the Several States"

"Many believe that, in Sonnet 44, Shakespeare is distraught over the absence of the Earl of Southampton, who was Shakespeare's patron for a time and perhaps his lover as well."