Compiled by Peter Y. Chou, WisdomPortal.com

Epigraphs from Tu Fu (712-770):
"True literature lasts a thousand ages." (767 A.D) from Title page
"A fame that is to last thousands of years
will rise after an unappreciated life is past."
from Epilogue
Tu Fu (712-770) William Hung, Tu Fu: China's Greatest Poet
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1952, title page & p. 281

Jean-Jacques Rousseau's 1000 sparkling lights:
On the road to Vincennes Rousseau noticed an announcement in which the Dijon Academy was offering a prize for the best essay on the subject 'Has the progress of the arts and sciences contributed to the purification or the corruption of morals?" "All at once," Rousseu wrote, "I felt myself dazzled by a thousand sparkling lights; crowds of vivid ideas thronged into my head with a force and confusion that threw me into unspeakable agitation; I felt my head whirling in a giddiness like that of intoxication. Rousseau won at the age of 38 the prize for his essay "Discours sur les sciences et les arts", and gained fame.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau's 1000 reveries:
His sojourn on the St. Pierre Island brought Rousseau a great deal of serenity
. His greatest pleasure were the excursions on the water. In his fifth "Reverie",
he describes one of these: "... all on my own I would step into a small boat,
which I conducted to the centre of the Lake, when the water was calm, and
lay down, stretching myself out, observing the sky, then let myself drift
wherever the waters might carry me, sometimes for hours on end,
immersed in a thousand reveries, of a vague but delicious nature...".

Ralph Waldo Emerson's "1000 silences" from his poem "Merops" (1847):

What care I, so they stand the same,„
Things of the heavenly mind,„
How long the power to give them name
Tarries yet behind?

Thus far to-day your favors reach,
O fair, appeasing presences!
Ye taught my lips a single speech,
And a thousand silences.

Space grants beyond his fated road
No inch to the god of day;
And copious language still bestowed
One word, no more, to say.

Franz Marc's 1000 rings:
"I saw the image which breaks up in the eyes of the water-hen when it submerges itself: the thousand rings that surround each little life, the blue of the whispering skies that the lake drinks, the ecstatic emergence into another place."
Franz Marc (1880-1916), I cento aforismi, Ed. G. Franck, Milan, 1982, p. 79
(Quoted by Massimo Cacciari, The Necessary Angel, 1994, pp. 92-93)

Kenneth Koch's One Thousand Avant-Garde Plays (Knopf, 1988)
contains 112 brilliant short dramas, splendid miniatures
full of charm, wit, and satire.
(Koch Tribute; Koch postcard, 10/12/2001)

U.S. $1000 bill shows the portrait of Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th U.S. President. These were printed in 1928 & 1934. All high-denomination bills were discontinued in July 1969, and taken out of circulation. Photo of very fine copy is sold for $4990. Only 165,372 in existence.

1001

10:01 is a novel by Lance Olsen published by Chiasmus Press, Portland (2005).
The setting is at an I-Max theater in the Mall of American, Bloomington, MN.
The random thoughts and fantasies of the movie audience is projected on screen
as the clock ticks the time digitally on the page. Online text of 10:01

1016

Elvis Presley stayed in Suite 1016 at Hollywood's The Knickerbocker Hotel
while he was shooting the film Love Me Tender (1956).
He also posed for Heartbreak Hotel photos in one of its rooms.

1063

1063 is a prime number.
Facts on 1063; Events in year 1063.
In 2018, mountain gorilla population
is more than 1,000 (Wikipedia).
Global mountain gorilla population count grows to 1,063 (wwf.panda.org)

1098

Shortfin Mako Shark weighing 1098 pounds is the largest catch
off California coast on 1-24-2010 at Anacapa Island. It can reach
a size of 13 feet in length. Lifespan of 30 years. In December 1998,
a tagged female shark swam over 1,725 miles. See "Big Fish"
(By Kurt Snibbe, Mercury News, 7-18-2021, B22).

1132

Queen Mary 2 the 1,132-foot-long Cunarder is due to arrive in New York
on Thursday, has 17 decks, 14 bars and clubs, 6 restaurants, 5 outdoor pools
and a planetarium. Being the longest cruise ship in the world— 86 feet longer
than the Chrysler Building is tall. Queen Mary 2 is also the most expensive
ship in the world, both to build and to board. It cost $800 million, and
accommodations range from $1,869 for a cabin to $27,499 for what the
Cunard Line calls a "grand duplex." (NY Times, 4-18-2004)

1221

Mako Shark weighing 1221 pounds is the
10th largest catch in the world on 7-21-2001
by Captain Chris Peters off Chatham,
Massachusetts, after a wild 3 hour battle.
"Big Fish" (Kurt Snibbe, Mercury News, 7-18-2021).

1280

Captain Bucky Dennis, a fishing guide in Port Charlotte, caught
the 1,280-pound, 14.5-foot hammerhead shark over nearly six hours Tuesday, May 23, 2006. The shark dragged his 23-foot skiff about 12 miles out to sea. It grabbed his bait, a hefty stingray, around noon in Boca Grande Pass, famous for tarpon fishing.
The largest hammerhead on record was a 991-pounder caught off Sarasota in 1982.
(NY Times, 5-27-2006). "Big Fish" (Kurt Snibbe, Mercury News, 7-18-2021) lists this as the 9th largest catch in the world.

1298

Sixgill Shark weighing 1298 pounds is the
8th largest catch in the world on 11-21-2002
by Clemens Rump off Ascension Island in the
Atlantic Ocean near the U.K. Length was 16 feet.
"Big Fish" (Kurt Snibbe, Mercury News, 7-18-2021).

1326

With his 1326th appearance at shortstop on June 8, 2021,
Brandon Crawford will pass former New York Giants infielder
and Hall of Famer Travis Jackson to top a list of players
Crawford has long admired. With three Gold Glove Awards,
two All-Star nods and a pair of World Series rings, Brandon Crawford was already the greatest Giants shortstop ever.
(Mercury News, 6-8-2021) . Photo: Crawford tips his cap
after being recognized in the first inning of the team's
baseball game against Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas.

1347

1,347-foot Valencia Peak in Montana De Oro State Park in Los Osos, CA 93402 (Photos)

1359

1359 sexy-at-any-size looks featured in the October 2004 issue of
Glamour magazine with Geri Halliwell on the cover.

1376

Pacific Blue Marlin weighing 1376 pounds is
the 7th largest catch in the world on 5-31-1982
by Jay de Beaubien at Kaaiwai Point, Kona,
Hawaii. Its length was 193 inches (16.1 feet).
"Big Fish" (Kurt Snibbe, Mercury News, 7-18-2021).

1377

WTC South Tower Observation Deck is 1377 feet high.
It was composed of an indoor observatory on the 107th floor
of the South Tower and an outdoor viewing platform atop
the tower's roof. The outdoor viewing platform was the
highest in the world when it opened in December 1975.
The elevator ride went a quarter mile in 58 seconds.
The Towers had 22 restaurants & 60 retail establishments.
On a clear day, one could see 45 miles in each direction.
The Observation Deck attracted 1.8 million visitors
per year, or 4900 a day. (Kurt Snibbe, Mercury News, 9-11-2022).

1402

Atlantic Blue Marlin weighing 1402 pounds is
the 6th largest catch in the world on 2-29-1992 by Paulo Amorim at Vitoria, Brazil. Its length was
162 inches (13.5 feet). See "Big Fish"
(By Kurt Snibbe, Mercury News, 7-18-2021).

1416

The International Dark Sky Association (IDA) has
certified 20 Dark Sky Reserves in the world, places
with "an exceptional or distinguishined quality of
starry nights & nocturnal enviroment" that are protected
so they'll stay that way. Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve
(only one in the U.S.) encompasses 1416 square miles of rugged remote lands. (Parade Magazine, July 10, 2022, p. 8)
.

1496

Bluefin Tuna weighing 1496 pounds is the 5th largest catch in the world on 10-26-1979 by Ken Fraser in Aulds Cove Nova Scotia. Fraser hooked up with his incredible bluefin while trolling a mackerel behind his boat. Took 45 minutes to haul it in.
See "Big Fish" (Kurt Snibbe, Mercury News, 7-18-2021).

1560

Black Marlin weighing 1560 pounds is the 4th largest catch in the world on 8-4-1953 taken on mackerel bait off Cabo Blanco, Peru. Maximum length of 4.65 m
(15.3 ft). More solid than their blue counterparts.
"Big Fish" (Kurt Snibbe, Mercury News, 7-18-2021).

1667

Taipei 101 with a 101-story tower and 1667-foot-high,
becomes the tallest building in the world in December 2004.

1693

Darko Baksic, the Croatian expedition leader found the world's deepest hole,
a 1693-foot pit at back of a dark cave in Velebit mountains, southwest of Zagreb.

1696

NFL: National Football League
Maximum players on each team = 53
Teams in Eastern & Western Conferences = 32
Total players in NFL = 53 x 32 = 1696

(Photo Source: logolook.net)

1708

Greenland Shark weighing 1708 pounds is the 3rd largest catch in the world on 10-18-1987 taken on a herring bait off Trondheimsfjord, Norway. 400-year-old Greenland shark is oldest vertebrate animal.
See "Big Fish" (Mercury News, 7-18-2021, B22).

1714

The Knickerbocker Hotel is located at 1714 North Ivar Avenue, Hollywood, CA.
Now, it's just an apartment house for senior citizens, but back in the 1920's,
the Knickerbocker Hotel was at the heart of Hollywood. Former guests included
Rudolph Valentino, Harry Houdini, Elvis Presley, Joe DiMaggio, Marilyn Monroe.

1729

Srinivasa Ramanujan story:
In 1917, a great mathematical genius, Ramanujan, lay ill in a London hospital.
His friend, G.H. Hardy, came to visit, and said that his taxi number was dull.
"No," Ramanujan replied, "it's an interesting number; it is the smallest number
expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways."
(1729 = 1³ +12³ = 9³ +10³ = 1 + 1728 = 729 + 1000)

1768

Sharks' Patrick Marleau Passes Gordie Howe for Most NHL Games Played
(Against the Vegas Golden Knights was the 1,768th game of his career,
which passed the legendary Gordie Howe's mark of 1,767.)
(By Scott Polacek, Bleacher Report, 4-19-2021)

1785

Tiger Shark weighing 1785 pounds is the 2nd largest catch
in the world on 3-4-2004 off Ulladulla, New South Wales, Australia. Travel over 4,660 miles, round-trip, each year between coral reefs of Caribbean & open waters of mid-North Atlantic. "Big Fish" (Mercury News, 7-18-2021, B22).

1864

1864 is a composite number.
Facts on 1864; Events in year 1864;
1864 Giant Pandas in Mutts comics;
Pandas International: Wild pandas increased to 1,864; Wikipedia (In 2013, giant pandas population was 1864).

1943

Oregon's Crater Lake is over 7700 years old and one of the clearest, purest lakes
in the world. At 1943 feet deep, it is the deepest lake in the U.S., and 9th deepest in the world. It's also home to the world's oldest upright floating log, The Old Man, a 30-foot section of mountain hemlock, first spotted in 1896. It is around 450 years old, according to carbon dating. (Parade Magazine, July 10, 2022, p. 14)

1987

SN 1987A was a supernova in the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy. It occurred approximately 51.4 kiloparsecs from Earth, close enough that it was visible to the naked eye in the Southern Hemisphere. The light from the supernova reached Earth on February 23, 1987. As the first supernova discovered in 1987, it was labeled "1987A". Since 51.4 kiloparsecs is approximately 168,000 light-years, the cosmic event itself happened approximately 168,000 years prior to its observation in 1987. (Supernova Shock Wave)

2001

George Yardley scored a NBA league-record 2001 points, averaging 27.8 points
a game, in 1957-58, the season the Fort Wayne Pistons moved to Detroit.
Previous record: 1932 points by Minneapolis Lakers George Mikan (1950-51).
(Yardley Obituary, NY Times, August 16, 2004)

2001 Einstein is an asteroid discovered on March 5, 1973.
It is named in honor of the physicist Albert Einstein.
Arthur C. Clarke joked in the postscript of his novel
3001: The Final Odyssey that he was hoping
asteroid 2001 would be named after him, and was
slightly miffed that Einstein got there first.

2080

2080 pounds is the weight of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia's Independence Mall.

2500

The 2,500-year-old Greek vase, known as a krater, was painted by Euphronios. Reversing a position it has held for more than 30 years, the Metropolitan Museum of Art said that it would relinquish the Greek vase, considered one of the world's finest, to Italy. (NY Times, Feb. 3, 2006)

2560

Heaviest Pumpkin in U.S. weighing 2560 pounds
"US record for heaviest pumpkin is set in Bay Area weigh-off" (Travis Gienger from Anoka, Minnesota, stands behind his winning pumpkin at the 49th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, CA. His Rhino Gourd weighed in at a staggering 2,560 pounds on Monday, Oct. 10. With the first-place prize set at a whopping $9 per pound, the massive gourd raked in $23,040 for Gienger. Since April, Gienger grew the pumpkin from a seed from the current world's heaviest pumpkin, a 2,702-pound gourd grown in Italy in 2021.)
(By Olivia Wynkoop, San Francisco Gate, October 10, 2022)

2664

Great White Shark weighing 2664 pounds is the largest catch
in the world on 4-21-1959 by Alf Dean off the coast around Ceduna, Australia. It was 16' 10" in length. He reeled it in only 50 minutes on 130-pound line. See "Big Fish"
(By Kurt Snibbe, Mercury News, 7-18-2021, B22).

2702

World's Heaviest Pumpkin weighing 2702 pounds
"Italian farmer breaks world record with 2,702-pound pumpkin" (Stefano Cutrupi of Radda, Italy took his pumpkin to compete at the Campionato
della Zuccone pumpkin festival in Peccioli, where
it tipped the scales at 2,702 pounds and 13.9 ounces, breaking the Guinness World Record. Previous world record of 2,624 pounds and 9.3 ounces was set in 2016 when Belgian farmer Mathias Willemijns has his own giant pumpkin weighed.)
(By Ben Hooper, UPI, October 28, 2021)

2752

2752 is the latest tally of the dead at the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001.

2973

Steph Curry becomes third player in NBA history to make 2,500 career 3-pointers
(With a triple in first quarter against the Bulls, Golden State's point guard became
third player in NBA history to reach 2,500 made 3-pointers in his career. Top Career
3-pointers: Ray Allen 2973, Reggie Miller 2560, Steph Curry 2504, Kyle Korver 2450)
(By Tommy Call III, Yahoo News, 12-27-2020)

2974

Stephen Curry's 2974 Three-Pointers broke NBA's all-time career 3-point shooting mark. Ray Allen (2,973 three-pointers), had mark since 2011, when he took the throne from Miller (2,560) to form top three long-distance scorers along with Curry, who took record away from Allen in the first quarter against the New York Knicks.
Bleacher Report (12-15-2021);
NY Times (12-14-2021)

3121

Prince took over a club in Las Vegas and renamed it 3121, after his 2006 album 3121, which briefly hit No. 1 and spawned multiple conflicting theories about the significance of the number. He played at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood for a few hundred people paying $3,121 per couple. On July 7, 2007 Prince introduced a perfume, 3121, by performing at Macy's in Minneapolis. On Aug. 1, 2007, he starts a string of no fewer than 21 sold-out arena concerts, 20,000 seats each, at the O₂ (formerly the Millennium Dome) in London at the relatively low ticket price of £31.21, about $64. (NY Times, 7-22-2007) The title of the album 3121 was believed to be a reference to the address of Prince's rented LA mansion. A lawsuit filed against Prince by the landlord (NBA player Carlos Boozer) indicates a different address (1235 Sierra Alta Way). However, Prince has repeatedly referred to the property as "3121". The lawsuit alleges he painted 3121 on the property's exterior, and the album's liner notes indicate that it was "recorded at Paisley Park Studios & 3121." The official home of Prince & the NPG is www.3121.com

3264

"There's not another place in the world like it,"
says Atlas Obscura's Dylan Thuras, who credits a
visit at age 12 to House on the Rock in Spring Green,
Wisconsin, with igniting his passion for all things unusual. Built in 1945 by collector and visionary
Alex Jordan, the house encompasses the world's largest indoor carousel, a sculpture of a squidfighting a whale that's larger than the Statue of Liberty, and an Infinity Room with 3264 windows, among other attractions.
"It's impossible to encapsulate in a single description," Thuras says.
(Parade Magazine, July 10, 2022, p. 12)

3324

The Cosmic Cliffs, the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Located 7,600 light-years distance. Visible from Southern Hemisphere, located at northwest corner of Carina Nebula (NGC 3372). Captured in infrared light by Near-Infrared Camera on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, image reveals previously obscured areas of star birth. Region is the edge of a gigantic, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324.

3435

3435 snowflakes counted by Mooch
the Cat in Patrick McDonnell's
comic strip "Mutts" (Feb. 7, 2023).
Mathematics of 3435:
3435 is not a prime number.
8 factors of 3435 are
1, 3, 5, 15, 229, 687, 1145, 3435
Sum of factors = 5520; 3435 ² = 11,799,225
3³ + 4⁴ + 3³ + 5⁵ = 3435 (27 + 256 + 27 + 3125 = 3435 )

3800

There are 3800 species of frogs and toads currently believed to inhabit the earth.
(NY Times, 6-29-2004)

3900

3900 is a composite number.
Facts on 3900; 7-15-2022:
3900 Tigers; Data obtained from
Wild Tigers: only 3900 tigers left
in the wild; Wikipedia (In 2016,
world population of wild tigers
estimated at 3,890).

4260

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is so long— 4,260 feet— that the towers are a few inches out of parallel to accommodate the curvature of the earth.

4478

The Matterhorn (Zermatt, Switzerland) at 4478 meters (14,691 feet) is one of the most popular mountain in the alps (360^o Zoom-In & Zoom-out photos.

4789

Oldest in the World: Dr. Edmund Schulman,
discovered Methuselah, a Bristlecone Pine
in 1957 and estimated its age at about 4,600 years.
The current Forest Service estimate is 4,789 years.
It is located in the Inyo National Forest. To protect
the oldest of all living things from vandalism, its
precise location is undisclosed by the U.S. Forest
Service. (Parade Magazine, July 10, 2022, p. 8)

5000

U.S. $5000 bill was issued to finance the Revolutionary War and printed when the Civil War began. The bill shows a portrait of James Madison. President Nixon ordered them recalled in 1969 due to fear of criminals using them for money laundering. Uncirculated copy on sale for $200,000. Only 400 exist.

5135

5135 Kensington Ave is the house where Esther Smith (Judy Garland) lived in the 1944 movie Meet Me in St. Louis. Cast: Her Dad Alonzo (Leon Ames), Mom Anna (Mary Astor), Sisters Rose (Lucille Bremer), Tootie (Margaret O'Brien), Agnes (Joan Carroll). Address mentioned when Judy sings "The Boy Next Door".

5280

There are 5280 feet in a mile.
Denver: Mile High City
Fifty Two Eighty (5280): Denver's Mile High Magazine
5280: The Magazine Denver Lives By

5500

5500 is a composite number.
Interesting facts on 5500;
WWF: black rhinos have doubled
from historic low 20 years ago to
around 5,500 today. & Wikipedia
(In 2019 5,500 black rhinos found).

6375

There are 6374.6 miles of streets in New York City.

6487

Thomas Jefferson sold 6487 of his own books to the
Library of Congress for $23,950 (almost half a million
2022 dollars) after the library was destroyed in the
War of 1812. Now the library hs 173 million items
including 40+ million books in 470 languages,
as well as the world's largest collection of films,
maps (5.6 million) and sheet music.
(Parade Magazine, July 10, 2022, p. 9)

7192

The bald eagle has 7,192 feathers.

7200

In November 1992, Seagate Technology introduces the first 7200 RPM disk drive.

8949

"Cats" is a sung-through musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based upon the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. It tells the story of a tribe of cats called the Jellicles and the night they make the "Jellicle choice" by deciding which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life. As of 2022, "Cats" remains the fourth-longest-running Broadway show and the seventh-longest-running West End show. The London production ran for 21 years and 8949 performances, while the Broadway production ran for 18 years and 7,485 performances, making "Cats" the longest-running musical in both theatre districts for a number of years.
(Photo Source: en.wikipedia.org)

9387

Normandy American Cemetery has 9387 headstones marking the resting places
of American troops who died in D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944 and its aftermath.

10,000

DAFFODILS (1804)

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed— and gazed— but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

— William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

U.S. $10000 bill was issued 1918, showing Salmon P. Chase. He was
a governor of, and senator from, Ohio, served as Secretary of the Treasury under Abraham Lincoln and became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Extremely fine copy on sale for $495,000.
Only a few hundred exist.

10021

The zip code 10021 in New York City's Upper East Side
will shrink to about 40% of its original size and run from the north side
of East 69th Street to the south side of East 76th. (NY Times, March 21, 2007)

10048

10048 was the World Trade Center's ZIP code in New York City.

11472

'Stomp' to close in New York in January
("Stomp", the long-running show that re-purposed mundane
items like brooms & metal garbage can lids to create a gritty
percussion stage spectacle will close in New York on Jan. 9.
When "Stomp" closes, it will have played 13 previews and 11,472 regular performances. (Photo Source: ewyorkcity.ca)
(By Nicole Herrington, Mercury News, Dec. 7, 2022, A2);

12000

Steinway concert grand No. K0862 has 12000 parts.

12388

Mount Fuji (Japan) at 12,388 feet (3776 meters) is the tallest mountain in Japan (National Geographic).

13001

Number of births in the United States during 2003:
Sundays 7,563; Mondays 11,733; Tuesdays 13,001; Wednesdays, 12,598;
Thursdays, 12,514; Fridays, 12,396; and Saturdays 8,605.
(NY Times, Jan. 10, 2006)

13925

"THEATRE: After 35 Years, 'The Phantom
of the Opera' Will Stop Haunting Broadway"
Phantom has sold 19.8 million tickets and
grossed $1.3 billion. Due to reduced ticket sales, Broadway's longest-running show will close at Broadway's Majestic Theatre on February 18, 2023,
with a record 13,925 performances.
(By Ella Feldman, Smithsonian, 9-20-2022)
The next-longest-running productions (as of Sept. 11) are:
'Chicago" (1996), 10,114 performances; "The Lion King" (1997),
9,740 performances; "Wicked" (2003), 7,268 performances;
and "The Book of Mormon" (2011), 4,131 performances.
(New York Times, 9-20-2022)

14691

The Matterhorn (Zermatt, Switzerland) at 14,691 feet (4478 meters)
is one of the most popular mountain in the alps.

15000

The Selfridges store in Birmingham, UK has 15,000 reflective aluminum discs
on a sheer cobalt blue skin.

15000 is a composite number.
Facts on 15000; Although the islands were home to at least 250,000 tortoises, only about 15,000 remain in the wild today (National Geographic);
20,000-25,000 giant tortoises live on Galápagos Islands today. (Wikipedia).

15771

Mount Blanc (France, Switzerland) at 15,771 feet (4807 meters) is the tallest mountain in France.

16108

The Hindu deity Krishna married 16,108 wives, but Radha is considered his One True Love. (NY Times, Oct. 3, 2004)

17152

Archimedes of Syracuse (287 BC - 212 BC) wrote a treatise called The Stomachion
and showed that there are 17,152 ways to put together 14 irregular strips to make
a square. (New York Times, 12-14-2003)

17162

"Fantastics" is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt
& book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story,
loosely based on 1894 play The Romancers (Les Romanesques)
by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers
who trick their children, Luisa & Matt, into falling in love
by pretending to feud. The show's original off-Broadway production ran 42 years (until 2002) & 17,162 performances,
making it the world's longest-running musical. The musical
was produced by Lore Noto. It was awarded Tony Honors
for Excellence in Theatre in 1991. The poetic book and breezy, inventive score,
including such songs as "Try to Remember", helped make the show durable.
(Photo Source: en.wikipedia.org)

17784

Steph Curry gets the record, passes Wilt Chamberlain, with 53-point performance
(Stephen Curry has surpassed Wilt Chamberlain as Golden State Warriors' all-time
leading scorer. Chamberlain, who last played for Warriors in 1965, finished his six-
year stint with 17,783 points and has been the franchise leader in career points scored for 56 years.) (By Wes Golberg, Mercury News, 4-13-2021, C1, C4)

18511

Mount Elbrus (Russia) at 18,511 feet (5642 meters) is tallest mountain in Europe.

22000

22000 is a composite number.
Facts on 22000; IUCN Red List says global polar bear population is
22,000-31,000 (polar bear science);
Biologists estimate of 20-25,000
or 22-31,000 polar bears worldwide (Wikipedia).

26389

After 26,389 Miles, Steve Fossett Sets Nonstop Flight Mark in 76 hours.
(NY Times, Feb. 12, 2006)

26588

Human genome was found to have 26,588 genes: Analysis of the genome sequence revealed 26,588 protein-encoding transcripts for which there was strong corroborating evidence and an additional approximately 12,000 computationally derived genes with mouse matches or other weak supporting evidence.
( JC Venter, et. al., Science. 2001 Feb 16;291(5507):1304-51)

28251

K2 (Pakistan, China) at 28,251 feet (8611 meters)
is the second tallest mountain in the world.

29028

Mount Everest (Nepal, China) at 29,028 feet (8848 meters)
is the tallest mountain in the world.

29,031.7

Mount Everest (Nepal, China) at 29,031.7 feet (8,848.86 meters)
is the tallest mountain in the world.
(NY Times, 12-8-2020)

58,220

Vietnam War was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and
Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon
on 30 April 1975. It was second of Indochina Wars and
was fought between North Vietnam & South Vietnam.
The north was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist states, while the south was supported by United States and other anti-communist allies. The war is considered to be a Cold War-era proxy
war. It lasted almost 20 years, with U.S. involvement ending in 1973. Conflict also spilled over into neighboring states, exacerbating the Laotian Civil War & the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist states by 1975. U.S. casualties: 58,220 dead (Memorial Day,
Mercury News, 5-28-2023, B18); (Photo Source: en.wikipedia.org)

100,000

U.S. $100,000 bill— Featuring a portrait of Woodrow Wilson, the $100,000 note was actually a gold certificate that was never circulated or issued for public use. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing created them during the Great Depression in 1934, for conducting official transactions between Federal Reserve banks. Only 42,000 of the $100,000 bills were ever printed.

117,466

World War I Battles
American casualties in World War I was 117,466. Worldwide total death was 40 million. Major Battles: Hundred Days Offensive; Spring Offensive; Battle of the Somme; Battle of Verdun; Battle of Passchendaele; Serbian Campaign; First Battle of the Marne; Battle of Gallipoli; Battle of Arras; Battle of Tannenberg.
Photo: World War I: Battle at Arras
(April 9-May 16, 1917).

120,139

A record attendance of 120,139 people showed up (6-5-2004) at the 136th Belmont Stakes to witness Smarty Jones become the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.
But he lost by a length to Birdstone whose odds was 36-1.

139,121

Patent 139121 awarded to Jacob Davis in 1873.
On May 20, 1873, Levi Strauss & Jacob Davis received their patent for riveted pants. May 2022 marks the 165th year since the San Francisco clothing company first made them. Davis wrote to his supplier, San Francisco-based Levi Strauss & Co., in 1872 asking for help getting
a patent for his invention. Strauss paid the $68 patenting fee. They were awarded the patent in 1873 & blue jeans were born. Originally
called "waist overalls," they sold for $3 a pair in 1873 ($58 in 2022).
Sales soared to miners in the California gold rush.
"Levi Jeans" (By Kurt Snibbe, Mercury News, 5-22-2022, B17).

191,200

A baseball signed by New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio and actress Marilyn Monroe sold for $191,200 in a sports memorabilia auction (May 5, 2006), Heritage Auction Galleries. DiMaggio and Monroe autographed the ball during Yankees' 1961 spring training
in Florida when they were trying to reconcile after divorcing.
[Lot #19023] (NY Times, May 7, 2006)

359,000

Number of births in the United States: 2002: August 359,000; July 358,000
2003: July 364,226; August 360,103; September 359,644; February 307,248
Thursdays, 12,514; Fridays, 12,396; and Saturdays 8,605.
(NY Times, Jan. 10, 2006)

407,300

World War II (1941-1945).
Fought between Allied Powers (United States, Britain, France, China, Russia) against the Axis (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan). World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; resulting in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. 407,300
Americans died in World War II.
Photo; World War II in the Pacific

620,000

American Civil War (1861-1865).
Fought between the United States (the Union or "the North") and Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed by 11 states that seceded. Central cause of the war was abolition of slavery. In total, war left between 620,000 & 750,000 soldiers dead, making Civil War the deadliest military conflict in American history.

1,000,000

Why is this glorious creature to be found
One only in ten thousand? What one is,
Why may not millions be? What bars are thrown
By Nature in the way of such a hope?
William Wordsworth, The Prelude, XIII.87-90
Quoted by Emerson, Journals, July 30, 1866

6,592,320

COVID-19 is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly spread worldwide, resulting in COVID-19 pandemic. Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable,
but often include fever, cough, headache, fatigue, breathing difficulties, loss of smell, and loss of taste. Symptoms may begin 1-14 days after exposure to the virus. WHO; CDC; 6,592,320 worldwide death; 1,070,947 U.S. death (11-15-2022). Photo Source: COVID-19 aapnainfotech.com

34,000,000

U.S. Dept. of Agriculture reported, during the holiday
season between Thanksgiving & Christmas last year (2018), 34 million poinsettia plants were sold in the U.S. 2018 Top Sales States: California 7 million, North Carolina 3.8 million, Michigan 2.7 million, N.Y. 2.7 million, Pennsylvania 2.5 million, Ohio 2.3 million, Florida
2.2 million, Virginia 2.2 million. Joel Poinsett, 1st U.S. ambassador to Mexico in 1828, introduced plant to U.S. Poinsettia named after him by European botanical society.
(By Kurt Snibee, Mercury News, 12-1-2019, B19)

37,300,000

37.3 million Americans— about 1 in 10— have diabetes.
About 1 in 5 people with diabetes don't know they have it.
In 2019, about 1.4 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed.
For 10-19-year-olds, new cases of Type 2 diabetes increased, especially Black teens.
For adults with diabetes, 69% had high blood pressure, & 4.4% had high cholesterol. (By Kurt Snibee, Mercury News, 7-17-2022, B16)

50,000,000

Spanish Flu Pandemic (1918-1918)
The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history.
It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is
not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide
during 1918-1919. In the U.S., it was first identified in military personnel in
spring 1918. About 500 million people or 1/3 of the world's population became
infected with this virus. Number of deaths was at least 50 million worldwide
with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. (Photo Source: history.co.uk)

51,361,400

"The Man Who Cashed Out 45 Years Worth of Pennies" (Otha Anders collected pennies for 45 years, filling fifteen 5-gallon water jugs;
Ruston Origin Bank in Louisiana counted that Anders managed to save up to $5136.14, that's 51,361,400 pennies. That is $114.14 picked up from the ground & those saved each year.)
(By Gabrielle Moses, Science A2z, Oct. 5, 2022)
(Photo Source: Science-a2z.com)

75,000,000

'Mattress Mack' cashes $75 million on Houston Astros World Series, largest payout in U.S. sports betting history Businessman Jim McIngvale won $75 million after Astros topped Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 in Game 6 on Nov. 5. McIngvale spread his bets across multiple sportsbooks, putting $3 million on the Astros to win the World Series at Caesars at 10/1 along with another million at WynnBet. Later in the season he dropped $2 million at BetMGM at 5/1 with another $2 million at Barstool. Finally, he spent $1 million each at Unibet and Betfred. No book will pay out more than Caesars, who takes a $30 million hit. (By Cory Woodroof, USA Today, Nov. 5, 2022)

93,000,000

Astronomical Unit (AU) is a unit of length, roughly the distance from Earth
to the Sun. That distance varies as Earth orbits the Sun, from a maximum (aphelion) to a minimum (perihelion) and back again once a year. Originally conceived as the average of Earth's aphelion and perihelion, since 2012 it has
been defined as exactly 149597870700 metres or about 150 million kilometres
(93 million miles). AU is used primarily for measuring distances within the
Solar System or around other stars.

104,300,000

Alberto Giacometti's sculpture Walking Man I (1961) sold for
world record price $104,300,000 for an artwork at Sotheby's
Auction in London (February 3, 2010). Previous record was
$104.1 million, for a 1905 Pablo Picasso's Boy With a Pipe, at
Sotheby's in New York in 2004. Giacometti made 6 editions.
(By Carol Vogel, New York Times, February 3, 2010)
Giacometti's Walking Man appears on the reverse of the
100 Swiss Francs banknote issued in 1996. (Poem & Notes)

200,000,000

Bubonic Plague or Black Death
(1346-1353) occurred in Western Eurasia & North Africa. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the deaths of 75-200 million people, peaking in Europe from 1347
to 1351. Bubonic plague is caused by bacterium Yersinia pestis spread by fleas, but it can also take a secondary form where it is spread by person-to-person contact via aerosols causing septicaemic or pneumonic plagues. Photo Source: plaguedoctormasks.com)

292,201,338

The odds of hitting the grand prize jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338,
regardless of the jackpot sizeÑaccording to Powerball's website.
11/05/22 Powerball jackpot was worth $1.6 billion
winning numbers: 28-45-53-56-69 with Powerball of 20
11/02/22 Powerball jackpot $1.2 billion
winning numbers: 02-11-22-35-60 with Powerball of 23
$1.586 billion (01/13/2016) Winning tickets in CA, FL and TN.
(By Scott McDonald, Newsweek, 11-5-2022)

300,000,000

Malaria (20th century)
occupies a unique place in the annals of history. Over millennia,
its victims have included Neolithic dwellers, early Chinese and
Greeks, princes and paupers. In the 20th century alone, malaria
claimed between 150 million and 300 million lives, accounting
for 2 to 5% of all deaths. Although its chief sufferers today are
the poor of sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Amazon basin, and
other tropical regions, 40% of world's population still lives
in areas where malaria is transmitted. Main defense against
malaria is Artemisinin drug. (Image Source: fineartamerica.com)

450,000,000

450 million jeans are sold in America each year.
Average American owns seven pairs of blue jeans.
North America accounts for 39% of global purchases for jeans,
followed by Western Europe at 20%, Japan and Korea at 10%
and rest of the world at 31%. U.S. spent more than $15 billion
on jeans in 2005. Global denim jeans market size was at $68.67 billion in 2019. (By Sarah Keene, Pink Clubwear, January 19, 2022)

450,300,000

Leonardo da Vinci's painting Salvator Mundi (1500) sold for
world record price $450,300,000 for an artwork at Christie's
Auction in New York (November 15, 2017). Previous record
was Interchange (1955) by Willem de Kooning. It was sold by the
David Geffen Foundation to Kenneth C. Griffin. for $300 million.
Mystery Buyer of $450 Million 'Salvator Mundi' Was a Saudi Prince" (By David D. Kirkpatrick, NY Times, 12-6-2017); "The Invention of the 'Salvator Mundi' Or, How to Turn a $1,000 Art-Auction Pickup Into a $450 Million Masterpiece" (By Matthew Shaer, 4-14-2019); "The Last Leonardo by Ben Lewis review Ð secrets of the worldÕs most expensive painting" (By Charles Nicholl, The Guardian, 4-17-2019).

2.04 billion

$2.04 billion Powerball winning on Nov. 8, 2022
"LOTTERY: Winning ticket sold in Altadena for record $2.04-billion Powerball jackpot" Winning numbers in the drawing were 10, 33, 41, 47, 56. Red Powerball number was 10. One lucky winner bought nation's only matching Powerball ticket worth $2.04 billion at an Altadena gas station. Winner hasn't yet come forward, but Joseph Chahayed, owner of the service station on
West Woodbury Road, will be receiving a $1-million bonus check for selling
the $2.04-billion jackpot-winning ticket. (Photo Source: time.com)
(By Grace Toohey & Gregory Yee, LA Times, Yahoo News, 11-8-2022)

8,549,176,320

What is unique about this 8 billion+ number?
It comprises all the digits from zero through nine in alphabetical order.
Eight-Five-Four-Nine-One-Seven-Six-Three-Two-Zero
— Ask Marilyn, Parade, December 30, 2018, p. 11

37 billion

Acres of land on earth = 37 billion

100 billion

Over 100 billion bananas
per year are eaten across the globe.
(Source: Fun Banana Facts)
Trivia on the back of the cereal box
Quaker Instant Oatmeal Strawberry-Banana

All the people who ever lived = 100 billion

120 billion

Number of neurons in human brain at about 85 billion:
12-15 billion in telencephalon (Shariff, 1953), 70 billion in cerebellum, as granule cells (Lange, 1975), & fewer than
1 billion in brainstem. With more recent estimates of 21-26
billion neurons in cerebral cortex (Pelvig et al., 2008) and 101 billion neurons in cerebellum (Andersen et al., 1992), however, total number of neurons in human brain would increase to over 120 billion neurons. Neuron Facts; Photo;
"The Human Brain in Numbers: A Linearly Scaled-up Primate Brain"
By Suzana Herculano-Houzel1, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Vol. 3, 31 (2009)

150 billion

Number of pennies in use = 150 billion

400 billion

Number of stars in the Milky Way = 400 billion

635 billion

Possible hands for one Bridge player = 635 billion

2.77 trillion

President George W. Bush's budget proposal = $2.77 trillion

3,000,000,000,000,000,000 (3 quintillion)

Blades of Grass in the world
According to Oklahoma's Museum of Natural History,
one square foot of grassland has, on average, 3,000 blades.
Planet Earth has 510,072,000 square kilometer area)
29.2% of the earth's surface is covered with land area.
20% of our total land surface is covered with grass
One square km area accommodates 10¹² blades of grass
(10¹²) x (29.8 x10⁶) = 3 x 10¹⁸ blades of grass.
(Photo Source: Blades of Grass lawnweedexpert.co.uk)

43,252,003,274,489,856,000 (43 quintillion)

Rubik's Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle invented by Ernö Rubik in 1974. As of January 2009, 350 million cubes had been sold worldwide, making it the world's top-selling puzzle game. Book Cubed published (9-15-2020). World Cube Association founded in 2004 to sponsor worldwide competition in Cube-solvings. Yusheng Du of China set the world record of 3.47 seconds in 2018. NY Times, 9-16-2020.
(YouTube: Du Yusheng Record in 3.47 seconds; Analysis)

4,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 (4.6 sextillion)

Grains of sand on earth
20 grains of sand along one side of a centimeter cube.
# of grains in 1 cm cube = 20 x 20 x 20 = 8,000 grains.
Grains in a meter cube = 8000 x 10⁹ = 8 x 10¹².
Volume of sand in deserts & beaches =
95,915,160,000,000 + 57,660,000,000 = 9.6 x 10¹³ m³
(Grains in meter cube) x (Volume of Sand on earth) =
(8 x 10¹²) x (9.6 x 10¹³) = 4.6 x 10²³ sand grains.
(Photo Source: Gobi Desert boffinsportal.com)

270,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (270 sextillion)

Drops of water in the oceans
A water drop corresponds to 0.05 ml.
A liter of water contains closely to 20,000 drops,
Oceans' volume is 352,670,000 trillion gallons =
1.335 x 10²¹ liters; (20,000) x (1.335 x 10²¹) =
270 x 10²³ drops of water in the ocean.
(Photo Source: Water in Ocean pxhere.com)