The Golden Gate Bridge, built at the height of the Great Depression, was a Wonder of the modern world. It’s construction took more than a million tons of concrete and almost that much steel. The bridge is held up by 122 steel cables, each composed of hundreds of strands and weighing 200 tons. There are 61 cables on each side of the bridge; 61 is a centered hexagonal number.
Centered hexagonal numbers have practical applications in materials logistics management, for example, in packing round items into larger round containers, such as Vienna sausages into round cans, or combining individual wire strands into a cable.
The first 18 centered hexagonal numbers, for n = 1, 2, 3, 4, …, 18 are:
1, 7, 19, 37, 61, 91, 127, 169, 217, 271, 331, 397, 469, 547, 631, 721, 817, 919.
Here, the rightmost (least significant) digits follow the pattern 1–7–9–7–1, 1-7-9-7-1.
For n= 2, for example, imagine 7 Vienna sausages packed in a can. The hexagon pattern has 2 sausages on each side of the hexagon, and 1 in the center: 7 sausages.
In the Golden Gate Bridge cables example in the previous post, for 61 cables wrapped together in a hexagon, 61 is the 4th centered hexagonal number in the sequence, so the hexagon pattern has 4 cables on each side of the hecagon.
The Beatles’ first Cavern Club show took place on February 9, 1961.
Wyatt Earp was a famous lawman, but Earp’s career was quite varied: he was arrested for horse theft and employment in a brothel; and charged with several murders. Among several movies made about Earp was My Darling Clementine with Henry Fonda (not to be confused with another film, O My Darling, Clementine). The movie gets its name from its theme song, which begins with the word “In a cavern, in a canyon.”
With an average depth of 7,440 feet (2,268 m) and a length of 150 miles (240 km), the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in Tibet is the largest canyon in the world, although the Grand Canyon in North America is longer (277 mi./446 km) and wider (up to 18 mi./29 km)
The D-haplogroup of human Y-chromosome is associated primarily with Japanese Ainu, Andamanese Islanders, and Tibet. Y-chromosome chronology is still uncertain, but the D-haplogroup probably separated from all other haplogroups before the Toba supereruption 700+ centuries ago.
Emperor Akihito, eldest son of Emperor Hirohito of World War II notoriety, is not technically the Japanese head of state, but functions in that capacity in all but name.
There were four British Emperors of British India; George VI was the last Emperor.
Beatle George Harrison’s only child, Dhani Harrison, married long-time girlfriend Solveig ‘Sola’ Karadottir in June of 2012. Sola’s father is Kári Stefánsson, co-founder of deCODE Genetics
Actor Rex Harrison, or Sir Reginald Carey “Rex” Harrison, won the 1964 best actor Oscar for his role in My Fair Lady.
In real life , Sir John Gielgud was famous for social faux pas and mistakes, to the point his friends referred to them as “Gielgoofs”.
Who is the Japanese head of state?
John Gielgud’s last film was “Elizabeth”, starring Cate Blanchett, in which he played Pope Pius V.
Diminutive forms of the name “Elizabeth” include Bess, Bessie, Beth, Betsy, Betty, Buffy, Elisa, Eliza, Ella, Elsa, Elyse, Libby, Lillian, Liz, Liza, Lizbeth, Lizette, Lizzie, Lizzy, and Leanna.
All British monarchs since George I are descended from James I’s daughter Elizabeth, who married Frederick V, Elector Palatine, who ruled briefly as King of Bohemia.
Under the postwar constitution, they don’t have one. But the Emperor is their de facto head of state.
A fictional King of Bohemia is Sherlock Holmes’s client in the early Arthur Conan Doyle short story, “A Scandal in Bohemia.”
Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery produces several beers, including Carta Blanca, Indio, Sol, Bohemia, Dos Equis, Tecate, Moctezuma, Noche Buena, Sito de Kaiser, Casta, and Superior.
Lake Superior has the largest surface area of any freshwater lake, but Lake Baikal in Siberia has by far the greatest volume; it contains about 20% of all freshwater on Earth.
The beluga sturgeon, which is indigenous to the Black and Caspian Seas, is the largest freshwater fish in the world.
Sirius Black was played by British actor Gary Oldman in several of the Harry Potter films. The character was killed in a wizards’ battle at the Ministry of Magic.
The brightest star in the night sky is Sirius, also known as the “Dog Star” because of its prominence in its constellation, Canis Major (Greater Dog).