The Week by the Numbers: September 8-14, 2013
By Matt Phifer
12 – Years Since the September 11th Attacks
The 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was marked with memorials across the country. The names of victims were read at the site of the World Trade Center while President Obama spoke at the Pentagon. On September 10th, workers broke ground on the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
17 – Grand Slam Singles Titles Won by Serena Williams
On September 8th, Serena Williams won the U.S. Open for the fifth time, marking her 17th Grand Slam singles title. She beat Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1 to secure the title. Williams is now tied with Roger Federer on the all-time Grand Slam singles title list.
$9 Billion + – Estimated Valuation of Twitter, while has filed to IPO
On Thursday, Twitter announced that it had filed paperwork to IPO. Twitter filed confidentially, which is legal for U.S. companies defined as “emerging growth companies” that meet certain criteria, including having less than $1 billion in revenue. People familiar with employees’ private sale of Twitter stock to BlackRock Inc. have estimated the company’s value at more than $9 billion.
11.7 Billion Miles – Distance Voyager 1 is from the Earth
On Thursday, NASA announced that the Voyager 1 space probe had become the first manmade object to leave the solar system. Voyager 1, which was launched in 1977, was intended as a four-year mission to Jupiter, but 36 years and 11.7 billion miles later, the little probe with one-240,000th the memory of a low-end iPhone keeps moving. After months of analyzing the plasma around the probe, NASA decided that Voyager 1 left the solar system and entered interstellar space on August 25, 2012. Voyager 1 is expected to keep sending back data until 2025.