The Week by the Numbers: September 1-7, 2013
By Matt Phifer
4th – Ranking of the Rim Fire in California
On September 1st, the Rim Fire was officially denoted as the fourth largest wildfire in California’s history as it reached a whopping 351 square miles, bigger than the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose combined. California starting ranking the size of wildfires in 1932. The fire started August 17 in Stanislaus National Forest and has also affected Yosemite National Park.
7 – Touchdowns thrown by Peyton Manning in an NFL Record Tying Performance
The new NFL season started with a bang Thursday as Peyton Manning threw an NFL record tying seven touchdown passes in the Denver Broncos’ 49-27 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Only six other quarterbacks in pro football history have thrown for seven touchdowns, the last one being the Minnesota Vikings’ Joe Kapp in 1969, making Manning the first to accomplish the feat since the NFL-AFL merger.
52 Hours, 54 Minutes and 18.6 Seconds – Diana Nyad’s time swimming between Cuba and Florida
On September 2nd 64-year-old long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad became the first person to ever complete the 111-mile swim between Cuba and the Florida Keys without a shark cage. It took her 52 hours, 54 minutes and 18.6 seconds to complete the swim. This was Nyad’s fifth attempt at the swim. Her previous attempts were cut short due to shoulder pain, an asthma attack and on more than one occasion, jellyfish stings. This time Nyad wore a mask to protect her from jellyfish stings. Nyad addressed the crowd gathered at the shore to greet her saying, “I’ve got three messages: One is, we should never, ever give up. Two is you never are too old to chase your dreams. Three is, it looks like it’s a solitary sport, but it’s a team.”
169,000 – Jobs added in the U.S. in August
Friday’s jobs report showed that the U.S. added 169,000 jobs in August and that the unemployment dropped from 7.4 percent in July to 7.3 percent. Part of the lower unemployment rate can be accredited to nearly 312,000 people who dropped out of the labor force.
$130 Billion – Amount Verizon Wireless will pay Vodafone for its U.S. wireless business
On September 2nd Verizon Wireless announced that it would buy Vodafone’s 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion, the third largest corporate deal in history. Vodafone will return $84 billion of the proceeds including stock to its shareholders and ramp up its investment in its networks.