The Week by the Numbers: July 28 – August 3
By Matt Phifer
1 – Alabama’s Preseason Ranking in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll
The preseason USA TODAY Coaches Poll was released on August 2nd and the defending champion Alabama Crimson Tide were ranked first in the country. Alabama has won three of the last four BCS National Championships.
162,000 – Jobs added in July
The July jobs numbers revealed that the economy added 162,000 jobs. More than half the jobs were in retail and the leisure and hospitality industries. The unemployment rate has dropped to 7.4 percent.
Life + 1,000 Years – Ariel Castro’s Sentence
Ariel Castro was sentenced to life plus 1,000 years in a Cleveland courtroom on August 1st. Castro plead guilty to 937 counts, including murder and kidnapping. Castro admitted to holding three women captive and raping them over a period that stretched over a decade. He fathered a child with one of them.
The Week By the Numbers: July 14-20, 2013
By Matt Phifer
7.5% – China’s Second Quarter Growth
China is the second largest economy in the world and it grew 7.5% in the second quarter over what it had the previous year. That is down from 7.7% growth from January to March. The Chinese government has set 7.5% growth as a target for all of 2013. That would mark the lowest rate of expansion in over two decades.
37 – Home Runs by Orioles slugger Chris Davis, tying the AL record at the All-Star break
Orioles first baseman Chris Davis launched his 37th home run of the season over the fences in the Orioles’ 7-4 win over the Blue Jays on July 14th. That ties Davis with Reggie Jackson for the most home runs by an American League player by the All-Star break. Jackson hit 37 home runs by the All-Star break in 1960 while playing for the Athletics. Mark McGwire holds the record for the most home runs by a player at the All-Star break with 39 in 2001.
95th – Birthday Celebrated by Nelson Mandela on July 18th
On July 18th Nelson Mandela, the former anti-Apartheid leader and President of South Africa, celebrated his 95th birthday. Mandela spent his birthday in a hospital where doctors said he was showing steady improvement from a six-week long lung infection.
5,000th – Daily Point of Light Award Presented
On July 15th, President Obama presented the 5,000th Daily Point of Light Award to Floyd Hammer and Kathy Hamilton. The two retired farm owners from Union, Iowa started a non-profit organization that delivers meals to hungry children around the United States and east Africa. The award was started by President George H.W. Bush in 1989 to recognize volunteer service.
$18-20 Billion – The likely debt of the city of Detroit
On July 18th, the city of Detroit filed for bankruptcy, making it the largest American city to ever take such a course of action. Emergency Manager Kevyn D. Orr says that the city’s debt is likely to be between $18 billion and $20 billion. Detroit has shrunk considerably in recent decades. 1.8 million people inhabited the city in 1950, but that number has dropped to 700,000.
The Week By the Numbers Two Week Extravaganza: A Star-Spangled Special
By Matt Phifer
After taking a small hiatus from The Week By the Numbers over the 4th of July holiday, I decided to return with an All-American numerical special. Enjoy!
9 – Number of U.S. Territories
In addition to the 50 states, the United States owns nine territories including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Guam and the Midway Islands.
150 – Years since the Battle of Gettysburg
Civil War re-enactors portray a cavalry battle at the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg re-enactment on July 6. (Photo by Matt Phifer)
From July 1-3, the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania commemorated the 150th anniversary of the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War. There were an estimated 51,000 casualties in the battle, which is considered the turning point in the War Between the States.
237 – The Age of the United States
July 4 marked the 237th anniversary of the United States declaring its independence from Great Britain. Yet contrary to popular opinion, most of the signers of the declaration did not sign on July 4th, 1776. The only two who signed the document on that day were President of the Second Continental Congress John Hancock and Congressional Secretary Charles Thomson.
1931 – The Year the Star-Spangled Banner was named the National Anthem of the United States
The Star-Spangled Banner was originally a poem called the Defence of Fort McHenry, which was written by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key, while observing the British attack on Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812. The poem refers to the fact that after the battle the American flag or “star-spangled banner” was still waving. The tune the words were eventually put to is actually a Welsh drinking song.
Over 316 million – The Population of the United States
According to the United States Census Bureau, the population of the U.S. is over 316 million people.
The Week by the Numbers: June 16-22, 2013
By Matt Phifer
Sometimes the real story is in the numbers.
0 – Men on George Zimmerman’s Jury
Last week the six person jury was assembled for George Zimmerman’s trial in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. All six jurors are women and none of them are black. Zimmerman is accused of second-degree murder. He claims he was acting in self defense when he killed the Florida teenager. Martin’s murder set off a firestorm concerning race and Florida’s stand-your-ground law.
3 – Charges against NSA leaker Edward Snowden
Late Friday afternoon it was revealed that the Justice Department was charging NSA leaker Edward Snowden with one count of theft of government property as well as two counts under the Espionage Act, including “unauthorized communication of national defense information” and “willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person.” Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Over the weekend the United States unsuccessfully tried to extradite Snowden from Hong Kong. According to the latest reports Snowden is currently in Moscow seeking asylum in Ecuador.
+13 – Tiger Woods’ U.S. Open Score, his worst 72-hole score in a major as a pro
Tiger Woods ended the U.S. Open with a final round score of 74 en route to a final score of 293, 13-over-par. Woods’ 13-over-par finish is his worst in 72 holes at a major tournament in his professional career.
14 Years – Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s New Sentence
Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s was re-sentenced to 14 years in prison on Friday as part of a court-ordered reduction of his original sentence. Skilling was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2006 for his part in the collapse of energy company Enron, but a federal appeals court vacated the original prison term in 2009, stating that the sentence was improperly applied. The re-sentencing was delayed as Skilling appealed the charges against him. In addition to his prison time, $40 million of Skilling’s earnings will be distributed to the victims of Enron’s collapse. Skilling was originally found guilty of 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors in trying to make Enron look like a success while the business crumbled.
Over 50 – Terrorist Attacks Thwarted by the NSA
On Tuesday, General Keith Alexander, the director of the National Security Administration, told the House Intelligence Committee that over 50 terrorist attacks had been thwarted by the two now controversial programs that monitored cell phone and internet data. Deputy FBI Director Sean Joyce revealed that one of these plots was to blow up the New York Stock Exchange.
The Week by the Numbers: June 9-15, 2013
By Matt Phifer
Sometimes the real story is in the numbers. This week is a short post, but these numbers pack a punch.
.161 – Ike Davis’ Batting Average When Demoted to the Minor Leagues
New York Met Ike Davis was demoted to the team’s Triple-A affiliate on June 9 after a dismal first portion of the season. Davis’ batting average was just .161, the worst of any player in the Major Leagues with enough at bats to qualify for a batting title. His slugging percentage against balls in the strike zone was just .333, which is down from .634 in 2012.
9,000-10,000 – The number of U.S. government requests for information from Facebook in the second half of 2012.
In the wake of the revelations that the NSA has allegedly been requesting information such as phone records, Facebook revealed in a blog post on June 14 that they received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests for information from U.S. government entities in the second half of 2012. The blog post said this ran the gamut from “things like a local sheriff trying to find a missing child, to a federal marshal tracking a fugitive, to a police department investigating an assault, to a national security official investigating a terrorist threat.” Facebook said the data requests applied to between 18,000 and 19,000 accounts. Comparatively, there are 1.1 billion active Facebook users around the globe.
The Week by the Numbers: June 2-8 , 2013
By Matt Phifer
Sometimes the real story is in the numbers and this past week had some pretty fascinating and big numbers.
2 – The Number of Countries That Coca-Cola Does Not Do Business In
On June 4 Coca-Cola opened a new bottling plant in Myanmar. The move comes after the United States lifted economic sanctions on the country, which was ruled by a military junta from 1962-2011. Now Coca-Cola does business in every country in the world except North Korea and Cuba.
2:55 PM– The Least Productive Time of Day
A survey by LondonOffices.com revealed that 2:55 PM is the least productive time of day. Many of the workers surveyed said they go on Facebook and Twitter at this time, while others begin planning their evening. In contrast, 10:26 AM was revealed as the most productive time of the day.
2.6 Miles – The Widest Tornado on Record
On June 4 the National Weather Service reported that the EF-5 tornado that struck El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31 was 2.6 miles wide, which makes it the widest twister on record. Its winds reached a staggering 295 MPH. As of June 3 the Oklahoma medical examiner’s office reported that the tornado and subsequent flooding killed 18 people, including six children, and sent another 115 people to area hospitals.
$12.5 Million – The Price Tag of Napster Co-Founder Sean Parker’s Wedding
Napster co-founder and former Facebook president Sean Parker agreed to pay $2.5 million to the California Coastal Commission on June 3 for his lavish wedding held over the weekend. According to the AP, Parker built a rustic cottage, fake ruins, waterfalls, staircases and a dance floor near the redwood forest and a stream with threatened steelhead trout, an area in which the California Coastal Commission must approve construction. The commission learned of the construction through a complaint. The total cost Parker’s wedding to Alexandra Lenas was already $10 million before the June 3 settlement. The additional $2.5 million will reportedly go to coastal conservation programs.
$33,765,000 – The World Record Price of a Persian Rug
A 17th-Century Persian rug sold for $33,765,000 to an anonymous bidder at a Sotheby’s auction on June 5. The bid shattered the previous record of $9.6 million for a 17th-century rug from Iran that was sold in London in 2010. The roughly 8-by-6 foot rug sold Wednesday features swirling vines and vibrant colors. The auction company estimated that the rug would sell for between $5 million and $7 million.