The Week by the Numbers: August 18-24, 2013
By Matt Phifer
3 Hours – Roughly the time that the Nasdaq was down on August 22
The Nasdaq halted trading for nearly 3 hours on Thursday due to what the Nasdaq called a “connectivity issue.” Nasdaq OMX, which runs the Nasdaq Exchange has always tried to be innovative as the “high-tech” market, but the Nasdaq has been plagued by a number of problems, including Facebook stock opening late when it was to IPO in May 2012.
35 – Number of Years Bradley Manning has been sentenced to Prison
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison, reduced a rank and dishonorably discharged from the military for leaking thousands of government documents to Wikileaks. Manning’s document release was the largest leak of classified documents in American history. Prosecutors originally requested that Manning be sentenced to 60 years in prison. The 25-year-old Manning will get credited for the time he served plus 112 days. Manning, who says he is a woman and asks to be referred to as Chelsea Manning, will be eligible for parole after serving one-third of his sentence.
40 – Number of Years After their Perfect Season that the ’72 Dolphins were honored at the White House
It had been 40 years since the 1972 Dolphins achieved a 17-0 record, the only time an NFL team has ever gone through a Super Bowl winning season unscathed. Finally, four decades later the team was recognized at the White House by President Obama. The tradition of honoring professional sports champions at the White House did not yet exist in 1972 and even if it had, the Nixon Administration was probably too preoccupied with Watergate to worry about sports champions.
300 – Metric Tons of Highly-Radioactive Water leaked from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant
Over 300 metric tons of highly radioactive water has recently leaked out of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. The water is said to be radioactive enough that a person standing half a meter away would be exposed to five times the average annual global limit of radiation for nuclear workers.
340 – Hours of the Nixon Tapes Released
The final 340 hours of Nixon tapes were released by the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. These tapes include detailed conversations involving Watergate as well as conversations with future presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. The tapes also include a leadership summit with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in June 1973. The final release caps a 17-year release of about 3,700 secretly recorded interactions during the Nixon Administration.