Knowledge Tuesdays: March 8, 1982 and the Number 29

Today is my 29th birthday, and I thought today I'd mention a few facts about March 8th and the number 29.

I was born on March 8, 1982 at 6:55 AM. Here are some other important people also born on that day.

March 8, 1982

1982 – Nicolas Armindo, French race car driver

1982 – Kat Von D, Mexican-born tattoo artist

1982 – Leonidas Kampantais, Greek footballer

1982 – Craig Stansberry, American baseball player

1982 - Nicoleta Onel, Romanian gymnast

1982 – Cherie Reich, American author (I can dream, right?)

Besides my birthday, there are some other holidays celebrated or possibly celebrated on March 8th. 

Holidays on March 8

Christian Feast Day:

          * John of God

          * Philemon the actor

Earliest day on which Canberra Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in March. (Australian Capital Territory)

Earliest day on which Commonwealth Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in March. (Commonwealth of Nations)

Earliest day on which Passion Sunday can fall, while April 11 is the latest; observed on the fifth Sunday of Lent. (Christianity)

International Women's Day or Mother's Day (primarily Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet bloc)

Revolution Day (Syria)

It so happens to be Mardi Gras today this year.

And, I turned 29 today. Yes, my last year in my twenties, although there is part of me that's very excited to turn 30 next year.

Here are some fun facts about the number 29.

29       

Successive primes up to 29 are separated at most by 3 integers (the mean gap being 2).

is the smallest prime of the form 7n + 1.

is the 7th Lucas number.

is a Perrin number. In mathematics, the Perrin sequence is defined by the recurrence relation: P(0) = 3, P(1) = 0, P(2) = 2;

and P(n) = P(n - 2) + P(n - 3), for n > 2.

is the 3rd number n (following 1 and 5) such that 2n2 - 1 is a square, in fact: 2 x 292 - 1 = 412 -- Source: 'Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers' by David Wells

is the exponent of the largest power of 2 whose digits are all distinct: 229 = 536 870 912

= 22 + 32 + 42 (sum of 3 consecutive squares)

= 3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 13 (sum of consecutive primes)

= square root(6! + (6! + 6)/6)

= (2 x 9) + (2 + 9)

292 = 212 + 202 (Pythagorean triple)

TWENTY NINE is the only number written with as many strokes as its numerical value.

The probability of being born on 29th February is 1/1,461.

Bob Morris wrote:

Is really 1/1,461 the probability of being born on February 29? If leap years occurred once every four years, it would be, but there are a couple of additional rules for determining if a year is a leap year. If it is divisible by 100, it is not a leap year, but if it is divisible by 400, then it is a leap year (for example, 1900 was NOT a leap year because it is divisible by 100. The year 2000 IS a leap year because it is evenly divisible by 100 and by 400). This means that in any 400 year period, there are 365 x 400, or 146,000, non-leap days. Leap days number 100 (one every four years) - 4 (one every hundred years) + 1 (one every four hundred years), so there are 97 leap days every 400 years.

The probability of being born on February 29 is therefore 97/146,097.

Leap Year Checker

Is the year: a leap year? Answer:

29.783 km/s is the average orbital speed of the Earth around the Sun.

29.53 days is the amount of time for the Moon to complete one orbit around the Earth (synodic month).

The planet Saturn requires over 29 years to orbit the Sun (solar revolution).

is the number of bones in a normal human skull.

is the number of days February has on leap years.

In numerology, 29 is a very unlucky number and indicates uncertainties, treachery and deception from others. It also stands for dangers, unreliable friends, grief and deception from the opposite sex.

In the Tarot, the 29 is represented by the 3 of Wands. It infers spiritual power, introspection, reflection and receptivity.

Twenty-Eight

Yesterday on March 8, I turned twenty-eight. Yes, that's right. Yesterday was my birthday. It's hard to believe that I'm twenty-eight already. Ten years ago, I was eighteen and in my last year of high school. So much has changed in ten years. The most major change was my career goals.

In high school and part of college, I wanted to be an opera singer. I imagined myself singing on the great stages, like La Scala and the Met. I wanted to be on Broadway. The funny thing about dreams like that is that they don't always come true. I was a fair singer with some talent, but I lacked the drive to practice the way I should have. When I went to Missouri State University, I started out in Vocal Performance, had a horrible and unsupportive voice teacher, and learned that it would take five years to complete my degree. I didn't have the money nor the nerves to continue with vocal performance as my major.

Flipping through the course catalog, my dad mentioned the Antiquities degree. No, it doesn't mean I studied antiques. I changed my major to Classics with a minor in the Ancient Near East. I didn't know what I wanted to do with this degree, but I enjoyed the classes and professors too much to care what would happen when I graduated. Of course, when I graduated, I felt like a feather in the wind. I didn't know what to do with my life.

Things have changed a lot from even the five years (December 2010) since I graduated with my B.A. from MSU. I am a library assistant and am an aspiring writer. If you would have told me ten years ago that I would be an aspiring writer with published works, I would have said you were crazy. It's not anything I ever dreamed of, but as I said before, dreams are funny like that.

For the next ten years, I hope to continue with writing and being a librarian, including eventually getting my Masters in Library Science. The last twenty-eight years were pretty good, but I hope the next twenty-eight are even better.

And, speaking of good news and such, I had my first acceptance of 2010. I won third place in the Big Read. My short story "A Lesson Learned" will be published in the upcoming issue of the Virginia English Bulletin. I'm so excited about this, since it is a literary magazine. I don't know all the details yet, but I'll keep everyone updated.

I currently have six stories out there in submission world. I should know about one in the next day or so. The first three days of March were difficult (three rejections in three days), but with an acceptance like winning a contest, it makes it all worth it.