Anomalous Numbers

1. How long is 8 mile road?

Spanning more than 20 miles across metropolitan Detroit and currently existing in most areas as an eight-lane, boulevarded highway, its popular name is derived from the Detroit area's mile road system which identifies streets running east-west throughout the region.

2. How many prints in Hokusai's 36 views of Mount Fuji?

Hokusai's series 36 Views of Mount Fuji began with 36 prints but was later expanded to a total of 46 prints due to the series' immense success. The original 36 prints were published first then ten additional designs were added to the collection in response to requests, making the complete series 46 prints.

3. How long was the hundred years war?

It lasted for 116 years, 1337 to 1453, although it wasn't a continuous conflict but a series of sieges, raids and battles with several periods of truce and peace. The war was a struggle for control over France between England and France, involving a territorial dispute and English claims to the French throne.

4. What horsepower can an average horse produce at peak power?

A real horse is capable of producing peak power of around 14.9 horsepower though for sustained activity, a horse can sustain an average only of about 1 to 1.5 horsepower. The unit "horsepower" was invented by James Watt to represent the sustained work a horse could perform over a full workday not its maximum power output.

5. What are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel?

The 12 tribes of Israel are named for the 12 sons of Jacob, who was also known as Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin. However, because the tribe of Levi did not receive a land inheritance, the tribe of Joseph was split into two (Ephraim and Manasseh). The tribes that received land were Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh.

6. What are the names of the twelve apostles?

While Jesus designated a core group of 12 apostles, the number of people referred to as "apostles" in the New Testament is not limited to that figure. This makes the "12 apostles" an example of a number that is not always the literal, final count. The symbolic importance of the number 12 (representing the 12 tribes of Israel) is a key reason for this apparent contradiction. In addition to the twelve disciples, there is Matthias who replaced Judas and Paul, clearly an apostle but not of the orignal twelve/

7. Was Jan Akkerman 3 Akkerman's third solo album?

Jan Akkerman's album Jan Akkerman 3, released in 1979, was not his third solo album. His previous solo releases included Talent for Sale (1968), Profile (1972) and Tabernakel (1973).

8. How many warriors belonged to David's thirty men?

These are listed in 2 Samuel 23:8–39 and 1 Chronicles 11:10–47. When listing the individuals, 2 Samuel 23 concludes by saying, Thirty-seven in all. This is probably because the actual number was fluid. When one died or dropped out another replaced him.

9. How many Musketeers in the three musketeers?

The Three Musketeers is a classic literary example of a title's number not matching the total characters. While the group consists of Athos, Porthos and Aramis - the three titular musketeers - they are prominently joined by a fourth protagonist, d'Artagnan, who becomes an inseparable member.

10. In what years were the American Football team, The San Francisco 49ers and the basketball team, The Philadelphia 76ers founded?

One might assume 1949 and 1976 but the answer is 1946 and 1963 (although the Philadelphia team was originally The Syracuse Nationals, founded in 1946). The 49 and 76 refer to the 1849 California gold rush and the 1776 signing of the declaration of independence respectively.

Acknowledged Geniuses

1. Isaac Newton. Estimated IQ 190 to 200. A scientist - a physicist - ahead of his time. Although best known for his universal principles of gravity (which weren’t inspired by an apple falling in his head), the 17th-century thinker was also a mathematician, astronomer and writer, contributing to the principles of visible light and laws of motion. We also have Newton to thank for calculus, as he developed the techniques of integration and differentiation that are still used to this day.
2. Leonardo da Vinci. Estimated IQ 180 to 220. Like others considered geniuses, he had a wide range of skills, excelling in everything from art and science to music and architecture. Although best known for his paintings, da Vinci’s scientific work spanned topics including aerodynamics, anatomy, botany, geology, hydrodynamics, optics and zoology. Fascinated by anything mechanical, he sketched plans for flying machines, tanks, combat devices and submarines - in the 15th century!
3. William Shakespeare. Estimated IQ 210. He completed 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two narrative poems and a variety of other poems—several of which contain everyday phrases still in use. While Shakespeare’s contributions to the English language have lived on, none of his original manuscripts have survived. He easily could have faded into obscurity had it not been for the efforts of a group of actors who published a collection of 36 of his plays in 1623, in a book known as the First Folio.
4. Blaise Pascal. Like others on such lists Frenchman Blaise was a philosopher and mathematician. WHen he was 3 in 1626, his mother died, leaving his father, Étienne (a lawyer and amateur mathematician) to run the household. Blaise was homeschooled using unconventional methods: most notably, mathematics being forbidden under 15 years of age. Naturally, 12-year-old Blaise (whose IQ was estimated between 180 and 195) wanted to rebel, so he secretly began to teach himself geometry. Eventually, Étienne gave in and gave Blaise permission to read a text by Euclid. As a teenager, Blaise accompanied his father to meetings of Parisian mathematicians and impressed them with his projective geometry theorems. When his father got a job as a tax collector, Blaise spent three years developing the first mechanical calculator to assist him.
5. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Estimated IQ 150-165. This is based on his incredible precocity, musical talent, memory and ability to compose complex works mentally, though some speculate it could be even higher. He demonstrated extraordinary intelligence through skills like playing music after one hearing, mastering multiple languages and describing acoustics without hearing them, indicating intelligence beyond typical IQ measures.
6. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Estimated IQ 165-175. His father was a vicar and headmaster of an elementary school. He had a total of 14 children with two wives. Coleridge was the youngest in the family and accompanied his father to school, where he was known for being a bright student and voracious reader. Following his father’s death in 1781, Coleridge, aged 9,  began attending Christ’s Hospital School, London. With his sights set on following in his father’s footsteps as a clergyman, he enrolled in Jesus College, Cambridge in 1791, but during his first year, he discovered that his personal views did not align with those of the Church of England and dropped out. He spent the next four years planning a utopian community with a philosophy student he met while travelling. After befriending Wordsworth in 1795, he decided to take up poetry - eventually becoming a leader of the British Romantic Movement.
7. Marie Curie. Estimated IQ 180-200.Not only was Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie the first woman to win the Nobel Prize but she was also the first person to win it twice. And in two different categories. Curie  shared the 1903 prize for physics with her husband, Pierre, and another scientist for their “combined, though separate” work on radioactivity, and then was awarded the the prize for chemistry in 1911. Most of her work focused on radioactivity - including discovering radium and polonium and other contributions to the development of X-rays used during surgery. She put her technology to work in World War I, where she served on the front lines as the director of the Red Cross Radiological Service.
8. Albert Einstein. Though someone whose name has become synonymous with “genius” Einstein’s estimated IQ is only around 160. Although IQ tests were readily available during his lifetime, the famous physicist never took one. Although it is unclear how, exactly, his IQ was estimated, his scientific contributions - including theories of space, time, mass, motion and gravitation - are well documented. While he’s best known for his theory of relativity, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1921 for his work related to the photoelectric effect.
9. Nikola Tesla. Estimated IQ 160-310. Tesla was born in 1856 in a region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that is now part of modern-day Croatia. His father, Milutin, was a Serbian-Orthodox priest, while his mother, Đuka Mandić, was “an inventor of the first order,” per her son’s description, who created various household tools and devices, as well as innovations related to weaving. “I must trace to my mother’s influence whatever inventiveness I possess,” he wrote in 1919 in an article published in Electrical Experimenter magazine. After studying electrical engineering in Europe, Tesla moved to the USA in 1884. Though best known for inventing the first alternating current (AC) motor and developing AC generation and transmission technology, his numerous other inventions include the Tesla coil (used in radios and televisions), the Tesla turbine and shadowgraphs (a type of X-ray technology).
10. Stephen Hawking. If theoretical physicist Hawking ever took an IQ test, he never revealed his score. In fact, when a reporter for the New York Times Magazine asked him about it in a 2004 interview, Hawking said that he had “no idea” what his score was and that “people who boast about their IQ are losers.” That hasn’t stopped people from trying to figure it out. The estimate is aroound 160. What really matters is that his scientific discoveries were (literally) out of this world, contributing to the basic laws governing the universe. Perhaps even more importantly, Hawking was committed to making his work accessible - something he did on countless television appearances and through his bestselling book A Brief History of Time.

People whose hearts were buried apart from their bodies

1. HENRY I

Henry I (d. 1135), body buried in Reading Abbey heart (along with his bowels, brains, eyes and tongue) Rouen Cathedral, Normandy.

2. RICHARD I

Richard I, “Richard the Lion-Heart,” (d 1199) Ddied after being struck by a crossbow while campaigning in Chalus, France. Most of his body buried at Fontevraud Abbey, heart in a lead box Rouen Cathedral, Normandy.

3. ROBERT THE BRUCE

Robert the Bruce (d 1329) asked for his heart to be buried in Jerusalem. The knight he entrusted it to, Sir James Douglas, was killed in battle with the Moors while wearing the heart in a silver case around his neck. Other knights recovered it and brought it back to Melrose Abbey, Scotland, for burial.

4. ANNE BOLEYN

According to legend, after Anne Boleyn’s beheading in 1536, her heart was removed from her body and taken to a rural church in Erwarton, Suffolk, where the queen is said to have spent some happy days during her youth.

5. PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

Poet PShelley died sailing the Mediterranean in 1822. Local quarantine regulations dictated that his body had to be cremated on the beach. His heart allegedly refused to burn, and a friend, adventurer Edward Trelawny, supposedly plucked it out of the flames. After a custody battle among Shelley’s friends, the heart was given to Percy’s wife Mary, who kept it until she died. Her children found it in a silk bag inside her desk, and it is now said to be buried with her at the family vault in Bournemouth.

6. LORD BYRON

Byron's body was embalmed but the Greeks wanted some part of their hero to stay with them. According to some sources, his heart remained at Missolonghi and his other remains were sent to England for burial in Westminster Abbey. The Abbey refused for reason of "questionable morality". His body is buried at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.

7. FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN

Romantic composer Chopin died (1849) and most of him is buried in Pere Lachaise but he asked for his heart to be buried in his native Poland. His sister carried it back to Poland, where it is preserved in alcohol (some say cognac) within a crystal urn inside a pillar at the Church of the Holy Cross. Warsaw.

8. THOMAS HARDY

Poet and novelist Hardy wanted to be buried in his hometown, Stinsford, Dorset, but friends insisted that a burial in Westminster Abbey was the only appropriate choice. A compromise was reached - most of Hardy went to Westminster but his heart was buried in Stinsford churchyard.

9. DAVID LIVINGSTONE

Livingstone died May 1873 in Chief Chitambo's village at Chipundu, southeast of Lake Bangweulu, present day Zambia. Led by his loyal attendants Chuma and Susi, his expedition arranged funeral ceremonies. They removed his heart and buried it under a tree near the spot where he died, which has been identified variously as a mvula or a baobab tree but is more likely to be a mpundu tree. That site, now known as the Livingstone Memorial lists his date of death as 4 May, the date reported (and carved into the tree's trunk) by Chuma and Susi but most sources consider 1 May - the date of his final journal entry - correct. The expedition led by Chuma and Susi then carried the rest of his remains, together with his last journal and belongings, on a 63 day journey to the coastal town of Bagamoyo, a distance exceeding 1,000 miles. Seventy-nine followers completed the journey, the men were paid their due wages and Livingstone's remains were returned to Britain for interment  Westminster Abbey.

10. I JAN PADEREWSKI (d 1941), pianist, composer and third Prime Minister of Poland, his heart is encased in a bronze sculpture in the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa near Doylestown, Pennsylvania. His body was also interred in America, near Wahington DC but in 1992, after the end of communist rule in Poland, his remains were transferred to Warsaw and placed in St. John's Archcathedral.

Easter Eggs in the Christmas film Elf

I have just finished watching the movie Elf as I do at this time of the year each year. I was struck by one particular scene where Buddy the eld looks out from a bridge on a snowy night and how it references James Cagney in the Frank Capra film It's a wonderful life. Others have noticed similar things and the movie is described by some critics as being a "meta film" in the way it acknowledges and plays with audience expectations of the Christmas movie genre, tying familiar tropes together to create an original story wrapped in a "holiday classic bow".

1. It's A Wonderful Life Buddy's bridge scene references George Bailey contemplating his purpose in life.
2. Miracle on 34th Street Buddy's trip to Gimbel's is reminiscent of the scenes in Macy's. Gimbel's was Macy's store rival.
3. Edward Scissorhands Buddy makes snowflakes like Edward. He doesn't have the same tools but he achieves the same result.
4. A Christmas Story Buddy's snowball fight is a reference to this film. Buddy saves Michael from school bullies just like Ralphie.
5. A Christmas Story The Ralphie actor has a cameo. Peter Billingsley plays Buddy's elf supervisor Ming Ming.
6. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Leon The Snowman resembles Rudolph's Sam. The snowman Leon and Sam are both mentors to elves
7. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer Buddy's elf costume recalls Hermey the mistfit elf's costume.
8. The Santa Clause Elf plays on the theme of nonbelievers being converted by the irrefutable evidence of the Christmas spirit and Santa Claus's existence, with a normal man being thrust into the North Pole environment.
9. The Christmas Star Edward Asner plays Santa again not a crook this time but the real thing.
10. National lampoon's Christmas Vacation Once again there are antics with an oversized Christmas tree.

These metareferences are sometimes referred o as Easter eggs. So Easter at Christmas!

Two Word Palindromes

1. Tram mart

2. Straw warts
3. Part trap
4. Rat tar
5. Edam made
6. Net ten
7. Leg gel
8. Dennis sinned
9. Repel leper
10. Bird rib

Titles of the Lord Jesus Christ

1. Cornerstone Matt 21:42
2. Saviour Luke 2:11
3. Lamb of God John 1:29
4. I am John 8:58
5. Good Shepherd John 10:11
6. Head of the church Eph 1:22
7. High priest Heb 3:1, 8:1,2
8. The Almighty Rev 1:8
9. King of kings Rev 17:14
10. Alpha and Omega Rev 22:13

Beatles songs containing the word little

1. I Feel Fine [I'm so glad that she's my little girl]
2. Run For Your Life [little girl throughout the song]
3. Thank You Girl [I know little girl / Only a fool would doubt our love]
4. Twist and Shout [You know you twist, little girl]
5. Dear Prudence [Dear Prudence, let me see you smile? / Dear Prudence, like a little child]
6. Every little thing
7. Little Child
8. With a little help from my friends
9. All together now [One, two, three, four / Can I have a little more?]
10. I'm so tired [You know I'd give you everything I've got / For a little peace of mind]