Any Facts that Fit the Numbers

[Heid the Ba]

529, one of the several dates of death of Cyrus of Persia.

[Arneb]

Drat, missed 529. My father once told me that for him it was the beginning of the Middle Ages because, coincidentally, it was the year when

a) Benedict of Nursia founded the Monte Cassino Monastery, developing his Benedictine rule and thus, the primary cultrual model of the Middle Ages, and
b) the Platonic Academy in Athens, the epitome of Classical scholarship, was closed forever by the Roman Emperor Justinian.

If ever there was a significant coincidence in historic dates, here it is.

530? OK, so §530 BGB, a paragraph in German Civil Law saying that someone who gave a beneficience can revoke it if the beneficiary is guilty of "gross ingratitude":

§ 530 Widerruf der Schenkung
(1) Eine Schenkung kann widerrufen werden, wenn sich der Beschenkte durch eine schwere Verfehlung gegen den Schenker oder einen nahen Angehörigen des Schenkers groben Undanks schuldig macht.
(2) Dem Erben des Schenkers steht das Recht des Widerrufs nur zu, wenn der Beschenkte vorsätzlich und widerrechtlich den Schenker getötet oder am Widerruf gehindert hat.

[tubeswell]

Reynolds 531 (pronounced 'five-three-one') is a brand name, registered to Reynolds Cycle Technology of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, for a manganese-molybdenum, medium carbon steel bicycle tubing.

[Lianachan]

U-532 surrendered at Loch Eriboll on the north coast of Scotland on the 13th of May, 1945.

[Heid the Ba]

I think we can have both 529s as they are different years. I hadn't heard that given as the start date of the Middle ages but I can see your father's logic.

Sicking with Justinian: the Codex Justinianus was finished in 533, which was also the year he sent Belisarius and the boys to retake North Africa.

Tangentially, but sticking with the Fathers of the Church; the sign at this Fringe Venue makes me laugh, day after day, year after year, to the bemusement of most.

[tubeswell]

The DISCOVERER 534 is a self-propelled Dynamically Positioned drillship capable of operating in water depths up to 7,000 feet* using 18¾in 10,000 psi BOP stack and 21in OD marine drilling riser.

http://www.deepwater.com/fw/main/Discov ... ayoutID=17

* Which is about 2,000 feet deeper than the Deep-water Horizon blow-out well IRRC

[Arneb]

Asteroid (25143) Itokawa, the one visited by the Japanese probe Hayabusa, is an oblong object with a max. diameter of 535 m. That's 588 yards, if anyone wants to use that number down the thread.

[Lianachan]

The year 536 saw one of the most intense periods of cooling for the last few thousand years. Written accounts of crop failures and poor harvests are backed up by dendrochronological evidence. Ice core samples suggest this may have been caused by volcanic activity.

[tubeswell]

Oregon State Legislature Chapter 537

Read all about it: www.leg.state.or.us/ors/537.html

So... who wants to be a legislator then?

[Мастер]

Two main candidates and several others included for entertainment purposes will compete this November to acquire a majority of the 538 votes cast, and thereby become (or remain, depending on the outcome) president of the United States.

[Lianachan]

Council Directive 77/539/EEC of 28 June 1977 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to reversing lamps for motor vehicles and their trailers is probably even more boring that it sounds.

Check for yourself here if you like. I know I didn't.

[Arneb]

In Germany, workers and employees subject to the Arbeitssschutzgesetz (labour protection law) are requred, by law, to take a break of a t least 45 min duration if they work for more than 9 hours (540 min) on any given day. It is possible to take the break in 15 min bites.

[tubeswell]

In more news about Oregon, North American area code 541 covers the majority of Oregon, except the northwest part of the state.

[Lianachan]

542 was a year that may have seen the death of Comgall mac Domangairt*, one of the early Kings of Dál Riata His kindred was important in the Gaelicisation of the Picts.

* Annals of Tigernach say 537, Annals of Ulster say 538, 542 and 545. Not or. And.

[tubeswell]

543, the first three of the last 5 letters in "5 4 3 2 1, we have liftoff".

[Arneb]

Error message 554, telling you that the mail you sent did not arrive at its destination ("bounce").

[tubeswell]

Error message 554, telling you that the mail you sent did not arrive at its destination ("bounce").

In fact that should have been 544, in which case this one is 545

[Arneb]

546 thanks. Maybe I should got to bed now.

[tubeswell]

547, after which it appears Arneb decided to get some sleep after all.

[Arneb]

The last stage of the proterozoic ara, represented by the Ediacaran fauna, is regarded to have ended 548 Ma ago (give or take; Ediacara biota themselves seem to be found down to 542 Ma ago)

[tubeswell]

CSE 549 - Introduction to Computational Biology http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~skiena/549/

[Arneb]

Saturn's moon Phoebe has an orbital period of 550,6 days.

[tubeswell]

IRS Publication 551 Mar 8, 2012 – US Treasury. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p551.pdf

[Lianachan]

In 552, Cyndeyrn Garthwys built a church on the site where Glasgow cathedral would later be built. He was one of the first to try to improve the Weegies - a long process which continues to this day, having made little progress.

[Arneb]

Cartels DO work:

A cartel of 10 LCD screen producers settled to pay a mere $m 553 for their illegal price fixing.