39

I'm not sure why I expected turning 39 to be interesting - maybe because I remember not liking 29 very much (whereas 30 didn't bother me at all!)

But the only interesting thing about turning 39 seems to be that I was born 3 days after Martin Luther King was killed, and he was 39 at the time. (Think about what he had accomplished in 39 years!)

However, to honor the day, here are some other things - totally random, but kinda interesting - about 39...

39 is:
- The sum of five consecutive primes (3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 13) and the sum of the first three powers of 3 (31 + 32 + 33).
- The number of books in the Old Testament
- The code for international direct-dialed phone calls to Italy
- Japanese Internet chat slang for "thank you" when written with numbers
- The duration, in nanoseconds, of the nuclear reaction in the largest nuclear explosion ever performed
- the number of points Lebron James scored last Saturday in a Cleveland Cavaliers win over the Chicago Bulls

At age 39:
* Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong became the 1st person to set foot on the moon
* Charles Goodyear led the way to the effective use of rubber
* Jimmy Connors reached the U.S. Open semifinals
* Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated
* Thomas Edison had already invented the telegraph, lightbulb and phonograph

In history:
* 39 AD - Caligula ordered that a statue of himself be placed in the temple in Jerusalem. The governor of Syria, Publius Petronius, responsible for erecting the statue, faced mass demonstrations by Jews of the region and managed to delay construction of the statue until the death of Caligula two years later.
* 1039 – The Persian poet Unsuri was born
* 1639 - Connecticut's first constitution was adopted
* 1639 - Harvard University was named for clergyman John Harvard.
* 1739 – The bible was first published in Estonian
* 1839 - The University of Missouri was established, becoming the first public university west of the Mississippi River
* 1839 - The Slave rebellion of Amistad happened on July 1
* 1939 –Spanish Civil War ended (April 1) and World War II began in Europe 6 months later (September 1)
* 1939 - The Philadelphia Story, (one of my favorite movies,) debuted March 26 at the Shubert Theater in New York City.
* 1939 – Batman was created by Bob Kane

Sunday, April 7, 1968 - on this day 39 years ago:
- It was Palm Sunday
- It was a national day of mourning for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Motor racing world champion Jim Clark was killed in a car crash during a race.
- Janis Jopin played a concert with Big Brother, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Joni Mitchell, Richie Havens, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop billed as a wake for Martin Luther King, Jr. at Generation in New York City
- President Johnson signed an executive order to send federal troops to quell riots in Baltimore. (Also check out the President's Daily Diary: April 7, 1968 – What a day!)

Other random facts about 39:
* Presidential Decision Directive 39 (PDD 39) is the US policy on Counterterrorism
* 39 Second Single is a blog about “dating stories so bad they must be true”
* The Roman numeral 39 is XXXIX
* Pier 39 is a big attraction in San Francisco’s Bay Area – it even has sea lions
* "The 39 Steps" is a Hitchcock movie in which the main character is handcuffed to the girl who double-crossed him
* Renee Zellweger is currently making a movie called "Case 39", due out in August ’07, in which she plays a social worker who fights to save a girl from her abusive parents
* Genesis 39 is the chapter in which Joseph, having been sold by his brothers into slavery, becomes very rich and successful


OK, now I feel better! :)