In the Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, the number 42 is revealed as the answer to the Life, Universe and everything. It seems that 42 has competition. In Barnet it seems that 324 is the answer to all questions. I thought I'd have a look at 324 and see what other magic properties it has.
In the year 324, the Roman emperor Constantine definitively defeated Licinius at the Battle of Chrysopolis, and becomes sole emperor, thus ending the Tetrarchy. St Peter's church in Rome was founded.
Another interesting fact, with mild religious tones was that the Babylonians used a Lunar Calendar with 324 days as the length of a year. Who know's if things had worked out differently, we may still be using it!
Continuing the religious theme, there are 324 prophesies of the messiah in the bible. You can check all of these HERE if you are interested.
Whilst on the subject of Messiah's, you can't have a Messiah, without an Antichrist and the band often suspected of having Antichristal tendencies, "The Rolling Stones" were on the front cover of issue 324 of Rolling Stone in August 1980.
Looking at Messiah's of a more sporting nature (or possibly Antichrists if you are on the other side of the Glasgow football divide) Kenny Dalglish played 324 games for Celtic, scoring 167 goals. To find out more about Kenny, click HERE.
If you are looking to move to the USA, maybe you may want to avoid Louisville. According to research there were 792 registered sex offenders living in Louisville, Kentucky in early 2007. The ratio of number of residents in Louisville to the number of sex offenders is 324 to 1.
Another highly interesting fact from around the world is that in Sweden, women are off work for an average of 324 days after giving birth, compared to men who have a mere 66 days.
One other fact about the number 324 which interested me was Steve Fossett, the legendary balloonist, who sadly died in a plane crash last year, and who's body was only recently found, circumnavigated the globe in a balloon in 324 hours to claim the world record.
One of the most interesting facts I found came from a fascinating book on Sheep Nutrition by Mike Freer. Mike Freer is a leading expert on sheep. It seems that by doubling the intake of a certain feed suppliment from 324g to 640g per day, you can achieve great things with your flock ! Full details are available on page 129 of the book link.
This brings us nicely to our own Council Leader Mike Freer. Councillor Duncan MacDonald asked him the following question :-
"Please could the relevant Cabinet Member advise the number of meeting rooms/offices within the Borough's offices that are equipped with AV/Video conferencing facilities and the number of meetings that took place in those rooms where that equipment was utilised within the month of September this year?"
Mike Freer replied :-
"324"
So there we have it. We've established that 324 is a very interesting number, with many biblical, historical, musical and sporting links. It may be the answer to "Life, the universe and everything" and displace the number 42. Unfortunately it isn't really a very satisfactory answer for Duncan MacDonald's question.
What other kind of answer is there? A question was asked, an answer given - I am now confused!
ReplyDeleteAmanda
ReplyDeleteIt would help greatly if the answer bore some relevance to the question.