It has been 54 years since 1954, Willie Mays' first full year in the majors. After returning from the Army he was named Most Valuable Player and led the Giants to the World Series victory.As I celebrate #54 today, I wonder what else 54 brings to mind:
Wikipedia says that "54 is a 19-gonal number. Twice the third power of three, 54 is a Leyland number. 54 can be written as the sum of three squares in three different ways: 7 squared + 2 squared + 1 squared = 6 squared + 2(3 squared) = 2(5 squared) + 2 squared = 54. It is the smallest number with this property."
Also, 54 is the atomic number of xenon.
1954 was the year of the first hydrogen bomb, the first color TV, the first nuclear submarine, the running of the first four-minute mile and the first edition of Sports Illustrated. In 1954, the US Supreme Court issued the landmark desegregation ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, the words "under God" were added to the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Dow Jones Industrial average finally surpassed the 1929 high of 381.17.
Wow, that makes me feel REALLY old! Oh well, birthday greetings to the "class of 1954", including Howard Stern, Oprah Winfrey, John Travolta, Patty Hearst, Ron Howard, Dennis Quaid, Tony Dorsett, Willie Randolph, Jackie Chan, Jim Belushi, Elvis Costello, Brad Spradlin, Don Edwards, Roger Bellar, and me!
