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BY THE NUMBERS
By The Numbers, a look at what’s in the news . . . by the numbers. These are just numbers, not suggestions that they mean more or less than what they are. We do not suggest that one number is connected to another. These are simply facts with no extraneous details, bias or slanted reporting. To borrow (and perhaps mangle a bit) a quote from legendary fictional detective Joe Friday, it’s just the numbers, ma’am!
Sunday is Palm Sunday and the beginning of the traditional Holy Week – a week in the Christian community that ends with Easter Sunday. And that’s our topic today as we dive into a preview of Holy Week . . . By The Numbers!
0
Days of federal holidays. Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter are not federal holidays.
11
The actual number of federal holidays in the U.S. They begin with New Year’s Day and continue with MLK Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, July 4, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
8th Century
According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, that’s the first mention of Palm Sunday being celebrated. (Did you know that some churches save and burn palms and use the ashes the following year on Ash Wednesday?)
3
Three is a number closely associated with Holy Week. Christian faith teaches that Jesus Christ died and rose on the third day. 3 p.m. is said to be the time that Jesus died on the cross. And Good Friday is the beginning of the Paschal Triduum (three day period) that ends on Easter.
6 minutes
According to Just Born, Inc., the family owned company that makes Peeps, it takes about six minutes to make the squishy little marshmallow candy.
180,000,000
The estimates for egg purchases for Easter is about 180 million, according to our friends at AgHires. Of course the price of eggs right here may impact that this year.
501,000
The biggest Easter Egg Hunt recorded happened in Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in Florida in 2007 with half a million Easter Eggs!
13th century
The first time decorated eggs were believed to be used to help celebrate Easter.
1965
On April 11, 1965 a lot of us will remember the Palm Sunday Tornadoes that tore through this area. Overall, the storms killed 137 people in Indiana and many more in the Midwest. There is a fascinating book about the tragedy by author Janis Thornton – The 1965 Palm Sunday Tornadoes in Indiana.