19 March: 78

Today is the 78^th day of the year. 10 things you might not know about the number 78:

1. In London, the number 78 Bus runs between Shoreditch High Street Station and St Mary's Road, Nunhead.
2. 78 is the atomic number of platinum (Pt). Its name originates from Spanish platina, a diminutive of plata "silver".
3. Old records would be played at 78 revolutions per minute.
4. There are 78 cards in a Tarot deck.
5. The Rule of 78s is a method of yearly interest calculation. The name comes from the total number of months' interest that is being calculated in a year. This assumes the borrower pays only the amount due each month.
6. The Roman numeral for 78 is LXXVIII.
7. In binary it’s 1001110.
8. The A78 is an A road in Scotland. It connects Greenock and Prestwick on a route which follows the northern section of the Ayrshire coast.
9. According to the urban dictionary it’s a code to use when there is a group of people together, say in an office, and the phone rings. It communicates to the person answering that the caller is to be told they are not there, in fact, the answering person has not seen them since 1978. It might be that nobody in the group wants to be contacted, in which case the last person to call 78 must answer the phone.
10. In numerology, a person influenced by the number 78 is likely to be spiritual with a deep connection to their family, including a sense of connection with their ancestors. They take their responsibilities seriously and work towards a harmonious and spiritual home. They are likely to be neighbourly types who are sensitive to the needs of their neighbours and friends as well as their blood relations.

Character birthday

Nexial, an android belonging to Combat Team Alpha. It was activated on this date. While Nexial’s creator was a pacifist, his invention was soon appropriated by the military. Nexial can absorb the skills and knowledge of up to ten people at a time and access each set as needed. Hence a soldier who is incapacitated or killed can be replaced by Nexial. In the course of the second world war, Nexial was a secret weapon used by the Allies and absorbed the skillsets of many soldiers. Each time, however, it also absorbed a tiny bit of humanity until it began to think for itself and decided war was wrong. Using the persona of the last dying soldier absorbed, one Private Callaghan, Nexial left the army and returned to Callaghan’s home. However, he was unable to maintain Callaghan’s marriage and left again to seek out his creator. He eventually was acquired by Llew Powell for his combat team. In everyday life and interactions, Nexial poses as Callaghan and observers not in the know believe him to be fully human. He has a difficult relationship with team mate Soldier, however, as Soldier is an android created by the Japanese, and it was Soldier who killed Callaghan on the battlefield.