You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the telling numbers tucked inside the news.
3 seconds
Geoff Britten became the first American Ninja Warrior in the six-year existence of the NBC show of the same name, completing the required feats of strength with just 0.35 seconds to spare, putting him in line for the $1 million prize. Problem was, just minutes later Isaac Caldiero became the second American Ninja Warrior, besting Britten by three seconds and winning away the $1 million for himself. [Vice Sports]
11 points
To call Chelsea’s Premier League campaign thus far, and defense of its league title, rocky would be to do great insult to rocks. The team has garnered just 11 points through its first 12 games, worse than any other defending champ besides Ipswich Town in 1961. Chelsea’s seven losses are unprecedented for a defending champion this early in the season. [FiveThirtyEight]
15 vehicles
The ground opened up in an IHOP parking lot in Meridian, Mississippi, swallowing about 15 vehicles. No one appeared to be hurt in the cave-in, which was about 50 feet wide and 600 feet long. [USA Today]
25 years
Myanmar held its first democratic elections in 25 years. Votes are still being counted in an election that saw more than 6,000 candidates from over 90 parties running for the country’s 664-seat parliament. Voter turnout may be as high as 80 percent. [BBC]
47 percent higher
The Trump Bump lives. “Saturday Night Live” viewership ratings for the episode hosted by Donald Trump over the weekend were the show’s highest since 2012 — and were 47 percent higher than the ratings during Hillary Clinton’s guest appearance earlier this season. Why? I have no idea. [Entertainment Weekly]
About $115 a day
About $115 a day will get you a bed and three meals on an ocean freighter. As the global economy has slowed, and the shipping business along with it, marine freight companies have been offering no-frills cruises on their massive vessels. That’s more expensive than a ride on a typical Carnival cruise — and without the discotheque — but it’s well worth it to largely avoid the, like, other people. [Bloomberg Businessweek]
300 gigabytes
In what is nothing less than a crime against humanity, Comcast is testing bandwidth caps on home Internet use. Under the scheme, customers have a monthly limit of 300 gigabytes and pay an overage fee of $10 for every additional 50 gigabytes they use. The company has rolled this out in three cities, with plans to expand. Call your congressman. [Engadget]
$1,639.47
Marco Rubio had a Florida GOP credit card for four years in his role as head of campaign operations for Florida House Republicans. During that time, he was hit with seven delinquency charges that totaled $1,639.47. [New York Times]
$2.4 million
John Lennon’s guitar sold for $2.4 million at auction, significantly beating estimates. The 1962 J-160E Gibson Acoustic, originally purchased for 161 pounds, was used to record “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You.” [Time]
60 million people
Nearly 60 million people are displaced by war and persecution. The New York Times introduced its readers to a few of them over the weekend, via virtual reality. The newspaper included Google Cardboard viewers with its Sunday deliveries; they can be used with an immersive video feature on a custom smartphone app. [New York Times]
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