8th April: The number eight

The number eight - 10 things you might not know:

1. Eight is the atomic number of Oxygen.
2. Force eight is the first wind strength classified as a gale on the Beaufort Scale on a Shipping Forecast.
3. It is a lucky number in Chinese culture because it sounds like the word meaning to generate wealth. Property with the number 8 is valued by Chinese people. For example, a Hong Kong number plate with the number 8 was sold for $640,000. The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing started at 8 seconds and 8 minutes past 8 pm (local time) on 8 August 2008.
4. In rugby union, the only position without a proper name is the Number 8, a forward position.
5. In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, eight is a holy number and is considered taboo. Eight is not safe to be said by wizards. Also, there are eight days in a Disc week and eight colours in a Disc spectrum, the eighth one being Octarine.
6. A duke's coronet, worn by a British or Irish duke, has eight conventional strawberry leaves upon the rim of the circlet.
7. In Colombia and Venezuela, they have a saying, "volverse un ocho" (meaning to tie oneself in a figure 8) which means getting in trouble or contradicting one's self.
8. Although the sign for infinity looks like a sideways figure eight, the two glyphs are not related.
9. In religions - Christianity: there are 8 Beatitudes.; Islam, the number of Angels carrying The Holy Throne of Allah in heavens; Wicca, eight Sabbats, festivals, seasons, or spokes in the Wheel of the Year; Hinduism, the number of wealth, abundance; and The Dharmacakra, a Buddhist symbol, has eight spokes.
10. A number is divisible by 8 if its last 3 digits are also divisible by 8.