“Never tell me the odds!”*…

How likely is it that one will be born on a Leap Day? That one will find a pearl in an oyster? That one will solve Wordle on the first guess? That one will die on a tornado? That two people will share the same fingerprint?

The good folks at R74n (@r74n.com) have these probabilities– and so many more: “What Are The Odds?”

(Image above– and tutorial on the odds ratio: source)

* Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in Star Wars: Episode V– The Empire Strikes Back

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As we place our bets, we might spare a thought for Harvey Kurtzman; he died on this date in 1993. A cartoonist and editor, he is best know for writing and editing the parodic comic book Mad from 1952 until 1956. Kurtzman scripted every story in the first twenty-three issues. (The New York Times‘ obituary for Kurtzman in 1993, alluding to the role of publisher William Gaines, said Kurtzman had “helped found Mad Magazine.” This prompted an angry response to the newspaper from Art Spiegelman, who complained that awarding Kurtzman partial credit for starting Mad was “like saying Michelangelo helped paint the Sistine Chapel just because some Pope owned the ceiling.”)

Kurtzman, who mentored many younger cartoonists (including Terry Gilliam and Robert Crumb), is considered, with cartoonists like Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, and Carl Barks, one of the defining creators of the Golden Age of American comic books. The prestigious Harvey Awards (for achievement in comic books) are named in his honor.

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What an unexpected combination
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Oh yep that's an ARK magmasaur alright
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Last night I played Solitaire - in real life - for the first time in a long while. I won my first five games in a row. I'm pretty sure that's a personal record.

#cardGames #Solitaire #personalBest #whatAreTheOdds

What are the odds? Got a new book from the library and started reading an Oxford resident's WW2 diaries while waiting for my dental appointment.

Turns out, the person who wrote the diary lived IN the house where my dental practice is these days!

#Synchronicity #Coincidence #Weird #WhatAreTheOdds

I know about the word ‘serendipity’ and it’s a nice word, but isn’t there a German word for when two friends who haven’t seen each other for years happen to run into each other in a place none of them frequent, and where the “window for meeting” is so short that the odds of ever doing this is lower than getting hit by lightning?

There must be such a word - because it just happened to me and I really want there to be one to describe this!

#serendipity #german #language #WhatAreTheOdds