Burt Kaliski Jr. (@modulomathy)
3/18/12 8:47 PM
#math trivia for #March18: #78 was a common format for what 20th century media? What other numbers were common? (NB: Not #numbertheory!)
The answer to this non-number-theoretic piece of trivia is the 78-RPM record. I remember having a record player at one time with three speeds: 33, 45, and 78 RPM. My great-uncle, a retired music editor, gave my family a number of his old recordings on 78s, including some of his own storytelling.
My dad and his brother recorded a personal rendition of Cuckoo Bird in the Pickle Tree at a music store when they were growing up in New York City. It was probably on a 45. A lot more involved than just clicking a button on a mobile phone today, but the same goal of making and sharing memories.
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