Why Submitted: In preparation for our Japanese gig.

Source: Julian Cope's Japrocksampler (and other sources)

Submitted by: James

Eastenders 25th anniversary Live episode viewing figures (19/2/2010) - 16.6m

People who voted online in the BBC Eastenders 'Who Killed Archie Mitchell Poll' in the build up to the 25th anniversary live episode - 156,927


Source: BBC news website

Source: The Code Book by Simon Singh, 4th Estate, 1999.

Chosen: I love the story behind this statistic. At the time encrypting and decrypting messages was a time consuming business, often requiring bulky machinery. This made it difficult to accomplish in battlefield condition. A guy called Philip Johnston persuaded the U.S. military that the Navajo language was known by so few people, was so unrelated to any other language and so fiendishly difficult to learn that it could safely be used as a from of encryption. Thereafter Navajo were recruited and trained to communicate messages over the open airwaves.

Submitted by James

Chosen: Because it's a dark page from human history, but also inspiring. I am also descended of slaves and am moved by the strength of my great, great, great grandparents in the face of such hardship.

Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p277.html

Submitted by: Zandra

Chosen: This figure is up from 536 in March 2008. This increase is largely attributable to a lowered threshold for intervention since the case of 'Baby P'.

Source: Cafcass http://www.cafcass.gov.uk/default.aspx

Submitted by: James

Chosen: Started in response to women's anxiety about being alone with a male taxi driver late at night, this enterprise has thus far side stepped sex discrimination laws by forming as a private member's club. Only private members can be picked up by the firm's Pink vehicles. The local council are currently taking them to court for operating as an unlicensed taxi firm.

Source: The Guardian 9 May 2009

Submitted by: James

Chosen: Because this number is down from 110 in the previous year. It is a small but startling statistic helping address recent global financial crisis.

Source: The Guardian / Forbes Rich List.

Submitted by: James

Chosen: Outside the Zilkha Gallery office there is a poster advertising courses at Rice University. As I had never heard of it and in an effort to pursue all things Rice, I sat down to do some research.

Source: Rice Unversity's own website.

Submitted by: James

chosen: because I thought it odd.

source: Time Magazine.

submitted by: ChrisM

first name: Heloise Forbes

statistic: Rodney King riots - 53 deaths

chosen: There's a single grain of rice to represent Rodney King in the Birmingham show and the description on the wall says he was beaten to death by police officers - this isn't true, he survived, but people did die during the riots that ensued when the officers were acquitted.

THANK YOU HELOISE FOR SPOTTING OUR ERROR