88 (eighty-eight) is the natural number following 87 and preceding 89.

← 87 89 → 88
← 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 → List of numbers — Integers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 →
Cardinal	eighty-eight
Ordinal	88th (eighty-eighth)
Numeral system	88
Factorization
Divisors	1, 2, 4, 8, 11, 22, 44, 88
Roman numeral	LXXXVIII
Binary	10110002
Octal	1308
Duodecimal	7412
Hexadecimal	5816

Contents 1 In mathematics 2 In astronomy and space exploration 3 Cultural significance 3.1 In Asian culture 3.2 As a Neo-Nazi symbol 3.3 In Amateur Radio 4 In sports 5 In other fields 6 References

[edit] In mathematics

Eighty-eight is a refactorable number, a primitive semiperfect number and an untouchable number. It is also an hexadecagonal number.

Since it is possible to find sequences of 88 consecutive integers such that each inner member member shares a factor with either the first or the last member, 88 is an Erdős–Woods number.

In base 10, it is a palindromic number and a repdigit.

[edit] In astronomy and space exploration

• The number of constellations in the sky as defined by the International Astronomical Union
• Messier object M88, a magnitude 11.0 spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices
• The New General Catalogue object NGC 88, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Phoenix, and a member of Robert's Quartet
• Space Shuttle Mission 88 (STS-88), launched and completed in December, 1998, began the construction of the International Space Station.
• The Saros number of the solar eclipse series which began on -246 October 6 and ended on 1233 March 12. The duration of Saros series 88 was 1478.4 years, and it contained 83 solar eclipses. Further, the Saros number of the lunar eclipse series which began on 38 July 5 and ended on 1336 August 23. The duration of Saros series 88 was 1298.1 years, and it contained 73 lunar eclipses.
• Approximately the number of days it takes Mercury to complete its orbit.

[edit] Cultural significance

[edit] In Asian culture

Eighty-eight (88) symbolizes fortune and good luck since the word 8 sounds similar to the word Fā (发, which implies 发财, or wealth, in Mandarin). The number 8 is considered to be the luckiest number of all in Chinese culture and prices in Chinese supermarkets can often be found containing many 8's (see numbers in Chinese culture). The Chinese government has even been auctioning auto license plates containing many 8s for tens of thousands of dollars. The 2008 Beijing Olympics opened on 8/8/08 at 8 p.m.^[1]

88 is used to mean "bye bye"; found in Chinese-language chat, text, SMS, IM. 88 is pronounced in Chinese Mandarin language as "ba ba" ("bā bā" to be precise), simulating the sound of the English language farewell "bye bye".

[edit] As a Neo-Nazi symbol

Eighty-eight is used as code among Neo-Nazis to identify each other.^[2] H is the 8th letter of the alphabet, so 88 is taken to stand for HH which in turn means Heil Hitler.^[3] For example, the number is used in the song "88 rock'n'roll band" by the neo-Nazi group Landser. The late convicted Order terrorist David Lane wrote "Fourteen Words" and 88 Precepts, and the numbers are often found in combination (1488, 14/88, etc.). This form of the number has inspired the naming of the groups Column 88, Unit 88, and White Legion 88.

[edit] In Amateur Radio

88 is used as shorthand for 'hugs and kisses' when signing a message in Amateur (ham) Radio. It is used in spoken word (radiotelephony) morse code (radiotelegraphy) and in various digital modes. It is considered rather more intimate than '73', which (roughly) means 'best wishes', and therefore 73 is more often used. The two may be used together. Sometimes the 88 or 73 is pluralized by appending an s, though this makes no grammatical sense. These number codes are at least a century old.

[edit] In sports

Professional golfer Kathy Whitworth, throughout her playing career won 88 LPGA Tour tournaments, more than anyone else has won on either the LPGA Tour or the PGA Tour.

In Major League Baseball, Red Sox Ted Williams hit 88 home runs against the Detroit Tigers, his most against any one team. Rich Gedman hit 88 home runs in his career (1980-1992) with the Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, and the St. Louis Cardinals.

NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. drives the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup Series with Hendrick Motorsports.

In the National Hockey League, Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks wears 88 for the year he is born in, 1988.^[4] The number 88 is also the team number for Eric Lindros.

In the National Football League, Marvin Harrison wore 88 for the Indianapolis Colts for 13 seasons. Tony Gonzalez wore 88 for the Kansas City Chiefs.Tight End Jeremy Shockey wears 88 for the New Orleans Saints. Hall-of-Fame wide receiver, Michael Irvin wore number 88 during his years in the Dallas Cowboys. Also Hall-of-Fame defensive tackle Alan Page, now a Minnesota Supreme Court justice, wore 88 during his tenure with the Minnesota Vikings.

Small forward Nicolas Batum wears number 88 for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association.

After his NHL career was done John Craighead wore the number 88 while playing within the German first division DEL for the Nuermberg Ice Tigers.

[edit] In other fields

Eighty-eight is also:

• the year AD 88, 88 BC, or 1988
• a popular ice cream bar manufactured by GB Glace
• the atomic number of radium
• the ASCII code for an upper-case X
• Biblidinae butterflies of the genera Callicore, Diaethria, and Perisama
• the number of keys on a piano (36 black and 52 white)
• Eighty Eight, a live album by the Christian rock band The 77s
• in the titles of songs:
  • "Rocket 88," a song first recorded at Sam Phillips' studio in 1951; Rocket 88 was a 1980s United Kingdom band named for the song
  • "88 Lines About 44 Women" by the band The Nails
  • "88" by the Canadian punk band Sum 41 on their 2004 album, Chuck
  • "88" by the English Nu-Metal band Apartment 26 on their second album, Music for the Massive
  • "88", a song by Level 42 on the album Strategy
  • "88" by hip hop act The Cool Kids
  • "88" by the Japanese electro-pop duo LM.C, or Lovely Mocochang.com

• the model number of the Oldsmobile 88 automobile and the AGM-88 HARM missile
• the caliber of the 88 mm anti-aircraft gun used in World War II, commonly known as 88 (acht-acht in German)
• the number of the French department Vosges
• the designation of two freeways named Interstate 88: one in Illinois and the other in New York
• the town of Eighty Eight, Kentucky
• used
  • in sexual parlance to describe oral sex performed twice (ate twice)
  • in Japanese, often used to mean "a great many" or "countless"; numbers such as eighteen, eighty, eighty thousand, eight-hundred, eighty thousand, and the like can bear the same connotation
  • in hip hop, where "88" stands for "HH," short for "hip hop"
• in Star Wars, part of the name of the four IG-88 robots
• in Kill Bill, the name of O-Ren Ishii's Army, the Crazy 88
• the ISBN Group Identifier for books published in Italy and Switzerland
• in miles per hour, the speed that the DeLorean automobile must attain in order to travel in time, in the Back to the Future trilogy
• in the TV series Black Books (Series 2, Episode 2: "Fever"), the temperature (presumably in Fahrenheit) above which Manny's case of Dave's Syndrome will trigger, supposedly a parody of the similar use of the number 88 in the Back to the Future trilogy
• the number of Athena's saints (knights) in Saint Seiya (Knights of the Zodiac)
• the number of floors of Petronas Twin Towers, as of 2005^[update] the world's tallest twin buildings
• in Bingo, 88 is known as "Two Fat Ladies"
• "the number of the Anti-Terrorist" in the documents submitted to NBC by Seung-Hui Cho prior to the Virginia Tech massacre on 16 April 2007 [1]
• the number of an anti-terrorist police squad, called "Detachment 88", set up by the Indonesian government following the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians
• Used to say "kisses and hugs" among morse code and amateur radio users, as it resembles an image of two lips kissing
• Tanner '88, Garry Trudeau's HBO series on the fictional campaign of Congressman Jack Tanner in his bid for the White House
• 88 Minutes, a 2008 film starring Al Pacino
• The Cambridge Z88 was a 1988 portable computer
• 88open was an industry standards group in '88 created by Motorola to standardize Unix systems
• An '88-level' is a "named condition" in the COBOL programming language
• The House on East 88th Street, a book by Bernard Waber
• 88-Keys, an American record producer and rapper
• in Texas hold 'em poker, the pocket pair 88 is referred to as the "Snowmen"
• In the United States Navy, 88 is slang for the word "what." As in, "88 are you doing tonight?"
• The number of keys on a standard piano.

[edit] References