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•The number 11 is a prime number, which is an important mathematical number that can only be divided by itself or the number one.
•The fastest recorded time for eating an 11-pound cheesecake is nine minutes, achieved by Sonya Thomas, a 55-year-old Korean-American competitive eater in Virginia known by some as “The Leader of the Four Horsemen of the Esophagus” and “The Black Widow,” due to her ability to defeat competitors far larger than her five-foot, 105-pound size.
•The most Academy Awards won by any film is 11. There are currently three films that have won this many awards: Ben Hur (1959), Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).
•Canada must have a thing for the number 11. Their $1 coin, called the Loonie, has 11 sides. There are also 11 points on the maple leaf that adorns the national flag of Canada. Finally, a number of Canadian banknotes have some form of clock on them and the time, of course, is 11:00.
•There’s a good reason Canada is obsessed with the number 11. The First World War officially ended on Nov. 11, 1918 at 11 a.m. — it was the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
•A total solar eclipse occurred Aug. 11, 1999, beginning at 8:26 a.m. and finishing at 1:40 p.m. The peak was 11:03 a.m., meaning the sun was almost completely eclipsed at 11:11 a.m.
•Brits have a special meal between breakfast and lunch called “elevenses,” which usually consists of something light like tea and cookies (or biscuits) and happens around 11 a.m.
•Russia is so massive, it has 11 time zones. By comparison, the continental United States has four time zones (or six, if you include Alaska and Hawaii).
•Any musician has either said or heard someone say, “Turn it up to 11,” at least a hundred times in their lives, thanks to Christopher Guest’s seminal mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, which features an amp that goes “all the way to 11.”