33 miners
33 days to complete the shaft
33 cm pilot hole (later doubled to 66 cm rescue shaft)
The rescue began on 10/13/10—> 10+13+10= 33
33 characters in the first note sent by the miners to the surface.
And, yes, the temperature in the mine was reported to be “between 32 and 34 degrees Celsius.
And it’s enough of a big whoop that the Chilean president bothered to mention it, and there was an article in the Economist about it, so @Winters, @GeorgeGee & @marinelife, you may want to pull down those smarty pants. They’re riding a little high.