If events are rare, like some failures, and not related to each other, i.e. random, the Poisson distribution applies and the number of events by time...
Thanks for that excellent rundown, kpatz. I hadn't before heard the bolded part above -- a rather existential question regarding dear Earth itself! ...
Well, no, if you aren't taking it in to get reprinted but instead viewing it electronically, it would not be "exactly like that", I was imagining it...