A 'Black Swan' is mentioned as an impossible event that changes everything. The year this episode was made, N. N. Taleb's book 'Black Swan' came out discussing this from a statistics perspective. Since the days of ancient Rome it was believed all swans were white and 'black swan' meant an impossible thing. In the 1690s black swans were found in Australia and the phrase took on the meaning of an impossible thing that nonetheless is.
This episode takes place from November 21 to November 23, 2007.
One of the firemen by the truck is wearing the same fire jacket (marked 'RAYMOND') as was used by a fireman in The Ringer (2007).