On 42

Saluting 42 means a celebration!

In Language

42 – forty-two, shi ni (Japanese), berrogeita bi (Basque), toogfyrre (Danish), corenta e dous (Galician), četrdesmit divi (Latvian), sorok dva (Ukrainian), XLII (Roman numerals)

In Mathematics

42 – an odd integer, perfect number, Catalan number, pronic number, abundant number, sphenic number, pseudoperfect number,alternating sign matrix number, and am open meandric number

42 – divisible by 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 21, 42

42 – the sum of the first 6 positive even numbers (2, 3, 6, 8, 10, 12)

In Science

42 – the atomic number of the element molybdenum (Mo), whose neutrally charged atom has 42 protons and 42 electrons

42 amu – the atomic mass of a naturally occurring stable isotope of calcium

42 degrees – the angle (rounded) a rainbow appears

42 – the normal number of chromosomes in each cell of wheat, rats, Rhesus Monkeys, wolverines, oats, fossas, and giant pandas

42 minutes – the theorized time it would take to fall through a vacuum tube from one side of Earth to the other through the center

42 – Determined by the Babylonians, the number of times Mars orbits the Sun in 79 years

M42 – a Messier object nebula in the constellation Orion

NGC 42 – New General Catalogue object, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Pegasus.

Kepler-42 – a red dwarf in the constellation Cygnus

42 Isis – a large main-belt asteroid

In Technology

42 – 00101010 (in binary code)

42 – an important number used by computer programmers

42 – the second 16-bit word in every TIFF file

42 – the root directory inode number in the reiser4 file system

42 days – the default password expiration policy for Microsoft Windows domains

ASCII code 42 – for the asterisk symbol, being a wildcard for everything.

ASCII “FORTYtwo” – identifies directory blocks.

In Religion

Interfaith graphic by Justice St. Rain (Bahá’í Community) of Interfaith Resources

Christianity

• 42 generations (names) in the Gospel of Matthew’s version of the Genealogy of Jesus
• 42 months the Beast will hold dominion over the Earth (Revelation 13:5);
• 42 men of Beth-azmaveth were counted in the census of men of Israel upon return from exile
• God sent bears to maul 42 of the teenage boys who mocked Elisha for his baldness (2 Kings 2:23)
• The Gutenberg Bible is also known as the “42-line Bible” it contained 42 lines per page.
• The Forty-Two Articles (1552), mainly by Thomas Cranmer, were intended to summarize Anglican doctrine

Others

• “Forty-Two Lettered Name” given to God by Rab in 3rd-century Judaism
  The Sutra of 42 Sections – a Buddhist scripture
• 42 – the number associated with God creating the Universe in Kabbalistic tradition

In Popular culture

T42 – the answer to the ultimate question of life in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

People who died at age 42: Robert F Kennedy, Elvis Presley, Prince Albert, Queen Mary I, Gilda Radner, Gary Coleman, Ted Bundy

42 – a number Lewis Carroll frequently used in his writings

• 42 illustrations Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
• Rule Forty-two in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – “All persons more than a mile high to leave the court”
• Rule 42 of the Code in the preface to The Hunting of the Snark:
• “No one shall speak to the Man at the Helm”
• “forty-two boxes, all carefully packed – The Hunting of the Snark”
• 42 x 42 x 42 – the combined ages of the White Queen and Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass

In Music

Level 42 – an English pop/rock music band

42 – a song by Coldplay (2008) & Mumford and Sons (2018)

42nd Street – a Tony Award winning Broadway musical

In Television and Film

The Kumars at No. 42 – an awarding winner television series on British telly

“42” – an episode of Doctor Who, set in real time lasting approximately 42 minutes.

42 – the number of threads in Watson’s avatar (the IBM computer competed on Jeopardy!)

42 – a film on the life of American baseball player Jackie Robinson.

In Video games

42 Entertainment – a company creating reality games

Tokyo 42, Squadron 42 – video games

In Sports

From allfreevectors.com

42 – the now retired number of Jackie Robinson that MLB permanently retired

The last professional baseball player to wear 42 – Mariano Rivera (New York Yankees)

Retired Numbers in Professional Sports

• MLB – Jackie Robinson (Dodgers), Mariano Rivera (Yankees), Bruce Sutter (Cardinals)
• NBA – Nate Thurmond (Cavs, Warriors), James Worthy (Lakers), Connie Hawkins (Suns)
• NFL – Sid Luckman (Bears), Charlie Conerly (Giants), Ronnie Lott (49ers)
• NHL – none

42 – the number of laws in cricket

Rule 42 – the historic name of a Gaelic Athletic Association rule prohibiting the playing of “foreign sports”

Super Bowl LXII – Giants defeat the Patriots (17-14) in Glendale, Arizona

In Culture

42 – an unlucky number In Japanese culture because shi ni (four two)—sound like the word “dying”

42 questions – In Egyptian mythology, the questions asked of persons making their journey through Death

42 in Chinese reads sì èr, which is very close to shì a that means ‘yes’ – so some Chinese text 42 for ‘yes’.

In US History

42nd state – Washington (1889)

42nd President – Bill Clinton (elected 1992)

42nd Congress – Served 1871-1873 during the third and fourth year of Ulysses Grant presidency

Miscellaneous

42 – the historic country calling code for the former country of Czechoslovakia.

42 – number of US gallons in a barrel of oil

Tower 42 – a skyscraper in London that used called the NatWest Tower

42nd Street – New York City location for the Chrysler Building, Grand Central Terminal, the main branch of the New York Public Library, Times Square, the UN Headquarters, some Broadway theaters, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal

Forty-Two Gang – A Chicago teen street gang since Prohibition

42 Center of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence, based in Vienna, Austria

42 – the name of the private computer science school located in Paris, France and Fremont, California

42 – the number of elevators in Rockefeller Center (New York City)

42 – the number of years of our 42nd wedding anniversary, which we celebrated during the recent blog break on a cruise ship with a sea day (2 April 2019).

Top Songs on Our Wedding Day (2 April 1977)