Sunday, March 31, 2019

This Is 47: 47ish Facts About the Number 47

I haven't been very present on Facebook lately (not for any principled stance on personal data privacy, I just haven't), but for my birthday, I resumed my practice of responding to Facebook birthday wishes with bits of trivia about the number corresponding to my birthday.

However, because I value my alarmingly rapidly diminishing time, I decided this year to limit it to the first 47 respondents.

As always, the bits of trivia are mostly taken from the wikipedia page for the number 47, and the first 10 or so pages of Google search results, posted with no human judgement, in the order in which they are presented here.

Also, because I was finishing up in a bar, I messed up the count and actually posted 49 items:

1. Agent 47 is the protagonist of the Hitman video games.

2. 47 is the 15th prime number.

3. District Council 47 of AFSCME (the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) represents Administrative, Professional, Technical Employees and first level Supervisors employed by the City of Philadelphia.

4. 47 is a safe prime, or the product of twice another prime number (23) + 1.

547 Ronin was one of the biggest box office bombs of 2013.

6. The atomic number of silver is 47.

7. +47 is the international calling code for Norway.

8. 47 is a favorite number of Pomona College.

9. 47 Metres Down is a 2017 scuba diving thriller starring Matthew Modine and Mandy Moore

10. Pub 47 is a casual neighborhood bar and grill located on Route 47 in Huntley, IL.

11. 47 is a Carol Number, an integer of the form 4^n − 2^n + 1 − 1  (for 47, n=3)

12. In mathematics, 47 is a number representing a bunch of other numerical concepts no one except mathmeticians know, but I will just provide the link and spare you.

13. 47 appears frequently in Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes and beyond (too many to mention, thankfully), due to writer Joe Menosky, a Pomona grad.

14. During the 2012 election, Republican candidate Mitt Romney made a comment claiming that 47 percent of Americans do not pay any income tax.

15. A recent Medium article was entitled, "My Life at 47 Is Back to What It Was Like at 27." While I generally agree with the sentiment (for different reasons), I don't feel it was a great article.

16. Of course, the AK-47 got its name because the prototype for the iconic design was developed in November, 1947.

17. The CH-47 Chinook is an iconic, twin-rotor US military cargo helicopter.

18. The P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II fighter plane.

19. Messier object M47 is a magnitude 4.5 open cluster in the constellation Puppis

20. Japan is divided into 47 prefectures.

21. 47 in Roman numerals is XLVII.

22. Oregon Ballot Measure 47 was passed in 1996 and limits property tax assessments.

23. In binary, 47 is 101111.

24. Nairobi is in Kenya's 47th county

25. There's a 47 Society online. It seems kinda... lame.

26. 47 is "IS" on a touch tone keypad (4 is G-H-I, 7 is P-Q-R-S)

27. U.S. Code: Title 47 deals with Telecommunications

28. 47 is halfway to 94

29. Next47.com is some sort of marketing website run by Siemens.

30. 1947 was the first year of the Cold War.

31. WMDT is a dual ABC/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Salisbury, Maryland, United States. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on virtual and UHF channel 47 from a transmitter in rural Wicomico County northeast of Mardela Springs.

32. '47 is a clothing brand based in Boston.

33. The MBTA's 47 bus goes from Central Square, Cambridge to Broadway Station.

34. The US is the 47th friendliest travel destination for LGBT travelers.

35. New General Catalogue object NGC 47 is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Cetus. (This object is also designated as NGC 58.)

36. The SFMTA 47 Van Ness bus goes from Townsend & 5th St to Powell St & Beach St

37. NYPD's 47th Precinct serves the northern part of the Bronx.

38. Lotto 47 is a Michigan Lottery game.

39. Crystal Lake Elementary District 47 is in Illinois.

40. Here is a Buzzfeed article on 47 Ridiculously Clever Ways To Store Anything And Everything

41. 47 in hexadecimal is 0x2F

42. In Euclid's Elements, Proposition 47 posits, "In right-angled triangles the square on the side opposite the right angle equals the sum of the squares on the sides containing the right angle."

43. The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are located 47 degrees apart.

44. The Voyager 47 Club is a lounge at the Outrigger Resort in Waikiki

45. AK-47 is also a hybrid strain of marijuana

46. Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort received a 47-month prison sentence for tax and bank fraud related to his work advising Ukrainian politicians.

47. The U.S. version of the Price Is Right is in its 47th season.

Bonus items because I forgot how to count:

47a. 47 is very much closer to 50 than 40

47b. In the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 47 deals with selecting jurors.

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