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IndexTimey-wimey detector → Essay - The number 42
Spoilers are strongly policed here.
If this thread's title doesn't specify it's spoilery, don't bring any up.

The reference section of 42 was bulging with some interesting coincidences over the number 42. These really had nothing to do with that television story, but they're interesting enough to preserve here, in this forum-like environment. If you can spot more interesting occurrences of the number 42, post them here, not at 42 (TV story).


The number 42 has many significant meanings in Earth pop culture and in relation to the Doctor Who franchise.

  • 42 was the number of answers to Life, the Universe and Everything, according to Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Douglas Adams was a writer and script editor for Doctor Who during the Tom Baker era, and the Hitchhiker's series is generally believed to share a universe with Doctor WhoLevel 42 is also very relevant to this information due to a large quantity of minor crossovers.
  • Elvis Presley died aged 42.
  • 42 minutes was the length of the Beatles' last performance atop Apple HQ.
  • Paul McCartney from the Beatles was born in 1942.
  • Doctor Who returned to television during 2005 - the 42nd anniversary of the franchise.
  • Prince Albert died at the age of 42 and had 42 grandchildren.
  • The first printed book, the Gutenberg Bible, had 42 lines per page
  • Harry Potter discovers he is a wizard on page 42 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
  • The Doctor Who episode "42" is 42 minutes long
  • The Titanic crashed into the iceberg at a rate of 42 km/h
  • Theodore Roosevelt was elected at age 42
  • Cricket has 42 laws
  • Juliet's potion in Romeo and Juliet lasted for 42 hours.
  • All three best-selling albums, "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, "Back in Black" by AC/DC, and "The Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd are each 42 minutes long.
  • The 42nd most common element in the world, molybdenum, has the atomic number of 42
  • In the Book of Revelation, the Beast is said to have control for 42 months.
  • In 1942, Cell 42 of Alcatraz prison was vacated of its former inhabitant, a prisoner who killed a guard and went on to spend 42 months in other prisons.
  • Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has 42 illustrations.
  • There are 42 principles of Ancient Egypt's code of moral law.
  • Ancient Egypt was divided into 42 parts.
  • They also believed that 42 demons were present during the judgement of the soul.
  • 42 degrees is the angle at which you can view a rainbow.
  • 42 is the number of generations from Abraham to the Christ in the Bible.
  • The duration of every travel through a hollow tube that travels through the Earth always turns out to be 42 minutes, no matter the length, because of gravity.
  • It is a pseudoperfect number, a Catalan number, a pentadecagonal number, a Størmer number, a pronic number, an abundant number, and a Harshad number.
  • 42 is also a significant number on the TV show Lost.
  • Season 1 had 42 episodes.
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