How many people "own" a particular number?

[Gori the Grey]

Or put another what, how many cases are there of a particular number being owned by a particular individual?

The cases I have in mind are the way 42 can bring instantly to mind Douglas Adams.

23 can bring instantly to mind Michael Jordan.

(For some people, of course,)

So put in yet another way, my question is this: are there any numbers, when, if you see them in some neutral setting, they nevertheless conjure up memories/associations of one particular human being?

 

[Catharsis]

Plenty of individuals are synonymous with numbers, but how impressive that is depends on how likely you are to encounter the number in a neutral setting. For example, if I saw the number 99.94, I would think of Don Bradman, but when is one likely to meet the number 99.94 unless one is already discussing Don Bradman?

Other than 42, the only one I can think of is 88 and its association with Adolf Hitler. And as far as I know Hitler himself wouldn't have recognised that one; it was bestowed upon him later on, by his fans.

 

[Farm Boy]

8 is Andre Dawson, Cubs right fielder after the Expos.

88 is weird to me. It's always been an interstate route, but then you grow older and now it's Hitler.

 

[Perfection]

1492 = Christopher Columbus

 

[Valka D'Ur]

99 is either Maxwell Smart's girlfriend or Wayne Gretzky.

 

[Gorbles]

13 is "unlucky", and the date of my brother's birthday. We didn't get on when we were young

I don't really have any at-scale examples, really, beyond the already-mentioned.

8 is Andre Dawson, Cubs right fielder after the Expos.

88 is weird to me. It's always been an interstate route, but then you grow older and now it's Hitler.

Interstate routes are a local thing, on a global scale. But then again 8 is and always will be my water polo cap, and things don't get more local than that.

1492 = Christopher Columbus

Vangelis, for me!

 

[Birdjaguar]

#1 is the USA!!!!

 

[EvaDK]

Most Europeans and South Americans will connect the number 10 to a famous footballer.

11 will always be synonymous with Christopher Guest of Spinal Tap.

3.14... aka the numerical value of Pi, is connected to Archimedes (and others).

1642 is the birthyear of Isaac Newton; 1905 saw Einstein's greatest scientific papers.

Fans of British sci-fi series Doctor Who, will connect a certain actor/actress with each iteration of the Doctor; 1/the first Doctor = William Hartnell and so on.

 

[Perfection]

Vangelis, for me!

He's far more deserving for sure.

 

[Kyriakos]

Well, pi is named after Pythagoras, and won't be that much associated with anyone else until history is erased
The number e is usually associated with Euler, although it was the result of examining a function that existed before him (eg by Jacob Bernoulli).
There is also Planck's constant, though it is less famous in popular culture.

 

[Gori the Grey]

11 will always be synonymous with Christopher Guest of Spinal Tap.

This one I like, yes.

I mean I like everybody's, but I think this one might have been in the back of my mind as something that prompted me to ask the question.

 

[Perfection]

911 = George Bush

 

[Kyriakos]

The various 'aleph' cardinalities are associated with Cantor. Again, however, not really as prominent in pop culture.
Square root of two, insofar as being irrational, is attributed to Hippasos of Metapontium, one of the pythagoreans.
Various common fractions in music are also pythagorean, due to their discovery of the specific relation between string tension and sound.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

What about 666? It is usually considered Satan's number, but in fact it is mankind's collective number since it is the "number of the beast", the beast being the human forces ruling the world or human society as a whole.

 

[Kyriakos]

666 is - afaik- first mentioned in the Apocalypse, by apostle John.
So it can be linked to him

 

[Caesar of Bread]

e - Leonard Euler
1 - Three Dog Night
1914 - Franz Ferdinand (technically his death)
1963 - JFK (technically his death)
69 - me - sorry for the dumb joke!

 

[Caesar of Bread]

Or put another what, how many cases are there of a particular number being owned by a particular individual?

The cases I have in mind are the way 42 can bring instantly to mind Douglas Adams.

23 can bring instantly to mind Michael Jordan.

(For some people, of course,)

So put in yet another way, my question is this: are there any numbers, when, if you see them in some neutral setting, they nevertheless conjure up memories/associations of one particular human being?

42 imo is related to Jackie Robinson as well.

 

[Kyriakos]

I am not sure that historical dates can be really linked to any one person ^^ For many reasons; often they refer to different events that are significant, eg 1864 is the second Danish-Prussian war, as well as the Confederate vs Union war.
It'd be a bit like arguing that 1666=Newton. Sure, it was his major year, but also the year of the great plague.
If one uses day/month too, perhaps it is more viable, but then it's less likely they mean much in popular/layman culture. For example, 1/8/1914 (or the bizarre 8/1/1914, if you are USian!) is the declaration of war, by Germany, against Russia.

PS: It is nice that Alexander died at a date easy to remember: 323. And because he was 33 years old, so you also calculate he was born in 356 BC. But 356 BC was also the year of the great destruction of the temple of Artemis, at Ephesos, by Herostratos. Legend has it that the only reason Artemis wasn't around to defend her temple, was that she had to be a witness to the birth of Alexander

 

[Angst]

I am not sure that historical dates can be really linked to any one person ^^ For many reasons; often they refer to different events that are significant, eg 1864 is the second Danish-Prussian war, as well as the Confederate vs Union war.
It'd be a bit like arguing that 1666=Newton. Sure, it was his major year, but also the year of the great plague.
If one uses day/month too, perhaps it is more viable, but then it's less likely they mean much in popular/layman culture. For example, 1/8/1914 (or the bizarre 8/1/1914, if you are USian!) is the declaration of war, by Germany, against Russia.

PS: It is nice that Alexander died at a date easy to remember: 323. And because he was 33 years old, so you also calculate he was born in 356 BC. But 356 BC was also the year of the great destruction of the temple of Artemis, at Ephesos, by Herostratos. Legend has it that the only reason Artemis wasn't around to defend her temple, was that she had to be a witness to the birth of Alexander

the 1864 is a particular weird thing for me, since indeed it fills such an important space in american history, while also filling an important space in danish history (in other ways, but both really impacted our nation to fully change forever, and not many people talk about the danish war). when you say 1864 in denmark everyone knows what you're talking about.

(folk song that has become a children's song, melody of french origin i think

also very danish to make an extremely silly children's song about a guy who died in a war, talking about graves, guns, chewing tobacco, and going FILIONGONGONG OG TINGELINGELING which is nonsense in danish too, although i know it's always hard to tell with our blabber)

1864 was the foundation for danish small nationalism which still envelops our whole culture.

 

[Gori the Grey]

911 = George Bush

This one I did think of, though I ruled it out because it's really two numbers. When I was thinking about it, though, I was thinking about Osama bin Laden.