Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Star Trek: The 47 Conspiracy

The Number 47 is amazingly popular. More than I thought!

In Alias, the number 47 plays an important role in a majority of the episodes - from page numbers to door numbers to minutes and coordinates. It's been fun to try and find them although their appearance has slowed this season.

What I didn't know was the substantial Star Trek connection with 47. Click the link above to see what I mean.

Amazing; here's a site dedicated to the number 47 - and it has nothing to do with Alias! http://www.47.net/47society/

But wait, there's more!

In 47 B.C., Caesar proclaimed "veni, vidi, vici." Later, the Christian Bible reported in Genesis Chapter 47 that Jacob died at the age of 147. The New Testament credits Jesus with 47 miracles, and it is said that the King James version of the Bible was the work of 47 scholars.

In Japan in 1701, Lord Asano Takumi was obliged by etiquette to commit suicide after he drew his sword in the palace reacting to the insults of Kira Kotsuke no Suke. Becoming ronin (masterless samurai), Takumi's 47 followers swore to avenge their dead master in a story that lives on as the Legend of the 47 Ronin.

In American history, it should be noted that the Declaration of Independence consists of 47 sentences. And Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa was killed by a barrage of 47 bullets in 1923. In 1935, 147 prostitutes working for mobster Lucky Luciano in New York were arrested, though not one got a jail sentence. In 1947, inventor Earl Tupper introduced Tupperware and the Tupperware party.

In 1957, Elvis took 47 to the top of the Billboard Pop charts in the song, "Jailhouse Rock": "Number 47 said to number 13, you're the cutest jailbird I ever did see." The first In-n-Out fast-food restaurant opened in 1948 in Baldwin Park, California, and served exactly 47 burgers in its first day of operation.

There are 47 strings on a concert harp, and professional football teams are limited to 47 players. And in France, the Sorbonne is located at the intersection of the Rue des Ecoles and the Boulevard St. Michel in Paris. Its address on both streets is No. 47.

Read more: http://www.pomona.edu/Magazine/pcmfl00/1.shtml

No comments: