That’s a magical number, you know.
According to Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it is the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.
It is the jersey number worn by Jackie Robinson. It is also the number worn by Pat Tillman when he played football at the Arizona State University.
It is also:
# the number of generations (names) in the Gospel of Matthew’s version of the Genealogy of Jesus.
# The number of months the Beast will hold dominion over the Earth (Revelation 13:5).
# In January 2005, Asteroid 2001 DA42 was given the name Asteroid Douglasadams, named for the author Douglas Adams that popularized the number 42 and died in 2001. With even his initials in the provisional designation, Brian G. Marsden, the director of the Minor Planet Center and the secretary for the naming committee, said, “This was sort of made for him, wasn’t it?”
So, yeah, it is a magical number and worthy of mentioning today, of all days, and for the next 365 days or so.
‘Cause today, August 2nd, was my 42nd birthday.