You're probably familiar with 42. It's just a number, right? The one that comes after 41 and before 43? Well, what if we told you it has a ~deeper meaning~?
Adams later confessed that it was all a joke and he chose the number randomly. But over the years, 42 has continued to appear in history, maths, science, and pop culture, which made us wonder, Could it really be the ultimate answer after all?!
Let's investigate.
We've already touched on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, BUT another thing worth noting is that when the movie premiered in 2005 it raked in £4.2m at the box office.
Author Lewis Carroll (who was also a mathematician) had a fascination with the number as well. Rule 42 in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland states "All persons more than a mile high to leave the court."
In Finding Nemo, Dory and Marlin are on a mission to 42 Wallaby Way to, well, find Nemo.
In the TV show Lost, it's the last number in the oft referenced number sequence 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. The number 42 plays an important role and pops up repeatedly throughout the series.
There's an episode of Doctor Who called "42" in which the Doctor has exactly 42 minutes to rescue his crew, which is aboard a spaceship hurtling towards the sun.
In the series Supernatural, the episode "Inside Man" features a door labelled 42 that leads to the gate of heaven.
And finally, in Risk – the board game about world domination – the map is divided into 42 territories.
Perhaps the most compelling piece of evidence is this: Donated blood lasts only 42 days. So maybe it is the answer to life, the universe, and everything after all.
