23

23 is one of the most commonly cited prime numbers — a number that can only be divided by itself and one.Twenty three is the lowest prime that consists of consecutive digits. Primes have been described as the "atoms" of mathematics — the building blocks of the world of numbers. An American businessman has put up a US$1m prize for the first mathematician to find a pattern in primes — a problem known as the Riemann hypothesis.




The number has been the subject of not one but two films: 
the 1998 German movie, 23, and The Number 23 starring Jim Carrey. Each has a main character obsessed with the number. John Forbes Nash, the Nobel Prizewinning economist who was the subject of the film, A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe, was obsessed with 23. It featured prominently in his battle with mental illness. His breakdown began when he claimed that a photograph of Pope John XXIII on the cover of Life magazine was in fact him, the proof being that 23 was his favourite number. Nash published 23 scientific articles.


More freaky numerical coincidences:
Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species was published in 1859 - 1+8+5+9 = 23. 
Two divided by three makes 0.666 recurring (allegedly - actually it makes 0.6666666667). The Hiroshima bomb was dropped at 8.15am - 8+15= 23.
There’s a group called The 23rdians who subscribe to the mystical power of 23 and see it in multiple combinations throughout daily life.


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