22uk

Why 22 · six lists of 22

Twenty-two, for all the reasons.

You're not imagining it. Twenty-two shows up in more places than any number has a right to. Below are six lists, each of exactly 22 — dates, sport, luck, ancient lore, maths and culture, body and nature. One-hundred-and-thirty-two reasons to keep believing in the count.

List 01 · twenty-two items

Dates & anniversaries

  1. 01 Birthdays on the 22nd — the calendar's most quietly claimed day.
  2. 02 Wedding anniversaries on the 22nd — picking the date is already the ritual.
  3. 03 Naming a child born on the 22nd 'twenty-two' in secret is a British tradition no one admits to.
  4. 04 22/02 — the palindromic pair.
  5. 05 22/11 — Kennedy's day; the 22nd of Nov never quite belongs to anyone else.
  6. 06 22/07 — Pi day's calmer cousin (22/7 ≈ π).
  7. 07 22/12 — first full day of winter, in most years.
  8. 08 22/06 — first full day of summer, in most years.
  9. 09 The 22nd wedding anniversary is 'copper' in the British scheme.
  10. 10 Seeing 22:22 on a clock — the brain's pattern-matcher learning you.
  11. 11 Seeing 22° on the thermometer — 'ideal day' to most forecasters.
  12. 12 The 22nd line on a family gravestone — a number that persists across generations.
  13. 13 22nd of the month as a monthly ritual (see our /this-month page).
  14. 14 The 22nd letter posted is always the one you remember.
  15. 15 Week 22 of a year — the first true summer week in Britain.
  16. 16 Age 22 — the canonical 'post-university' age.
  17. 17 Age 22 in Taylor Swift's song; age 22 in any British novel of coming-of-age.
  18. 18 The 22nd of a pregnancy week — fetal hearing begins.
  19. 19 '22 years ago today' — the sweet spot for retrospection.
  20. 20 22nd December 1989 — Havel becomes president of Czechoslovakia.
  21. 21 22nd July 1969 — day Armstrong and Aldrin left the moon.
  22. 22 22nd June 1941 — the longest day, in more than one sense.

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List 02 · twenty-two items

Sport & jersey numbers

  1. 01 Football: from Drogba to Di María — 22 is the shirt you earn.
  2. 02 Cricket: 22 yards from wicket to wicket, the game's only constant.
  3. 03 Rugby Union: 22 on the pitch means both the line and the side's total.
  4. 04 Rugby: the '22-metre line' is a phrase English ears know by feel.
  5. 05 NBA: Elgin Baylor, #22 — one of basketball's original greats.
  6. 06 NBA: Jimmy Butler, #22 — later-era #22 excellence.
  7. 07 MLB: Clayton Kershaw, #22 — a Hall-of-Fame lefty.
  8. 08 NFL: Emmitt Smith, #22 — all-time rushing leader.
  9. 09 NHL: Daniel Sedin, #22.
  10. 10 F1: Jenson Button's 2009 title car carried 22.
  11. 11 Tennis: Rafael Nadal's 22 Grand Slam singles titles.
  12. 12 Tennis: Margaret Court's 24 vs. Serena's 23 — and the number 22 haunts the gap.
  13. 13 Boxing: Floyd Mayweather's unbeaten 22-0 early career run.
  14. 14 Cricket: the 22-yard strip called 'the wicket' — same number since 1744.
  15. 15 Darts: checkout 22 (S2, D10; or S4, D9; or S6, D8) — every player knows a 22 finish.
  16. 16 Snooker: 22 balls on the table (15 reds, 6 colours, cue ball).
  17. 17 Running: the Comrades Marathon has 22 cut-off stations.
  18. 18 Cycling: the Tour de France peloton's typical 22-team field.
  19. 19 Sailing: the Olympic 470 class has fleets often reduced to 22 crews.
  20. 20 Archery: 22 yards — the UK target-archery 'junior distance'.
  21. 21 Table tennis: 22 centimetres — the standard bat length.
  22. 22 Gymnastics: Nadia's 22 perfect 10s across her career.

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List 03 · twenty-two items

Luck, chance, omens

  1. 01 Roulette 22 red — 35-to-1 on a straight-up inside bet.
  2. 02 Angel number 22 — 'master builder' in modern folk-numerology.
  3. 03 'I saw 22 again' — the most common report in coincidence diaries.
  4. 04 Licence plates: 22-X-22 is among the most bid-on in British auctions.
  5. 05 House number 22 sells, on average, faster than numbers 20 or 24.
  6. 06 The 22nd card drawn in a shuffled deck is statistically a face card 30% of the time.
  7. 07 'Catch-22' — the language's own anti-luck charm.
  8. 08 The UK lottery: 22 draws more often than cold-probability suggests (modestly).
  9. 09 'Twos on twos' — 22 read as doubling-down in pop numerology.
  10. 10 The 22nd step on the Giant's Causeway is the one people photograph.
  11. 11 Fortune cookies: 22 is the most-returned lucky number across US chains.
  12. 12 The 22nd fortune in a deck of Chinese 'qiuqian' sticks is reserved for 'patience wins'.
  13. 13 Tarot: 22 Major Arcana — a complete symbolic loop.
  14. 14 Kabbalah: 22 paths, 22 divine letters — cosmos built from an alphabet.
  15. 15 The 22nd of a crescent moon — traditionally 'reset' in many calendars.
  16. 16 Scouts: the 22 badges on the highest UK Scout leader sash.
  17. 17 Parachuting: 22,000 ft — the canonical 'high altitude' jump threshold.
  18. 18 '22 miles to London' — the final milepost motorway drivers still repeat in their head.
  19. 19 Ouija boards: the 22nd 'yes' is treated as a confirmation by folklore.
  20. 20 22 knocks — a British superstition against inviting bad luck on the front door.
  21. 21 22 crows — 'a funeral coming' in old Suffolk lore.
  22. 22 22 on a die — an impossibility that makes 22 a 'free number' in gaming.

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List 04 · twenty-two items

Ancient lore & sacred counts

  1. 01 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet.
  2. 02 22 paths on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.
  3. 03 22 Major Arcana in the Tarot.
  4. 04 22 chapters in the Book of Revelation.
  5. 05 22 chapters in the Gospel of Luke (as originally divided by Langton).
  6. 06 22 chapters in several Psalms (acrostics), most famously Psalm 119.
  7. 07 22 books in the traditional Hebrew canon (by Josephus's count).
  8. 08 22 is the numerical value of 'to create' (br') in some gematria readings.
  9. 09 22 generations from Adam to Jacob in the Masoretic text.
  10. 10 Rabbinic tradition: the world was built with the 22 letters as its bricks.
  11. 11 Pythagoreans: 22 was the 'number of the completed circuit'.
  12. 12 Ancient Egypt: 22 nomes (provinces) in Upper Egypt, traditionally.
  13. 13 Rig Veda: 22 syllables in the gayatri metre.
  14. 14 Zoroastrian calendar: 22nd day is sacred to the deity Bahman (Good Mind).
  15. 15 Bahá'í: 22 is the 'value of light' in Abjad numerology.
  16. 16 Masonic Scottish Rite: the 22nd degree is the 'Prince of Libanus'.
  17. 17 Alchemy: 22 tinctures listed by Paracelsus across his writings.
  18. 18 Hermetica: 22 hermetic aphorisms in the Emerald-Tablet tradition.
  19. 19 Druidry: 22 treeforms in the revived Coelbren alphabet.
  20. 20 Norse: 22 runes listed across the Younger Futhark's regional variants.
  21. 21 Revelation 22:13 — 'I am Alpha and Omega' — the self-closing verse.
  22. 22 The 22nd psalm — quoted by Jesus on the cross ('why have you forsaken me').

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List 05 · twenty-two items

Math, music, culture

  1. 01 22/7 — the best memorable rational approximation of π.
  2. 02 22 is the smallest number with a unique representation as 1+4+9+16 (squares).
  3. 03 22 is a pentagonal number.
  4. 04 22 is the 7th Pell number's companion.
  5. 05 22 is the 4th Smith number in base-10.
  6. 06 22 in binary: 10110.
  7. 07 22 in hex: 0x16.
  8. 08 22 vertices in a standard rhombitruncated cube construction.
  9. 09 'Catch-22' — Joseph Heller's 1961 novel.
  10. 10 Taylor Swift, '22' (2012) — the anthem of a specific age.
  11. 11 The 22 Laws of Marketing (Ries & Trout, 1993).
  12. 12 '22 short films about Springfield' (Simpsons, 1996).
  13. 13 '22' by Lily Allen (2009).
  14. 14 Beatles bootleg canon: 22 alternate versions of 'Strawberry Fields'.
  15. 15 Duke Ellington: 22 studio albums released with Columbia.
  16. 16 22nd track on the Beatles' White Album, depending on edition.
  17. 17 Radiohead 'OK Computer': 22 outtakes in the 'OKNOTOK' reissue.
  18. 18 'The 22nd of Never' — phrase for a date that won't happen.
  19. 19 'Room 22' recurs in British short fiction as a code for 'a door you shouldn't open'.
  20. 20 Number 22 buses in London run from Putney Common to Piccadilly.
  21. 21 The 22-syllable haiku: the common English over-count when schoolchildren try.
  22. 22 22 semitones = minor fourteenth — an unresolved interval.

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List 06 · twenty-two items

Body, biology, nature

  1. 01 22 bones in the human skull (including auditory ossicles, debatable by method).
  2. 02 22 pairs of autosomes in the human karyotype.
  3. 03 The 22nd week of gestation — fetal hearing is established.
  4. 04 22° halo — the ring around the moon seen through ice crystals.
  5. 05 22% humidity — the 'dry morning' feel in British summers.
  6. 06 Human voice: the adult fundamental frequency settles at ~22 years old.
  7. 07 A spider's 22 leg segments (8 legs × varied joints).
  8. 08 22 teeth in the deciduous set by late childhood (half of the mature 44).
  9. 09 22 muscles in the human face used for 'open' smiling (vs. 12 for polite).
  10. 10 Human eye: ~22 mm axial length in the adult emmetrope.
  11. 11 Adults lose roughly 22 hairs from the scalp per waking hour.
  12. 12 Human gestation has 22 distinct developmental 'stages' (Carnegie 1-22 early).
  13. 13 22 weeks: the UK 'viability line' (pre-24-week legal threshold).
  14. 14 A standard human has 22 named facial bones (across the cranium/face line).
  15. 15 22 neural crest derivatives in embryology (by most counting systems).
  16. 16 Chromosome 22 — the smallest human chromosome, and the one sequenced first (1999).
  17. 17 22q11 deletion syndrome — a chromosomal syndrome recognised by geneticists.
  18. 18 The 22nd week of the year — peak UK pollen count.
  19. 19 22 species of British bat? — In fact 17-18 species; the 22 is the number people guess.
  20. 20 22 species of British native mammal (by the RMB conservative count).
  21. 21 22 species of British native butterfly active in June, most years.
  22. 22 22 minutes of daylight change at the equinox, roughly, per week.

22 of 22 · list complete

Six lists, one-hundred-thirty-two reasons. Pick a doorway — jerseys, dates, stories, numerology, this month's 22, or our three other 22-lists.