the secret lives of numbers lays out the relative popularity of every number from 0 to a million, on the internet and at different points in time. which sounds like it could be deadly boring but is utterly fascinating not least because it contains information that shows us why some numbers are more popular than other.

• formula 1
• world war 2
• tomb raider 3
• netscape 4
• internet explorer 5
• visual basic 6
• final fantasy 7
• super 8 motel
• top 10
• roaring 20s
• club 18-30
• over 40
• 50 states
• 100%
• 1996 olympics
• human rights act 1998
• windows 2000

there’s a huge drop just before 2000 as hardly anyone seems to write the late 1990s years out in full, can we blame office 97 and windows 98? since the number statistics are sourced from the internet software plays a huge part in the number popularities, cars seem to do well too.

[found via aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada]