56 is the natural number

Natural number

In mathematics, the natural numbers are the ordinary whole numbers used for counting and ordering . These purposes are related to the linguistic notions of cardinal and ordinal numbers, respectively...

 following 55

55 (number)

55 is the natural number following 54 and preceding 56.-Albania:*Gazeta 55, a newspaper*Constitution law 55, a law during Communist Albania.-Mathematics:...

 and preceding 57

57 (number)

57 is the natural number following 56 and preceding 58.- In mathematics :Fifty-seven is the sixteenth discrete semiprime and the sixth in the family. With 58 it forms the fourth discrete bi-prime pair. 57 has an aliquot sum of 23 and is the first composite member of the 23-aliquot tree...

.

Mathematics

56 is the sum of the first six triangular number

Triangular number

A triangular number or triangle number numbers the objects that can form an equilateral triangle, as in the diagram on the right. The nth triangle number is the number of dots in a triangle with n dots on a side; it is the sum of the n natural numbers from 1 to n...

s (making it a tetrahedral number

Tetrahedral number

A tetrahedral number, or triangular pyramidal number, is a figurate number that represents a pyramid with a triangular base and three sides, called a tetrahedron...

), as well as the sum of six consecutive primes

Prime number

A prime number is a natural number greater than 1 that has no positive divisors other than 1 and itself. A natural number greater than 1 that is not a prime number is called a composite number. For example 5 is prime, as only 1 and 5 divide it, whereas 6 is composite, since it has the divisors 2...

 (3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 13 + 17). It is also a tetranacci number and a pronic number

Pronic number

A pronic number, oblong number, rectangular number or heteromecic number, is a number which is the product of two consecutive integers, that is, n . The n-th pronic number is twice the n-th triangular number and n more than the n-th square number...

. Adding up the divisors of 1 through 8 gives 56. Since 56 is twice a perfect number

Perfect number

In number theory, a perfect number is a positive integer that is equal to the sum of its proper positive divisors, that is, the sum of its positive divisors excluding the number itself . Equivalently, a perfect number is a number that is half the sum of all of its positive divisors i.e...

, it is itself a semiperfect number

Semiperfect number

In number theory, a semiperfect number or pseudoperfect number is a natural number n that is equal to the sum of all or some of its proper divisors. A semiperfect number that is equal to the sum of all its proper divisors is a perfect number....

.

Since it is possible to find sequences of 56 consecutive integers such that each inner member shares a factor with either the first or the last member, 56 is an Erdős–Woods number

Erdos–Woods number

In number theory, an Erdős–Woods number is a positive integer that has the following property:Consider a sequence of consecutive positive integers [a, a+1, \dots, a+k]. The number k is an Erdős–Woods number if there exists such a sequence, beginning with some number a, in which each of the elements...

.

The maximum determinant in an 8 by 8 matrix

Matrix (mathematics)

In mathematics, a matrix is a rectangular array of numbers, symbols, or expressions. The individual items in a matrix are called its elements or entries. An example of a matrix with six elements isMatrices of the same size can be added or subtracted element by element...

 of zeroes and ones is 56.

Plutarch

Plutarch

Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

 states that the Pythagoreans associated a polygon of 56 sides with Typhon

Typhon

Typhon , also Typhoeus , Typhaon or Typhos was the last son of Gaia, fathered by Tartarus, and the most deadly monster of Greek mythology. He was known as the "Father of all monsters"; his wife Echidna was likewise the "Mother of All Monsters."Typhon was described in pseudo-Apollodorus,...

 and that they associated certain polygons of smaller numbers of sides with other figures in Greek mythology. While it is impossible to construct a perfect regular 56-sided polygon using simple 'square and circle' geometry, a close approximation has recently been discovered which it is claimed might have been used at Stonehenge.

Science, technology, and biology

• The atomic number
  Atomic number
  In chemistry and physics, the atomic number is the number of protons found in the nucleus of an atom and therefore identical to the charge number of the nucleus. It is conventionally represented by the symbol Z. The atomic number uniquely identifies a chemical element...
  
   of barium
  Barium
  Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in Group 2, a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. Barium is never found in nature in its pure form due to its reactivity with air. Its oxide is historically known as baryta but it reacts with...
  
  .
• In humans, olfactory receptor
  Olfactory receptor
  Olfactory receptors expressed in the cell membranes of olfactory receptor neurons are responsible for the detection of odor molecules. Activated olfactory receptors are the initial player in a signal transduction cascade which ultimately produces a nerve impulse which is transmitted to the brain...
  
  s are categorized in 56 families.
• The code for international direct dial phone calls to Chile
  Chile
  Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
  
  .
• The maximum speed of analog data transmission over a POTS
  Plain old telephone service
  Plain old telephone service is the voice-grade telephone service that remains the basic form of residential and small business service connection to the telephone network in many parts of the world....
  
   in the 20th century was 56 kbit/s.

Astronomy

• Messier object
  Messier object
  The Messier objects are a set of astronomical objects first listed by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1771. The original motivation of the catalogue was that Messier was a comet hunter, and was frustrated by objects which resembled but were not comets...
  
   M56
  M56
  M56 or M-56 may refer to:* Messier 56, a globular cluster in the constellation Lyra* M56 motorway, a motorway in England* M56 Lena highway * M56 howitzer, a Yugoslav copy of the M101A1 howitzer...
  
  , a magnitude 9.5 globular cluster
  Globular cluster
  A globular cluster is a spherical collection of stars that orbits a galactic core as a satellite. Globular clusters are very tightly bound by gravity, which gives them their spherical shapes and relatively high stellar densities toward their centers. The name of this category of star cluster is...
  
   in the constellation
  Constellation
  In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
  
   Lyra
  Lyra
  Lyra is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Its principal star, Vega — a corner of the Summer Triangle — is one of the brightest...
  
  .
• The New General Catalogue
  New General Catalogue
  The New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars is a well-known catalogue of deep sky objects in astronomy. It contains 7,840 objects, known as the NGC objects...
  
   object NGC 56
  NGC 56
  NGC 56 is a New General Catalogue entry for a supposedly observed astronomical body that does not exist. This object was recorded by John Herschel early in his observations as part of his 1825 "sweep 14." He recorded only that, "about this place a considerable space seems affected with nebulosity."...
  
  , an unverified object in the constellation Pisces
  Pisces (constellation)
  Pisces is a constellation of the zodiac. Its name is the Latin plural for fish, and its symbol is . It lies between Aquarius to the west and Aries to the east...
  
  . NGC 56 does not appear to be a real object.
• The Saros number of the solar eclipse
  Solar eclipse
  As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun as viewed from a location on Earth. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. At least...
  
   series which began on -1172 July 17 and ended on 144 September. The duration of Saros series 56 was 1316.2 years, and it contained 74 solar eclipses.
• The Saros number of the lunar eclipse
  Lunar eclipse
  A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a...
  
   series which began on -852 May 7 and ended on 428 June. The duration of Saros series 56 was 1280.1 years, and it contained 72 lunar eclipses.

Music

• Number of times the word "Yeah" is used by Michael Stipe
  Michael Stipe
  John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
  
   from the band R.E.M.
  R.E.M.
  R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
  
   in the song "Man on the Moon"
  Man on the Moon (song)
  "Man on the Moon" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released as the second single from its 1992 album Automatic for the People. The song makes numerous references to the performer Andy Kaufman, including his Elvis impersonation and work with wrestlers Fred Blassie and Jerry...
  
  .
• The number of times the word "Yeah" is used in the song "Lithium" by Nirvana
  Nirvana (band)
  Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
  
  .
• Christian punk
  Christian punk
  Christian punk is a form of Christian music and a subgenre of punk rock with some degree of Christian lyrical content. Much disagreement persists about the boundaries of the subgenre, and the extent that their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies among bands...
  
   rock band Flatfoot 56
  Flatfoot 56
  Flatfoot 56 is a Celtic punk band from Chicago, Illinois. The group's use of Scottish Highland bagpipes has led to their classification as a Celtic punk band, comparable to Dropkick Murphys or Flogging Molly.-History:...
  
  .
• "Along For The Ride ('56 T-bird)" sung by Danny O'Keefe
  Danny O'Keefe
  Danny O'Keefe is a U.S. based singer-songwriter, born in Spokane, Washington, in 1943. O'Keefe's musical career has spanned four decades from his early days playing in the Minnesota coffee houses to his present station in the Seattle area...
  
  .
  • This song was covered by John Denver
    John Denver
    Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...
    
    .
• "Five Feet of Lovin '56" sung by Gene Vincent
  Gene Vincent
  Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
  
  .
• Elvis Presley
  Elvis Presley
  Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
  
   CD "Elvis '56".
• The name of a Plexi
  Plexi
  Plexi was a gothic noise rock band consisting of Michael Angelos , Michael Barragan , and Norm Block . No other members were ever in the band, though they occasionally utilized a Moog player during live performances. Their original name was Godseed...
  
   song.

Television and film

• The car number of Ray Peyton, Jr. (Breckin Meyer
  Breckin Meyer
  -Early life:Meyer was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Dorothy Ann , a travel agent and former microbiologist, and Christopher William Meyer, a management consultant. As a child of divorced parents, he lived in California, Texas, West Virginia and New Jersey. He has an older brother,...
  
  ) in Herbie: Fully Loaded
  Herbie: Fully Loaded
  Herbie: Fully Loaded is a 2005 American comedy film directed by Angela Robinson and produced by Robert Simonds for Walt Disney Pictures. It stars Lindsay Lohan as the youngest member of an automobile-racing family, Michael Keaton as her father, Matt Dillon as a competing racer, Breckin Meyer as...
  
  .
• "Nasser
  Gamal Abdel Nasser
  Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
  
   56" documentary.

Sports

• In baseball
  Baseball
  Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
  
  , the number of consecutive games in which New York Yankees
  New York Yankees
  The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
  
  ' Joe DiMaggio
  Joe DiMaggio
  Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio , nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper," was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak , a record that still stands...
  
   had a base hit in 1941
  1941 in baseball
  -Headline events of the year:*Joe Dimaggio hits in 56 consecutive games. After being hitless in the 57th game, he hit safely in 16 more consecutive games for a streak of 72 of 73 games.*Ted Williams ended the season with a .406 batting average...
  
  , still a record.
• Hack Wilson
  Hack Wilson
  Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson was an American professional baseball player who played 12 seasons with the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies...
  
   hit 56 home run
  Home run
  In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
  
  s in 1930
  1930 in baseball
  -Champions:*World Series: Philadelphia Athletics over St. Louis Cardinals -Statistical leaders:1Single season record for RBIs-American League final standings:-National League final standings:-Negro National League final standings:...
  
  , a National League
  National League
  The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
  
   record until the time of Mark McGwire
  Mark McGwire
  Mark David McGwire , nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball player who played his major league career with the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. He is currently the hitting coach for the St...
  
  .

Organizations

• There were 56 signers of the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. A memorial located in Constitution Gardens on the National Mall http://www.nps.gov/foju/upload/take2.pdf in Washington, D.C. recognizes each.
• The symbol of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
• Famous Brazil
  Brazil
  Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
  
  ian politician, Enéas Carneiro
  Enéas Carneiro
  Enéas Ferreira Carneiro was a Brazilian politician. He represented the state of São Paulo in the National Chamber of Deputies and ran for the presidency three times as a perennial candidate...
  
   has an odd way of repeating the number of his party, "Fifty-Six" (cinqüenta e seis, in Portuguese
  Portuguese language
  Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
  
  ), making it a widely repeated jargon in his country.
• Department 56
  Department 56
  Department 56 is a manufacturer of holiday collectibles, ornaments and giftware, known for their lit Christmas village collections and their Snowbabies collection. It is owned by Enesco.-History:...
  
   designer of collectibles, giftware and seasonal decorations such as miniature village houses.

People

• Shirley Temple
  Shirley Temple
  Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
  
  , as a child, wore 56 curls in her hair. Curls were set by her mother who thus made sure of the exact number.
• Isoroku Yamamoto
  Isoroku Yamamoto
  was a Japanese Naval Marshal General and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II, a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and a student of Harvard University ....
  
  , named "Isoroku" because his father's age was 56 at his birth, and "Isoroku" is an old Japanese term meaning 56.
• Mao Zedong
  Mao Zedong
  Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
  
   was 56 when the People's Republic of China
  People's Republic of China
  China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
  
   was established on Oct. 1, 1949.
• There are 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in the list of ethnic groups in China.

Geography

• The name of the town Fifty-Six, Arkansas
  Fifty-Six, Arkansas
  Fifty-Six is a city in Stone County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 163.-Geography:The community was named for School District No. 56...
  
  .
• The number of counties in the state of Montana
  Montana
  Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
  
  .
• Cape Horn
  Cape Horn
  Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
  
  , the Southernmost tip of South America, is located at almost exactly 56 degrees south
  56th parallel south
  The 56th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 56 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. No land lies on the parallel—it crosses nothing but ocean.Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 56° south passes through:...
  
  .
• In the Los Angeles
  Los Ángeles
  Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
  
   postal district, Zone 56 (now the ZIP Code
  ZIP Code
  ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
  
   area 90056) is one of few that is not within the Los Angeles City Limits (90020 and 90044 are others).
• 56 is the number of the French department Morbihan
  Morbihan
  Morbihan is a department in Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan , the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline.-History:...
  
  .

Transportation

• Year identifier used on motor vehicles registered in the UK between 1 September 2006 and 28 February 2007.
• List of highways numbered 56.

Archaeology

• The number of Aubrey Holes
  Aubrey holes
  The Aubrey holes are a ring of fifty-six Late Cretaceous Seaford Chalk pits at Stonehenge named after the seventeenth-century antiquarian John Aubrey. They date to the earliest phases of Stonehenge in the late fourth and early third millennium BC...
  
   (thought to have located wooden posts) in the first stage of Stonehenge
  Stonehenge
  Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
  
  .

Cosmogony

• According to Aristotle
  Aristotle
  Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
  
  , 56 is the number of layers of the Universe
  Universe
  The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
  
   - Earth
  Earth
  Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
  
   plus 55 crystalline spheres above it.

History

• The number of men who signed the United States Declaration of Independence
  United States Declaration of Independence
  The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
  
   in 1776.
• The number of men of Netophah
  Umm Tuba
  Umm Tuba is an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem near Sur Baher, northeast of Bethlehem, with a population of 4,000. After the 1967 Six-Day War, Umm Tuba was incorporated into the municipal district of Jerusalem...
  
   at the census
  Census
  A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
  
   of men of Israel
  Israel
  The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
  
   upon return from exile (Ezra
  Book of Ezra
  The Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Originally combined with the Book of Nehemiah in a single book of Ezra-Nehemiah, the two became separated in the early centuries of the Christian era...
  
   2:22).

Historical years

56 A.D.

56

Year 56 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Saturninus and Scipio...

, 56 B.C.

56 BC

Year 56 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Philippus...

, 1756, 1856, 1956, 2056, etc.