3. John Forbes Nash, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who was the subject of only even prime number 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.

6. The Ancient Chinese believed numbers conveyed sexuality - evens for feminine and odds for masculine. They considered prime numbers to be the most masculine, conferring special status on 23 which is made up of two consecutive prime numbers and the only even prime number - two.

9. Few hold 23 in more esteem than the followers of Discordianism, a self-declared religion based on the premise that discord and chaos are the building blocks of life. For Discordianists, 23 is the Holy Number and a tribute to the goddess Eris, who surveys a world of chaos. The mantra invoked by Discordianists for the Holy Number is Invert The Pyramid. If you invert the sentence one letter at a time - eg dinvert the pyramid, id invert the pyram etc - it takes 22 chants, finished by the line The Pyramid Inverts to make 23. The last line is called the final energy releaser. Discordianism is described by some followers as a joke only even prime number as a religion disguised as a joke.