Going on 18: Here are the interesting bits
In most countries, it is between the ages of 18 and 21 that the young are granted the full rights of an adult.


Numerology
Number 18 symbolises, ahem, welfare of humanity. It represents a whole bunch of goody-goody ideas like
- Humanitarianism
- Self-determination
- Tolerance
- Efficiency
- Philanthropy

Tarot
The tarot card 18 shows the moon dripping tears, as a wolf and a dog bay at it, and apparently it means the material is trying to destroy the spiritual

Chemistry
18 is the atomic number of argon.
Group 18 of the periodic table is called the noble gases.
Math
18 is the first positive number that is equal to double its digits
18 is a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semi-perfect number

Books
The popular comic strip Calvin and Hobbes appeared for the first time on November 18, 1985
Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 was originally named Catch-18 because of the Hebrew meaning of the number, but was amended to the published title to avoid confusion with another war novel, Leon Uris's Mila 18
There are 18 chapters in the Bhagavad Gita

History
So what happened in 1818?
In February, Chile gained independence from Spain
In June, the third Anglo-Maratha War ended with Brits defeating the Marathas
In December Illinois became the 21st state of the USA
In December, the Christmas carol Silent Night composed by Franz Xaver Gruber was first sung at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, Austria

Astrology
Planet Mars influences all persons born on the 9th, 18th, and 27th of any month

Astronomy
The Saros is a period of about 18 years. It is useful for predicting identical eclipses

Rights
- In most countries, 18 is the age when one becomes a major and also the voting age
- 18 is the minimum age for a girl to get married in India.
- It is also the minimum age to apply for a permanent licence to drive a private motor vehicle in India.
- Of 195 countries, 61% have 18 or 19 as drinking age

Faith
The Hebrew word for life — chai — has a numerical value of 18. Consequently, the custom in Jewish circles is to give donations and monetary gifts in multiples of 18 as an expression of blessing for a long life
There are 18 canonical puranas and 18 upa-puranas in Hinduism
In ancient Rome,the number 18 symbolised a blood relative
XVIII
In China, 18 is considered an auspicious number. It is associated with someone who is going to have great success
Source: nytimes.com, mysticalnumber.com, numbermatics.com, onthisday.com
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