A tribute to John Lennon on his 75th birthday

by Aziz Inan |

John Winston Ono Lennon (born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England. Died on December 8 1980, in New York City, New York, United States, at age 40) was an English singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a co-founder of the band called, The Beatles [1, 2]. This Friday, October 9, 2015 marks Lennon’s 75th birthday and as a tribute to him, I constructed the following numerical birthday brainteasers:

1. If numbers 1 to 26 are assigned to the letters of the English alphabet as A being 1, B is 2, C = 3, etc., the numbers assigned to the letters of “John” and “Lennon” each add up to 47 and 74, respectively, where interestingly enough, 47 and 74 are reverse of one another.
2. Lennon’s 74th birthday last year (2014) was numerically special since 74 coincides with the sum of the numbers assigned to the letters of his last name “Lennon” and reverse of 74 (47) coincides with the sum of the numbers assigned to the letters of his first name, “John.”
3. In addition, Lennon’s 74th birthday in 2014 was also special because the prime factors of 2014 (2, 19, and 53) add up to 74.
4. Also, if Lennon’s 74th birthday expressed as 09-10-2014 is split into 09, 10, 20, and 14, the sum of the squares of these four numbers yield 777 and the prime factors of 777 (3, 7, and 37) add up to 47 (the reverse of 74). Also, the product of the digits of 777 yields 343 and interestingly enough, Lennon died on the 343^rd day of 1980.
5. Lennon’s 73rd birthday was also special since twice the reverse of 73 (37) result in 74 (“Lennon”).
6. Lennon’s 72nd birthday was also special since reverse of 72 (27) equals the difference of numbers 47 and 74 (“John” and “Lennon”). In addition, if Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono’s birthday February 18, 1933 (18-02-1933) is split into 18, 02, 19, and 33, these four numbers add up to 72. Also, the sum of the digits of 18-02-1933 equals 27, which is the reverse of 72.
7. Yoko Ono was 47 years old when Lennon died in 1980. Also, next year (2016) will mark the 47th anniversary of Lennon’s marriage to Ono (they got married on March 20, 1969).
8. Lennon’s 75th birthday is special not only because 75 years correspond to three quarters of a century but also because the squares of the digits of 75 add up to 74. In addition, his 75th birthday coincides with the 282nd day of 2015 where 282 equal six times 47 (reverse of 74).
9. The product of the digits of 75 (Lennon’s new birthday number in 2015) yields 35, and interestingly enough, 2015 also marks the 35th anniversary of Lennon’s death. Also, 20 plus 15 (which side by side make up 2015) equals 35. In addition, 8 December 2015 (the day Lennon died) coincides with the 342nd day of 2015 where 342 equal six times 57 (the reverse of 75). Also, the reverse of 342 (243) equals 3^5 where 3 and 5 side by side make 35. Also, the prime factors of 74 ("Lennon") which are 2 and 37 differ by 35.
10. The sum of the digits of Lennon’s 75th birthday expressed as 09-10-2015 equals 75 minus its reverse (57). Also, if split as 0910 and 2015, these two numbers differ by 1105, which equals 5 x 13 x 17, where these three prime numbers add up to 35, that is, 7 x 5.
11. Also, the prime factors of 2015 (5, 13, and 31) add up to 49, the reverse of which is twice 47. Also, if the reverse of 2015 (5102) is split in the middle as 51 and 02, these two numbers differ by 49, again, with reverse being twice 47. Also, twice the reverse of 75 (57) equals 114, which is the sum of the numbers assigned to the letters of Lennon’s middle name, Winston.
12. The difference of the cubes of the digits of Lennon’s new birthday number 75 yields 218, the reverse of which is 812, representing 8-12 (December 8), the day Lennon died. (This also makes Lennon’s 75th birthday numerically special).
13. Lennon died on 8-12 (December 8), or simply 812. Note that the reverse of 812 is 218, which, if interpreted in the month-day calendar date format as 2-18, coincides with Ono’s birth date, February 18. Also, 218 equals twice 109, where 109 interpreted in the month-day date format as 10-9 coincides with Lennon’s birth date, October 9.
14. Lennon’s birthday 09101940 has an interesting numerical property. If the odd and even-numbered digits of 09101940 are separated as 0114 (“Winston”) and 9090, 9090 equals 2 x 3 x 3 x 5 x 101 where these five prime numbers add up to 114. (Note that 114 is twice the reverse of 75, Lennon’s new birthday number.) Also, 9090 equals 90 times 101 where twice the sum of these numbers yield 382, the reverse of which is 283. Coincidentally, Lennon was born on the 283rd day of 1940.
15. The numbers assigned to the letters of Lennon’s birth name “John Winston Lennon” add up to five times 47.
16. The middle two digits of Lennon’s birth year 1940 equals twice 47. Also, the sum of the squares of the digits of 1940 equals 98, which is twice 49, where the reverse of 49 (94) equals twice 47. Also, note that the difference of 910 (Lennon’s birth date, 9 October) and 812 (8 December, the day Lennon died) equals 98. In addition, 98 coincide with the middle two digits of 1980, the year Lennon died.