There are certain things in or around us that are always found in specific numbers. For example, the number of sense organs in our body is five and the chakras in our body are believed to be seven. It takes 365 days to make a year and 24 hours make a day. In history, numbers appear as dates marking important events; in geography, they come as latitudes, longitudes, heights, and depths to mark locations on Earth. In mathematics, they measure quantities and give a meaning to concepts such as distance and dimension. In science, they define properties of substances. For example, the number of electrons in an element make it distinct, or the pH of a substance, which is again a number, defines whether it's acidic or basic. Numbers are a part of tradition, religion, and mythology too. Almost every instant, we encounter them; in counting, measuring, judging, analyzing, and in many other things we do daily, we are dealing with numbers. They are with us throughout life. Some repeat; some, we never meet. Frequently coming across the same number or a particular numeric pattern is only a coincidence, you may think. But there are others who believe that numbers carry a hidden meaning. In the following sections of this Buzzle article, we will look at the meaning that seven carries. We will find where and how it features in science, history, and other fields, and go through some fun and interesting facts about the number 7. ▸ There are seven wonders of the ancient world. ▸ There are seven continents in the world. ▸ The colors of the rainbow are seven in number. Their names are famously abbreviated as 'vibgyor'. ▸ There are seven days in a week. ▸ There are seven basic musical notes, namely, 'do', 're', 'me', 'fa', 'so', 'la' and 'te'. In Indian music they are denoted as 'sa', 're', 'ga', 'ma', 'pa', 'dha', and 'ni'. ▸ A set of seven similar things that are considered as one unit is known as a septet. ▸ One of the most interesting facts about the number seven is its correlation with the cognitive abilities of human beings. The limits of human cognitive capacity lie within the range of 7 plus or a minus 2. ▸ A research by the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine says that our skin is regenerated in 7 days. And every cell in our body is replaced every 7 years. ▸ There are seven chakras in our body. ▸ The stages of grief are considered to be seven in number. They are shock, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression, and acceptance. However, the Kübler-Ross model proposes five. ▸ Mammalian bodies have seven external orifices; namely, the nostrils, mouth, ear canals, nasolacrimal ducts, anus, urinary meatus, and the vagina (in females). ▸ In the US tradition, the seventh wedding anniversary is known as the Wool or Copper anniversary. ▸ The Group of Seven was a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920 to 1933. Originally, Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley formed this group. They, along with some other Canadian artists initiated an important Canadian national art movement. Their paintings were inspired by nature. ▸ In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Brothers Grimm, the number of dwarfs is seven. ▸ There are seven child detectives in Enid Blyton's Secret Seven. ▸ In J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series, Ginny Weasley is the seventh child of the Weasley family. Harry potter was born in July, the seventh month of the year. 7 is the number on the back of his Quidditch robes. Wizarding students have to complete seven years of school at Hogwarts. The chest in which Professor Moody was hidden had seven locks. ▸ Moreover, there are seven books in the Harry Potter series. ▸ In handball, each team consists of seven players. In water polo, 6 field players and 1 goalkeeper make a team, thus making the number of players per team, seven. ▸ On July 7 in 2005, suicide bomb attacks took place in central London. British Islamist men made three explosions in London Underground trains and one on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square. These bomb attacks caused 52 fatalities, leaving another 700 injured. ▸ Felix Vasquez, an employee of the New York City Housing Authority was born on July 7, 1977. He was the winner of the New York's Bronze Medallion for his brave act of saving a three-week old child. He became famous in New York for this courageous feat and appeared in many television interviews. ▸ Nerdist news Youtube channel host Jessica Chobot was born on July 7, 1977. ▸ Former American football quarterback Chris James Redman was born on July 7, 1977. ▸ The musician Daniel Whitesides who plays drums for the American rock band The Used was born on July 7, 1977. ▸ Dick Clark married Kari Wigton on July 7, 1977. This marriage lasted until his death. ▸ The American vocalist and guitarist Mary Ford was a July 7-born. Born in 1924, she died in 1977. ▸ Seven has the highest probability of occurring as an addition when rolling dice. ▸ The number seven is the fourth prime number as also a Mersenne prime, the first Woodall prime, the fourth factorial prime, the second lucky, and the second safe prime. ▸ Seven is the only number below 15 that cannot be represented as a sum of the squares of three integers. ▸ 1 divided by 7 gives 0.1428571428571429 2 divided by 7 gives 0.2857142857142857 3 divided by 7 gives 0.4285714285714286 Thus, we see an interesting pattern of 142857 in all the divisions. Dig a little deeper to find exactly how the series repeats and tell us what you found. ▸ A seven-sided polygon is known as a heptagon. ▸ A ladybug commonly has seven spots. ▸ Most of the mammals' necks have seven bones. ▸ The number of rows in the periodic table of elements is seven. ▸ The neutral pH value that lies between acidity and alkalinity is seven. ▸ The code for international direct dial phone calls to Russia and Kazakhstan is 7. Seven is also the number of digits in an American or a Canadian telephone number. ▸ Digital devices use a seven-segment display. ▸ The OSI model has seven layers. ▸ There are seven logic gates namely, NOT, NOR, XNOR, XOR, AND, NAND, and OR. ▸ The Indian astronomy regards a constellation of seven stars as a group of its seven prominent saints. It denotes this constellation by the name, saptarishi mandalam. Seven is also the number of stars in the constellation Big Dipper. ▸ The number of celestial bodies visible to the naked eye is seven. They include the Sun, the Moon and the five planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Earth is a celestial body but since we are on it, for us, it is invisible in the sky! ▸ According to numerological studies, people with the number 7 are spiritual and in a constant search of hidden truths. They are explorers by nature and have a very different way of living life. Materialistic pleasures do not interest them. ▸ They are inclined towards the abstract and have an aptitude for art. Mostly, they are introverts. ▸ It is believed that your guiding angel communicates with you by showing you repeating sequences of numbers. If you are seeing a sequence of three 7s, the angel number 777, as it's called, it indicates that you are on the way to spiritual awareness. Know more in this Buzzle article on angel number 777. ▸ The roman number seven (VII) signifies the seventh discovered satellite of a planet. ▸ In Christianity, the number seven has gained importance due to the Seven Joys of Virgin Mary, the Seven Sorrows of Virgin Mary, and the Seven Corporal and the Seven Spiritual Acts of Mercy of Roman Catholics. The number 7 appears in the Seven last words of Jesus on the cross, the Seven Virtues, and the Seven deadly sins. ▸ In Hindu weddings, the couple walks for seven steps Saptapadi, after which they are declared as husband and wife. They have to make seven rounds around the holy fire as a part of their wedding rituals. ▸ Seven days of festive meals for the bride and the groom follow Jewish weddings. During the ceremony, seven blessings are recited. ▸ In the Islamic tradition, there are seven heavens and seven Earths. The numbers of fires in hell and the number of doors to both the heaven and the hell is also seven. ▸ It is a term in psychology which says that the happiness in a relationship begins to drop after seven years of marriage. ▸ In George Axelrod's play by the same name, it was shown that faithfulness in marriage may reduce after seven years. The American romantic comedy film called The Seven Year Itch showed the protagonist's inclination to being unfaithful to his wife after seven years of marriage, further popularizing this term's use. ▸ Statistics show that on an average, couples divorce in about 7 years of marriage. ▸ Basically, the theory says that one loses interest in or the happiness derived from something after seven years of being in it. It may also apply to other things like being in a job. This was a compilation of some interesting facts about the number 7. Numbers are infinite, and each is believed to have a significance of its own. Each number is magical in its own right. Now check if the magical number seven, or any other, has affected you in any way. For a fact, some numbers keep repeating in our lives. They follow us in their own way. Or do we follow them? Think about it and see if you have a connection with the number 7. Do let us know, what you found.