1,492,191,857,994,455,512,121,812

A high school teacher put that number on the board and told us we had 30 seconds to memorize it. Then she erased it and at the end of class, we had to write it down as we remembered it.

I honestly don't recall if I wrote it correctly then or not, but after she broke it down for us at the end, I've never forgotten it. She removed the commas then grouped the numbers...

1492 - Columbus lands in America
1918 - WWI ended
57 - Heinz 57 advertising slogan
9944 - Ivory Soap advertising (99.44% pure)
5551212 - Directory assistance phone
1812 - The war of 1812

The object of the lesson was on improving retention and memorization skills. It certainly worked for me, at least with that number, as I still recall it decades later.

-rob.
/~robg