Since 1966, the "Star Trek" franchise has grown to encompass a dozen TV shows and just as many movies . Throughout its nearly 60 years of existence, there are many common threads that wind their way through every iteration. But beginning in 1990, the series also included something in every series that few have noticed: an inside joke among the many "Trek" writers. It might seem odd, but the number 47 began popping up repeatedly, and it's all thanks to screenwriter Joe Menosky and a real-life organization called the 47 Society.

The 47 Society began as a kind of tongue-in-cheek project, whereby a group of students at Pomona College in California theorized that the idea that the number 47 occurs in nature more often than any other number. Joe Menosky was a member of this society, and when he

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