Platts & Nisbett has been hand making our surgical instruments in Sheffield for 40 years (1977 – 2017).

Here are some facts about the number 40.

1. Platts & Nisbett has been manufacturing surgical instruments for 40 years.
2. There are 40 spaces on a monopoly board.
3. A typical pregnancy lasts 40 weeks.
4. 40 years of marriage is celebrated with rubies.
5. 40 is the atomic number of zirconium.
6. It took chemists 40 attempts to develop the spray known as WD-40. The full name is Water Displacement 40th Formula.
7. It takes Venus 40 years to cross our sky and return to its starting point.
8. -40 degrees is the unique temperature where Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures match up.
9. The Roman numeral for 40 is XL.
10. Ancient people used three joints and the tip of each finger to signify 40.
11. The word ‘quarantine’ comes from the Italian word for 40 (quaranta), because incoming ships were isolated for 40 days in European harbours during the Bubonic Plague.
12. The word ‘forty’ is the only number in the English Language that is in alphabetical order when spelled out.
13. Ronald Reagan was the 40th President.
14. 40 is the highest number ever counted to on Sesame Street.
15. 40 is the calling code assigned to Romania.
16. 40 in binary is 101000.
17. In horse racing, the maximum permitted number of runners is 40.
18. In tennis the number 40 represents the third point gained in a game.
19. The expression “40 winks” means a short sleep.
20. A rainbow can only be seen in the morning or late afternoon – this phenomenon can only occur when the sun is 40 degrees or less above the horizon.