Eighteen is a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. Eighteen is the first inverted square-prime of the form p.q2 . .
The Hebrew word for "life" is חי (chai), which has a numerical value of 18. Consequently, the custom has arisen in Jewish circles to give donations and monetary gifts in multiples of 18 as an expression of blessing for long life.
In Judaism, in the Talmud; Pirkei Avot (5:25), Rabbi Yehudah ben Teime gives the age of 18 as the appropriate age to get married ("Ben shmonah esra lechupah", at eighteen years old to the Chupah (marriage canopy)). (See Coming of age, Age of majority).
Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 was originally named Catch-18 because of the Hebrew meaning of the number, but was amended to the published title to avoid confusion with another war novel, Mila 18.[1]
In Chinesetradition, the number 18, normally 十八 (shí bā), can also be read as 幺八 (yāo bā), which sounds like 要发 (yào fā), meaning that one is going to prosper. Thus, building floors numbered "18" are often very expensive in Chinacitation needed
In many parts of the world, 18 is the age minimum for purchasing tobacco and alcoholic beverages. It is also the voting age in many countries. During the Vietnam War, Americans could be drafted at an age as low as 18, but were not allowed to vote in most states until they were 21. A movement spread to lower the voting age, and in 1971, the Twenty-sixth Amendment extended a guarantee of suffrage to anyone 18 years or older in all states. The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in the U.K. and many other nations around that time.
Eighteen is also the age in many countries at which a person may appear in a pornographic video, or express legal consent to sexual relations with another.citation needed
In addition, eighteen-year-olds in the United States have the right to bear arms, own property, marry without parental consent(in almost all states), get an abortion, donate their bodies to science, and serve on a jury.
In many states the age at which one can obtain a learner's permit without parental consent.
Minimum age at which one can be admitted to rent or buy an MPAA-rated NC-17 movie. This is also the age at which one can see an NC-17 rated movie.citation needed
Minimum age at which one can play, rent, or buy an ESRB-rated AO game.
Minimum age at which one can buy tickets to an 18A rated film in Canada without being accompanied by an adult. Ratings in Canada are provincial, so they may vary. A film can be 18A in some provinces and 14A in other provinces. A film can also be 18A in some provinces and R in other provinces. 18 is also the minimum age at which one can view, rent, or buy an R or an A rated movie.
Minimum age at which one can buy, rent, view, or buy tickets to an 18+ rated movie in the Canadian province of Quebec.
Minimum legal age to drink or buy alcohol in many countries in the world.
Minimum age at which one can get a full driver's license in many U.S states and Canadian provinces.
Uniform number of former baseball player Don Larsen. The number shows prominently in a photograph taken just before the last pitch he made in his perfect game in the 1956 World Series. (When this picture was printed in Baseball's Unforgettable Games by Joseph Reichler and Ben Olan in 1960, they gave it the caption "The Writing on the Wall.")
The Hindu epic Mahabharata has eighteen sections, involves eighteen armies and is about a war fought over eighteen days
The sacred literature of the Hindus known as Bhagavad Gita has eighteen chapters.
In some countries the number 18 means blood (relative)
In the Chinese mythos, Hell has 18 levels
In Chinese folklore, the Shaolin temple had a group of 18 Bronze Monks. Initiates could only be considered full graduates of Shaolin martial arts if they could defeat them in combat.
In 1990 Megadeth released Hanger 18 as a single for the Rust in Piece Album.
^ N James. The Early Composition History of Catch-22. In Biographies of Books: The Compositional Histories of Notable American Writings, J Barbour, T Quirk (edi.) pp. 262-90. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1996