![]() The letters "H" and "W" don't count because the system developers knew those letters were often silent and not written down when names were given verbally to immigration or census officials. Letters in the name are assigned numbers, but it isn't quite that simple. The first three numbers, which hold a person's last name, are based on an odd system developed for the 1920 Census. That is the information hidden in the four three-digit groupings on the license: last name, first name, middle name and day and month of birth. After a few minutes of paper shuffling and figuring, Gallian came up with the correct 12-digit driver's license number. These include Maryland, Michigan, and Minnesota (prior to December 13. State officials say that the formula is public information but that they don't advertise it for fear of aiding fraudulent use of license numbers.To prove his virtuosity with the numbers, Gallian, who explained his discovery in Mathematics Magazine, asked a journalist for his full name and the day and month of his birth. A number of states encode your name and date of birth in your license number. The code has been in use for decades and, as far as anyone knows, Joseph Gallian is the first person to figure it out on his own.
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