Back in the dark ages, Unix hackers needed a quick, dirty way to identify executable files. Enter the “magic number”—a quirky numeric code embedded at the beginning of binaries. Why call it magic? Rumor has it Bell Labs devs joked the numbers were arbitrary black magic, voodoo conjured by programmers who’d long forgotten their origin. In reality, “magic numbers” like octal 0407 or hexadecimal 0xCAFEBABE (yes, really) helped OSes quickly recognize file types. Today, these mysterious relics linger, confounding junior admins and providing endless ammo for sysadmin pub trivia.
