Point of Interest Dossier: The Islington FlatCopy Anchor Link

"However, the odds of getting picked up by another ship within those thirty seconds are two to the power of two hundred and seventy-six thousand seven hundred and nine to one against, which by a staggering coincidence is also the telephone number of an Islington flat where Arthur once went to a very good party and met a very nice girl whom he totally failed to get off with — she went off with a guy who'd gatecrashed the party. Though the planet Earth, the Islington flat and the telephone have all now been demolished, it is comforting to know that they are all commemorated by the fact that twenty-nine seconds later Ford and Arthur were rescued."

— The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Chapter 8

The Islington Flat was a residential flat located in the London district of Islington on planet Earth. Although the flat, its telephone, and the planet Earth were all vaporized by the Vogon Constructor Fleet, the flat remains forever commemorated in the mathematics of the Infinite Improbability Drive.

The Party in IslingtonCopy Anchor Link

Approximately six months prior to Earth's demolition, Arthur Dent attended a fancy-dress party at the Islington flat:

1. Meeting Tricia McMillan: In a quiet corner of the party, Arthur met Tricia McMillan (Trillian), finding her charming, beautiful, and devastatingly intelligent. For once, conversation was going splendidly.
2. "Phil" the Gatecrasher: The encounter was abruptly ruined by an obnoxious gatecrasher introducing himself as "Phil"—in reality Zaphod Beeblebrox, visiting Earth incognito for fun and disguised with only two arms and a single visible head.
3. The Unlikely Pickup: Shoving Arthur aside, "Phil" dropped the brazen line: "Hey doll, is this guy boring you? Why don't you talk to me instead? I'm from a different planet."
4. Leaving Earth: Faced with the prospect of returning to the unemployment dole queue on Monday morning despite degrees in mathematics and astrophysics, Tricia took him at his word and hitched a lift with him into interstellar space.

The $2^{276,709}$ to 1 Improbability CoincidenceCopy Anchor Link

When Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz had Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent ejected from number three airlock into the vacuum of space near Barnard's Star:

• Thirty Seconds in Vacuum: As The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy notes, if you hold a lungful of air you can survive in the total vacuum of space for about thirty seconds.
• The Rescue Odds & Telephone Number: The odds of getting picked up by another ship within those thirty seconds are $2^{276,709}$ to 1 against (two to the power of two hundred and seventy-six thousand seven hundred and nine to one against)—which, by a staggering coincidence, was also the telephone number of the Islington flat (276709 / 2276709).
• Commemoration by Rescue: Twenty-nine seconds after Ford and Arthur were blown into space, the flat, its telephone, and the demolished Earth were all commemorated when the two hitchhikers were rescued against those exact odds by the Heart of Gold.