The numbers we all use (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) are known as "arabic" numbers to distinguish them from the "Roman Numerals" (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, etc). Actually the arabs popularized these numbers but they were originally used by the early phonecian traders to count and keep track of their trading accounts.

Have you ever wondered why ........ the symbol "1" means "one", and "2" means "two"? The roman numerals are easy to understand but what was the logic behind the phonecian numbers?

A couple of answers on the web. One of them quite logical; the other not so much---

http://www.orthohelp.com/numbers.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numerals

I don't think roman numerals are that easy to understand, i guess they do make sense, but with big numbers it is weird

I like the angle explanation the best, it is most interesting and fun, although i think the other explanation is the true explanation

Very interesting. And I agree with everything Lewis said.