History
The following table lists the progression of the largest known prime number in ascending order, where Mn is a Mersenne number with exponent n.
| Number | Digits | Year found |
|---|---|---|
| M127 | 39 | 1876 |
| 180×(M127)2 + 1 | 79 | 1951 |
| M521 | 157 | 1952 |
| M607 | 183 | 1952 |
| M1279 | 386 | 1952 |
| M2203 | 664 | 1952 |
| M2281 | 687 | 1952 |
| M3217 | 969 | 1957 |
| M4423 | 1332 | 1961 |
| M9689 | 2917 | 1963 |
| M9941 | 2993 | 1963 |
| M11213 | 3376 | 1963 |
| M19937 | 6002 | 1971 |
| M21701 | 6533 | 1978 |
| M23209 | 6987 | 1979 |
| M44497 | 13395 | 1979 |
| M86243 | 25962 | 1982 |
| M132049 | 39751 | 1983 |
| M216091 | 65050 | 1985 |
| 391581×2216193 − 1 | 65087 | 1989 |
| M756839 | 227832 | 1992 |
| M859433 | 258716 | 1994 |
| M1257787 | 378632 | 1996 |
| M1398269 | 420921 | 1996 |
| M2976221 | 895932 | 1997 |
| M3021377 | 909526 | 1998 |
| M6972593 | 2098960 | 1999 |
| M13466917 | 4053946 | 2001 |
| M20996011 | 6320430 | 2003 |
| M24036583 | 7235733 | 2004 confirmed Dec 1, 2011 |
| M25964951 | 7816230 | 2005 |
| M30402457 | 9152052 | 2005 |
| M32582657 | 9808358 | 2006 |
| M43112609 | 12978189 | 2008 |
Read more about this topic: Largest Known Prime Number
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