Benford's Law

Benford's Law is a principle in mathematics applied in analyzing the validity of statistics and financial record.

The Law
Any large randomly produced set of natural numbers, such as tables of logarithms or corporate sales statistics, around 30 per cent will begin with the digit 1, 18 per cent with 2, and so on, with the smallest percentage beginning with 9.

Us physicist Frank Benford's paper published in 1938 demonstrated the statistical validity of the phenomenon, and hence the law is named Benford's Law.