The earliest publication that discusses this sequence appears to be the Sepher Yezirah [Book of Creation], circa AD 300. (See Knuth, also the Zeilberger link) - N. J. A. Sloane, Apr 07 2014

For n >= 1, a(n) is the number of n X n (0,1) matrices with each row and column containing exactly one entry equal to 1.

This sequence is the BinomialMean transform of A000354. (See A075271 for definition.) - John W. Layman, Sep 12 2002 [This is easily verified from the Paul Barry formula for A000354, by interchanging summations and using the formula: Sum_k (-1)^k C(n-i, k) = KroneckerDelta(i,n). - David Callan, Aug 31 2003]

Number of distinct subsets of T(n-1) elements with 1 element A, 2 elements B,..., n - 1 elements X (e.g., at n = 5, we consider the distinct subsets of ABBCCCDDDD and there are 5! = 120). - Jon Perry, Jun 12 2003

n! is the smallest number with that prime signature. E.g., 720 = 2^4 * 3^2 * 5. - Amarnath Murthy, Jul 01 2003

a(n) is the permanent of the n X n matrix M with M(i, j) = 1. - Philippe Deléham, Dec 15 2003

Given n objects of distinct sizes (e.g., areas, volumes) such that each object is sufficiently large to simultaneously contain all previous objects, then n! is the total number of essentially different arrangements using all n objects. Arbitrary levels of nesting of objects are permitted within arrangements. (This application of the sequence was inspired by considering leftover moving boxes.) If the restriction exists that each object is able or permitted to contain at most one smaller (but possibly nested) object at a time, the resulting sequence begins 1,2,5,15,52 (Bell Numbers?). Sets of nested wooden boxes or traditional nested Russian dolls come to mind here. - Rick L. Shepherd, Jan 14 2004

From Michael Somos, Mar 04 2004; edited by M. F. Hasler, Jan 02 2015: (Start)

Stirling transform of [2, 2, 6, 24, 120, ...] is A052856 = [2, 2, 4, 14, 76, ...].

Stirling transform of [1, 2, 6, 24, 120, ...] is A000670 = [1, 3, 13, 75, ...].

Stirling transform of [0, 2, 6, 24, 120, ...] is A052875 = [0, 2, 12, 74, ...].

Stirling transform of [1, 1, 2, 6, 24, 120, ...] is A000629 = [1, 2, 6, 26, ...].

Stirling transform of [0, 1, 2, 6, 24, 120, ...] is A002050 = [0, 1, 5, 25, 140, ...].

Stirling transform of (A165326*A089064)(1...) = [1, 0, 1, -1, 8, -26, 194, ...] is [1, 1, 2, 6, 24, 120, ...] (this sequence). (End)

First Eulerian transform of 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1... The first Eulerian transform transforms a sequence s to a sequence t by the formula t(n) = Sum_{k=0..n} e(n, k)s(k), where e(n, k) is a first-order Eulerian number [A008292]. - Ross La Haye, Feb 13 2005

Conjecturally, 1, 6, and 120 are the only numbers which are both triangular and factorial. - Christopher M. Tomaszewski (cmt1288(AT)comcast.net), Mar 30 2005

n! is the n-th finite difference of consecutive n-th powers. E.g., for n = 3, [0, 1, 8, 27, 64, ...] -> [1, 7, 19, 37, ...] -> [6, 12, 18, ...] -> [6, 6, ...]. - Bryan Jacobs (bryanjj(AT)gmail.com), Mar 31 2005

a(n+1) = (n+1)! = 1, 2, 6, ... has e.g.f. 1/(1-x)^2. - Paul Barry, Apr 22 2005

Write numbers 1 to n on a circle. Then a(n) = sum of the products of all n - 2 adjacent numbers. E.g., a(5) = 1*2*3 + 2*3*4 + 3*4*5 + 4*5*1 +5*1*2 = 120. - Amarnath Murthy, Jul 10 2005

The number of chains of maximal length in the power set of {1, 2, ..., n} ordered by the subset relation. - Rick L. Shepherd, Feb 05 2006

The number of circular permutations of n letters for n >= 0 is 1, 1, 1, 2, 6, 24, 120, 720, 5040, 40320, ... - Xavier Noria (fxn(AT)hashref.com), Jun 04 2006

a(n) is the number of deco polyominoes of height n (n >= 1; see definitions in the Barcucci et al. references). - Emeric Deutsch, Aug 07 2006

a(n) is the number of partition tableaux of size n. See Steingrimsson/Williams link for the definition. - David Callan, Oct 06 2006

Consider the n! permutations of the integer sequence [n] = 1, 2, ..., n. The i-th permutation consists of ncycle(i) permutation cycles. Then, if the Sum_{i=1..n!} 2^ncycle(i) runs from 1 to n!, we have Sum_{i=1..n!} 2^ncycle(i) = (n+1)!. E.g., for n = 3 we have ncycle(1) = 3, ncycle(2) = 2, ncycle(3) = 1, ncycle(4) = 2, ncycle(5) = 1, ncycle(6) = 2 and 2^3 + 2^2 + 2^1 + 2^2 + 2^1 + 2^2 = 8 + 4 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 4 = 24 = (n+1)!. - Thomas Wieder, Oct 11 2006

a(n) is the number of set partitions of {1, 2, ..., 2n - 1, 2n} into blocks of size 2 (perfect matchings) in which each block consists of one even and one odd integer. For example, a(3) = 6 counts 12-34-56, 12-36-45, 14-23-56, 14-25-36, 16-23-45, 16-25-34. - David Callan, Mar 30 2007

Consider the multiset M = [1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, ...] = [1, 2, 2, ..., n x 'n'] and form the set U (where U is a set in the strict sense) of all subsets N (where N may be a multiset again) of M. Then the number of elements |U| of U is equal to (n+1)!. E.g. for M = [1, 2, 2] we get U = [[], [2], [2, 2], [1], [1, 2], [1, 2, 2]] and |U| = 3! = 6. This observation is a more formal version of the comment given already by Rick L. Shepherd, Jan 14 2004. - Thomas Wieder, Nov 27 2007

For n >= 1, a(n) = 1, 2, 6, 24, ... are the positions corresponding to the 1's in decimal expansion of Liouville's constant (A012245). - Paul Muljadi, Apr 15 2008

Triangle A144107 has n! for row sums (given n > 0) with right border n! and left border A003319, the INVERTi transform of (1, 2, 6, 24, ...). - Gary W. Adamson, Sep 11 2008

Equals INVERT transform of A052186: (1, 0, 1, 3, 14, 77, ...) and row sums of triangle A144108. - Gary W. Adamson, Sep 11 2008

From Abdullahi Umar, Oct 12 2008: (Start)

a(n) is also the number of order-decreasing full transformations (of an n-chain).

a(n-1) is also the number of nilpotent order-decreasing full transformations (of an n-chain). (End)

n! is also the number of optimal broadcast schemes in the complete graph K_{n}, equivalent to the number of binomial trees embedded in K_{n} (see Calin D. Morosan, Information Processing Letters, 100 (2006), 188-193). - Calin D. Morosan (cd_moros(AT)alumni.concordia.ca), Nov 28 2008

Sum_{n >= 0} 1/a(n) = e. - Jaume Oliver Lafont, Mar 03 2009

Let S_{n} denote the n-star graph. The S_{n} structure consists of n S_{n-1} structures. This sequence gives the number of edges between the vertices of any two specified S_{n+1} structures in S_{n+2} (n >= 1). - K.V.Iyer, Mar 18 2009

Chromatic invariant of the sun graph S_{n-2}.

It appears that a(n+1) is the inverse binomial transform of A000255. - Timothy Hopper (timothyhopper(AT)hotmail.co.uk), Aug 20 2009

a(n) is also the determinant of an square matrix, An, whose coefficients are the reciprocals of beta function: a{i, j} = 1/beta(i, j), det(An) = n!. - Enrique Pérez Herrero, Sep 21 2009

The asymptotic expansions of the exponential integrals E(x, m = 1, n = 1) ~ exp(-x)/x*(1 - 1/x + 2/x^2 - 6/x^3 + 24/x^4 + ...) and E(x, m = 1, n = 2) ~ exp(-x)/x*(1 - 2/x + 6/x^2 - 24/x^3 + ...) lead to the factorial numbers. See A163931 and A130534 for more information. - Johannes W. Meijer, Oct 20 2009

Satisfies A(x)/A(x^2), A(x) = A173280. - Gary W. Adamson, Feb 14 2010

a(n) = A173333(n,1). - Reinhard Zumkeller, Feb 19 2010

a(n) = G^n where G is the geometric mean of the first n positive integers. - Jaroslav Krizek, May 28 2010

Increasing colored 1-2 trees with choice of two colors for the rightmost branch of nonleaves. - Wenjin Woan, May 23 2011

Number of necklaces with n labeled beads of 1 color. - Robert G. Wilson v, Sep 22 2011

The sequence 1!, (2!)!, ((3!)!)!, (((4!)!)!)!, ..., ((...(n!)!)...)! (n times) grows too rapidly to have its own entry. See Hofstadter.

The e.g.f. of 1/a(n) = 1/n! is BesselI(0, 2*sqrt(x)). See Abramowitz-Stegun, p. 375, 9.3.10. - Wolfdieter Lang, Jan 09 2012

a(n) is the length of the n-th row which is the sum of n-th row in triangle A170942. - Reinhard Zumkeller, Mar 29 2012

Number of permutations of elements 1, 2, ..., n + 1 with a fixed element belonging to a cycle of length r does not depend on r and equals a(n). - Vladimir Shevelev, May 12 2012

a(n) is the number of fixed points in all permutations of 1, ..., n: in all n! permutations, 1 is first exactly (n-1)! times, 2 is second exactly (n-1)! times, etc., giving (n-1)!*n = n!. - Jon Perry, Dec 20 2012

For n >= 1, a(n-1) is the binomial transform of A000757. See Moreno-Rivera. - Luis Manuel Rivera Martínez, Dec 09 2013

Each term is divisible by its digital root (A010888). - Ivan N. Ianakiev, Apr 14 2014

For m >= 3, a(m-2) is the number hp(m) of acyclic Hamiltonian paths in a simple graph with m vertices, which is complete except for one missing edge. For m < 3, hp(m)=0. - Stanislav Sykora, Jun 17 2014

a(n) = A245334(n,n). - Reinhard Zumkeller, Aug 31 2014

a(n) is the number of increasing forests with n nodes. - Brad R. Jones, Dec 01 2014

Sum_{n>=0} a(n)/(a(n + 1)*a(n + 2)) = Sum_{n>=0} 1/((n + 2)*(n + 1)^2*a(n)) = 2 - exp(1) - gamma + Ei(1) = 0.5996203229953..., where gamma = A001620, Ei(1) = A091725. - Ilya Gutkovskiy, Nov 01 2016

The factorial numbers can be calculated by means of the recurrence n! = (floor(n/2)!)^2 * sf(n) where sf(n) are the swinging factorials A056040. This leads to an efficient algorithm if sf(n) is computed via prime factorization. For an exposition of this algorithm see the link below. - Peter Luschny, Nov 05 2016

Treeshelves are ordered (plane) binary (0-1-2) increasing trees where the nodes of outdegree 1 come in 2 colors. There are n! treeshelves of size n, and classical Françon's bijection maps bijectively treeshelves into permutations. - Sergey Kirgizov, Dec 26 2016

Satisfies Benford's law [Diaconis, 1977; Berger-Hill, 2017] - N. J. A. Sloane, Feb 07 2017

a(n) = Sum((d_p)^2), where d_p is the number of standard tableaux in the Ferrers board of the integer partition p and summation is over all integer partitions p of n. Example: a(3) = 6. Indeed, the partitions of 3 are [3], [2,1], and [1,1,1], having 1, 2, and 1 standard tableaux, respectively; we have 1^2 + 2^2 + 1^2 = 6. - Emeric Deutsch, Aug 07 2017

a(n) is the n-th derivative of x^n. - Iain Fox, Nov 19 2017

a(n) is the number of maximum chains in the n-dimensional Boolean cube {0,1}^n in respect to the relation "precedes". It is defined as follows: for arbitrary vectors u, v of {0,1}^n, such that u=(u_1, u_2, ..., u_n) and v=(v_1, v_2, ..., v_n), "u precedes v" if u_i <= v_i, for i=1, 2, ..., n. - Valentin Bakoev, Nov 20 2017

a(n) is the number of all shortest paths (for example, obtained by Breadth First Search) between the nodes (0,0,...,0) (i.e., the all-zero vector) and (1,1,...,1) (i.e., the all-ones vector) in the graph H_n, corresponding to the n-dimensional Boolean cube {0,1}^n. The graph is defined as H_n= (V_n, E_n), where V_n is the set of all vectors of {0,1}^n, and E_n contains edges formed by each pair adjacent vectors. - Valentin Bakoev, Nov 20 2017

a(n) is also the determinant of the symmetric n X n matrix M defined by M(i,j) = sigma(gcd(i,j)) for 1 <= i,j <= n. - Bernard Schott, Dec 05 2018