Van der Waerden's theorem

Van der Waerden's theorem is a theorem in the branch of mathematics called Ramsey theory. Van der Waerden's theorem states that for any given positive integers r and k, there is some number N such that if the integers {1, 2, ..., N} are colored, each with one of r different colors, then there are at least k integers in arithmetic progression whose elements are of the same color. The least such N is the Van der Waerden number W(r, k), named after the Dutch mathematician B. L. van der Waerden.

This was conjectured by Pierre Joseph Henry Baudet in 1921. Waerden heard of it in 1926 and published his proof in 1927, titled Beweis einer Baudetschen Vermutung [Proof of Baudet's conjecture].