The number 256 (28) was chosen because it is the number of distinct values that can be represented with an eight-bit byte, a value well-known to programmers. 256 is also the highest power of two that is less than 365, the number of days in a common year.
I want to use this and to say
Happy holiday to all programmers in the world! :)
Thank you for stopping by and wish you to have a great day.
Sources: The image is mine. I use some translation from Wikipedia
More information about the day of the programmers you can find here