News

There's Something Really Special About This Week

by L. Turner

Time to put on your party pants, America: This week is a Palindrome Week, i.e. the week where every Otto, Hannah, and Ava cut loose and celebrate symmetry. Every time you write a check this week, you will experience a thrill... so, start cutting checks!

Don't believe us? Check out this week's dates. You can see they have a certain je ne sais quoi:

4/14/14

4/15/14

4/16/14

4/17/14

4/18/14

4/19/14

Keeping tabs on palindrome dates is apparently a thing, and by leading palindrome convention (also apparently a thing), the most symmetrical date this month was actually 4/10/14. Unlike this week's date, the numerical 4102014 holds up to full day/month/year scrutiny. We won't get another true palindrome day until May 10 next year, which not coincidentally is also when we'll get to celebrate our next palindrome week.

This April is even rarer for another reason, according to Fox 5 in New York: For ten consecutive days in April, you can add up the numbers in the dateline and out will pop the day of the week. To use Wednesday, 4/16/14, as an example: 4 + 1 + 6 + 1 + 4 = 16. Lloyd Strayhorn, an expert on numbers and astrology, told the station that such an occasion is "phenomenal" and rare:

It's the only month every 100 years that does that.

In related news:

To celebrate, we recommend eating naan or Peeps in a race car (or, for those looking to go green this palindrome week, a kayak). And if you happen to have a baby this week? Here you go. You're welcome.

Image: Fotolia