Today is March 1, 2013, expressed numerically as 3/1/13. That makes today a palindrome.
A palindrome is the term for when a word or phrase is spelled the same way backwards as it is forward. Some examples of palindromes include level, kayak, civic, radar, solos, tenet, names like Bob, Otto, and Hannah, and sentences like “Was it a bar or a bat I saw?”
Palindromes aren’t limited to words, though. Numbers can also be palindromes, like today’s date: 3113.
It’s always fun when dates and times have interesting patterns. For instance, a couple of months ago it was 12/12/12.
A little over a year ago, on 11/02/2011, I wrote that palindrome days are notable because they are rare, and that the next one wouldn’t be for eight more years. So, what gives? Why another one so soon.
Dates like 11/02/2011, which include the full two-digit form of the day and month, and the full four-digit form of the year, are rare. There are only 12 such dates in this entire century.
But there are other days that qualify as palindromes, too, if you use less than the full form of of the date. 3/1/13 is one, and there will be others this month – ten more, in fact, beginning on 3/10/13 and running through 3/19/13. Whew! That’s a lot of palindromes!
What other fun dates can you think of?
Jaime McLeod is the Web Content Editor for the Farmers' Almanac. She is a longtime journalist who has written for a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including MTV.com. She enjoys the outdoors, loves eating organic food, and is interested in all aspects of natural wellness.
If you notice a hole in the upper left-hand corner of your Farmers' Almanac, don't return it to the store! That hole isn't a defect; it's a part of history. Starting with the first edition of the Farmers' Almanac in 1818, readers used to nail holes into the corners to hang it up in their homes, barns, and outhouses (to provide both reading material and toilet paper). In 1910, the Almanac's publishers began pre-drilling holes in the corners to make it even easier for readers to keep all of that invaluable information (and paper) handy.
2 comments
Son was born on 19/9/91
Farm name – SeveNeveS
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