Monday, January 2, 2012
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| The validity of this article as a news story is, as written, disputed. Wikinews does not publish reports on events that are not sufficiently recent. For synthesis, new details must have come to light within the past five to seven days, and the news event itself must have happened within ten days. Unless sources can be found and a news event chosen to bring this article into compliance with those requirements, the article may be deleted. If any new details from the last five to seven days are newsworthy in their own right then an article could be written with these updates as the actual news event. Exceptions are possible where original reporting adds significant new and newsworthy information to the article.
Please try to resolve objections on the discussion page, or move the article to Wikipedia or another sister project where it may be more relevant. |
Happy new year! Yesterday, we left 2011 behind and entered 2012. Did you know that it has now been nine years since the last time January 1 fell on a Wednesday? The last time January 1 fell on a Wednesday was back in 2003. To give you an idea how long ago that was, Facebook and YouTube weren’t around yet. The iPhone wasn’t released until 2007. The third millennium started on January 1, 2001, and 2003 was the third year of the millennium. Now, it’s 2012, the twelfth year of the millennium. And in most everyday contexts, three is much smaller than twelve. If you use January 2000 as the start of the millennium, we are now four times as far into the millennium as we were back then. If you use January 2001 as the start of the millennium, 2003 was two years in, and we are now 11 years in, so we are now 5.5 times as far into the millennium as we were in January 2003. And yet, even to this day, January 2003 is still the most recent instance of January 1 being a Wednesday. Now, we have just celebrated New Year’s Day 2012, the ninth New Year’s Day in a row to NOT fall on a Wednesday.
What makes this even stranger is the fact that even though January 2003 has not yet had a “calendar repeat,” other years that are more recent have already had a “calendar repeat.” This year, January 2012 and February 2012 (barring February 29, 2012, since Feb. 29 didn’t exist in 2006) have the same calendars as January 2006 and February 2006, respectively, even though 2006 is three years later than 2003. All twelve months of last year (2011) are the same, calendar-wise, as 2005. January 1, 2005, fell on a Saturday, and January 1, 2011, also fell on a Saturday. What about 2004? January 2004 and February 2004 have the same calendars as January 2009 and February 2009, respectively, with the exception of February 29, 2004, since February 2009 had only 28 days, not 29 days. March 2004 through December 2004 have the same calendars as March 2010 through December 2010.
Examples (2004 vs. 2010)
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- Monday, March 1, 2004 -> Monday, March 1, 2010
- Tuesday, March 2, 2004 -> Tuesday, March 2, 2010
- Wednesday, March 3, 2004 -> Wednesday, March 3, 2010
- Thursday, April 1, 2004 -> Thursday, April 1, 2010
- Sunday, October 10, 2004 -> Sunday, October 10, 2010
- Thursday, November 25, 2004 -> Thursday, November 25, 2010
- Saturday, December 25, 2004 -> Saturday, December 25, 2010
Why January 1 has not been a Wednesday in so long
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The years 2001 and 2007 have the same calendar for all 365 days of the year. January 1 was a Monday in both years, and Christmas (December 25) was a Tuesday in both years.
In 2008, the first 59 days of the year (January 1 through February 28) fell on the same days of the week as they did in 2002. Some examples are given below:
- Tuesday, January 1, 2002 -> Tuesday, January 1, 2008
- Wednesday, January 2, 2002 -> Wednesday, January 2, 2008
- Thursday, January 3, 2002 -> Thursday, January 3, 2008
- Thursday, January 31, 2002 -> Thursday, January 31, 2008
- Friday, February 1, 2002 -> Friday, February 1, 2008
- Tuesday, February 26, 2002 -> Tuesday, February 26, 2008
- Wednesday, February 27, 2002 -> Wednesday, February 27, 2008
- Thursday, February 28, 2002 -> Thursday, February 28, 2008
However, since 2008 was a leap year, February had an extra day at the end, namely, Friday, February 29. In 2002, “Thursday, February 28” was followed by “Friday, March 1,” but in 2008, the day after “Thursday, February 28” was “Friday, February 29.” The day after Leap Day was March 1, but it was a Saturday, not a Friday. For the rest of the year, 2008 had the same calendar as 2003, not 2002.
- Friday, March 1, 2002 -> Saturday, March 1, 2008 (not the same)
- Saturday, March 2, 2002 -> Sunday, March 2, 2008 (not the same)
- Sunday, March 3, 2002 -> Monday, March 3, 2008 (not the same)
- Thursday, October 31, 2002 -> Friday, October 31, 2008 (not the same)
- Sunday, December 15, 2002 -> Monday, December 15, 2008 (not the same)
When will January 1 be a Wednesday again?
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Luckily, for enthusiasts of “Wednesday, January 1,” you have to wait only two more years for this combination, as January 1, 2014, will be a Wednesday! Eleven years. A person turning 18 in 2014 was only seven years old in 2003. And what about 21, the legal drinking age? A person turning 21 in 2014 was only ten years old in 2003.
If you are nostalgic for the year 2003, you are in luck: all twelve months of 2014 have the same calendar as the corresponding month of 2003. For example, July 2014 begins on a Tuesday, just like July 2003 began on a Tuesday.
Daylight-saving time: 2003 vs. 2014
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The Energy Policy Act, passed in 2005, introduced changes to the rules of daylight-saving time in the United States. Previously, daylight-saving time (DST) started on the first Sunday of April and ended on the last Sunday of October. The new rules for DST took effect starting in 2007. Under the new rules, DST begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November.
In 2003, DST began on Sunday, April 6, 2003. Local clocks were turned forward one hour: 01:59:59 -> 03:00:00. That day had only 23 hours, but Sunday, March 9, 2003, was a regular day.
In 2014, DST began on Sunday, March 9, 2014. Local clocks were turned forward one hour: 01:59:59 -> 03:00:00. That day had only 23 hours, but Sunday, April 6, 2014, was a regular day.
- [ ] — e.g. December 31, 1999
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