22-2-22: This 2's-day on Tuesday makes "Two's day"
Palindrome days are hyped on social media, but we must wait centuries for the best one.
Palindrome day
Social media has exploded about this Tuesday's palindrome date. When written in the d-m-yy (2-2-22) format, or as m-d-yy (2-2-22), it gives five number-two digits in a row. The day also falls on the second day of the week, so it is referred to as Two's Day.
Is this in any way relevant? No, it is not; life will go on as normal (so far as there is any normality left in today's crazy developments). There are no asteroids expected to hit our planet, and yes, you may fall in love, but feel free to do any other day. If you are here for a relevant article, please read anything else I wrote in this newsletter in the past year.
What is the second day of the week?
Still here? First, let's go to that statement on Tuesday being the second day of the week. This is correct according to the international standard for the representation of dates and times ISO 8601. However, in the United States and several other countries, Sunday is considered the first day of the week.
You may usually not give it much thought, but you continue an aspect of human culture that originates back to Babylonian times when you say Tuesday. Their astronomers named all weekdays after the sun, moon, and the five planets that they could see without a telescope. The Romans inherited their seven-days a week system. Later in history, the Vikings influenced the name-giving of the weekdays. The website of the Viking Ship Museum in Denmark explains:
In the Nordic countries, the Sun (Sunday) and the Moon (Monday) also became the first two days of the week, and the Roman gods became four of the Nordic gods with similarities:
Mars became Tyr (Tuesday), Mercury became Odin (Wednesday), Jupiter became Thor (Thursday), and Venus became Frigg (Friday). Saturday came outside the system: The Norse form 'Saturday' means 'hot water day' - which can be translated as 'washing day' or 'washing water day.'
I always find it easier to use French to remember which day refers to which planet:
lundi - Moon - Monday
mardi - Mars - Tuesday
mercredi - Mercury - Wednesday
jeudi - Jupiter - Thursday
vendredi - Venus - Friday
samedi - Saturn - Saturday
dimanche - Sun - Sunday
The Romans only started to use the seven-day week in the first century B.C., and it was officially adopted by Constantine in A.D. 321. That has been a welcome decision for millions of people throughout history since it replaced the eight-day week. This shorter week gives us six or seven work-free Sundays per year extra.
And we should be glad those Babylonians didn't find more planets.
Two's Day
Let's go back to Tuesday's "Two's Day" (yes, I know, it's the third day for some readers), which, as we have now learned, refers to the second-smallest planet in our solar system and seems to be the favorite future second home for Jeff Bezos, the second richest person on the planet.
Tuesday, February 22, 2022, is an example of a Palindrome Day: 22-2-22 or 2-22-22. These days happen when you can read the day's date the same way forward and backward. So it is symmetrical like a word palindrome, for instance, kayak, rotor, or level.
“saippuakivikauppias”
The longest known palindromic word is saippuakivikauppias. Just in case you don't know: this 19-letter word is Finnish for a dealer in lye (caustic soda), and I was told it needs a bit of practice for non-native speakers to pronounce correctly.
A palindrome can also be a phrase. Some of these will sound more familiar to you than our Finnish lye dealer (not to be confused with another lie dealer who is no longer on Twitter). For example: ' Madam I'm Adam.' This is potentially the oldest palindrome ever, assuming that Adam did indeed speak English when he met, and I am sticking to palindromes here, Eve.
Not all countries use that same date format, but Two's Day is a palindrome day in both of the two most used forms. So true palindrome fanatics may call it two two's days.
What happens at 2-22-22 at 22:22:22?
If you get excited about all this, I urge a bit of patience for a really spectacular date. Wait for two centuries, and you will enjoy February 22nd, 2222. It's worth waiting for because you will get the extra 'two,' so it will read as 22-2-2222 or 2-22-2222.
What does this all mean? Nothing. Sorry to be so blunt, but I warned you at the beginning of this article. Later on Two’s Day, at 22 seconds, after 22 minutes after 10 p.m. (as a European, I always use what Americans call "military time"), you may feel personal happiness in one unique second, but the world will continue. Time doesn't stop on 2-22-22 at 22:22:22, nor did it stop on 11-11-11 at 11:11:11. For me, this last date is even more beautiful than the one in two hundred years. I simply prefer the one more than the two.
Which palindrome days do you remember?
The oldest particular date that I remember is 7-7-77. I remember reading that it was celebrated in The Hague's seaside resort of Scheveningen. I mainly like this irrelevant fact because I now realize that I read the newspaper at the age of eleven, albeit likely no more than the headline.
I also remember 8-8-88. I lived in a small town on the island of Java in Indonesia and remember noticing this date when I wrote it in my notebook.
Do you have memories of special palindrome days? Please share them in the comments.
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Notes:
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/what-palindrome-28106
https://www.timeanddate.com/date/palindrome-day.html
https://www.calendarr.com/united-states/first-day-of-the-week/
I like all numbers and read your text with great interest. Thanks
Attention to detail is a blessing and sometimes a curse! This is fascinating material and a wonderful escape from “heavy” things reported daily in these times. Thank you for this!😊