Sunday’s date a rare one no matter how you view it
Feb. 2, 2020, is an eight-digit ‘ubiquitous palindrome date’
Sunday is quite a special day. And that’s not just because it’s Super Bowl Sunday, Groundhog Day and the “Opening Day” in the Chinese Farmer’s calendar. It’s because Feb. 2, 2020 is an incredibly rare palindrome day.
A palindrome, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a word, number or phrase that reads the same forwards or backwards. It can be as simple as the name “Anna” or a phrase, such as “Step on no pets” or “A man, a plan, a canal: Panama.” The list of palindromes is a long one, as evidenced by websites that are entirely devoted to sharing such phrases.
Palindromes can also be reflected in art, science and in numeric expressions or dates, including Feb. 2, 2020, which can be expressed as 02-02-2020. Looking at this sequence, it become apparent that it reads the same forwards and backwards — 02022020.
So, why do we care about palindromes? Perhaps it’s part of the human brain’s quest to find order in madness; to find patterns in the otherwise seemingly randomness of the world.
But it’s also just “a fun recreational subject” and a bit of a curiosity, according to one university professor who has taken the study of numerical palindromes to a whole new level.
Aziz S. Inan is a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Portland, but he’s also become something of an expert on digit-based palindromes, having researched and written about the subject extensively.
The most admired palindrome days are those that utilize the full eight digits of a date, such 02022020, using the day-monthyear format. There will be only 29 of those this century. Some folks prefer using the month-day-year format for figuring out palindromes, but those can occur a bit more often.
However, the type of palindrome that is occurring this Sunday is even rarer than usual — occurring only every 1,000 or so years. Feb. 2, 2020 is extraordinary because no matter how you express the date (month first, day first or even year first), everyone around the world will be experiencing a palindrome day.
Inan has coined the term “ubiquitous palindrome date” for these full palindromes.
“Eight-digit ubiquitous palindrome dates are extremely rare,” Inan wrote for the Portland Tribune last year. He also expressed the hope that people around the world could mark the day as a global peace day, because “it will be celebrated all over the world on the same calendar day.”
Palindromes have the power to foster some solid water-cooler chat, while also being a popular date of choice for weddings and even palindrome parties. On Sunday, for example, there’s a special group elopement wedding occurring in Sin City at the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. Another event is being hosted by the website 02022020.Space, which has asked artists to create a work of art responding to the palindrome; organizers intend to release images of a different work of art when the clock strikes 20:20 in every time zone. There’s even been a special beer created for the day by a brewing company in San Diego County — Stone 02.02.2020 Epic Palindrome Ale.
So, on Sunday — whether you choose to be a fan of figures, frosty beverages or football — enjoy the day.
The next eight-digit palindrome day (using the day-month-year sequence) is more than a year away — Feb. 12, 2021 (12022021.)