It's Gonna Be a Year
January 1, 2020 8:45 AM   Subscribe

This tweet has become thoroughly viral in the weeks approaching 2020. But it doesn't tell the whole story. For one thing, the two Friday the 13ths; the one in March is the day before Pi Day (3.14), and the one in November is exactly midway between Halloween and Thankgiving. And yes, it gets weirder.

The Lunar New Year is Saturday, January 25th and begins the Chinese Horoscope Year of the Rat (or more specifically, the Year of the Metal Rat... as opposed to a ProgRock or HipHop Rat?) In the UK, January 20th is designated both as Blue Monday and Brew Monday, while most of the US celebrates Martin Luther King Day except the Confederate holdouts of Alabama and Mississippi which declared it Robert E. Lee Day.

In 2020, Groundhog Day is the same day as Super Bowl Sunday and National Tater Tot Day. Be careful if you have any difficulty telling footballs, groundhogs and tater tots apart. February 13th is Change Your Name Day (it used to be Get a Different Name Day, but they changed it). Also, the 23rd is Curling Appreciation Day (the winter sport not the hair thing) according to Mental Floss's collection of off-beat holidays.

March 10th is Chuck Norris' 80th birthday and March 20th, Fred Rogers' birthday, has been designated Won't You Be My Neighbor Day. No telling what Chuck's birthday will someday be designated.

The "entire month of 4/20" will begin with April Fools Day on a Wednesday (yes, it's Hump Day but please don't do any Fool Humping). The month also contains National Deep Dish Pizza Day on the 5th (if National Pizza Day in February is not enough), and National Beer Day on the 7th, to commemorate the 1933 partial abolition of prohibition (mixing potential intoxicants is not advised, but later in the month are Licorice Day and Jelly Bean Day if you have the munchies). The 22nd is the 50th Anniversary of the first Earth Day (and it's done so much good /sarcasm) And if you're tired of Talk Like a Pirate Day in September, try Talk Like Shakespeare Day on April 23rd. Forsooth and Fivesooth.

The nerdy punny Star Wars Day is Monday, May the Fourth (be with you). The next day is Cinco de Mayo, right on a Taco Tuesday... but St. Patrick's Day in March is also on a Tuesday. (Green Beer Tuesday?) May 9, 1945, 75 years ago, was VE Day, ending most of World War II (VJ Day and the rest of the surrender was on September 2nd). And exactly 3 weeks after Star Wars Day is Towel Day, in honor of the first radio broadcast of Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. While the day based on HHGG's motto, "Don't Panic", is settled, "Panic Day" is either March 9th or June 18th. Nothing to get upset about.

The year 2020 marks the 200th birthdays of two very important women (from the era when there were far too few important women), Florence Nightengale on May 12th and Susan B. Anthony on February 15th, with the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote ratified 100 years later on August 18, 1920.

Hobbit Day is September 22, as the mutual birthday of BOTH Bilbo and Frodo. Tolkein fans celebrate the entire week around that date.

The Peanuts comic strip began on October 2, 1950, making Charlie Brown 70 years old. Doonesbury debuted 50 years ago on October 26, 1970 and Calvin and Hobbes ended 25 years ago on December 31, 1995.

The month of November is especially complicated. Daylight Savings Time ends at 2AM on November 1st, which is essentially Halloween night, so the Witching Hour gets an extra hour. The 1st is also the New York Marathon, so runners get an extra hour of sleep. November 2nd is the 100th anniversary of the first commercial radio broadcast (on KDKA in Philadelphia; no record what the first commercial was). Then Election Day in the U.S. comes on the 3rd, and the U.K. celebrates Guy Fawkes Day on the 5th. Veterans' Day lands on the 11th, two days before the previously mentioned Friday the 13th.

In December this year will be Ludwig Von Beethoven's 250th birthday, but the exact date is not known... however he was christened on December 17th, 1770. Then Christmas on a Friday and New Year's Eve on Thursday... two three-day weekends and we're done with 2020.

Other sources. Regretably, Chase's Calendar of Events is now behind a paywall.
posted by oneswellfoop (25 comments total) 42 users marked this as a favorite
 
except the Confederate holdouts of Alabama and Mississippi which declared it Robert E. Lee Day

As a former Southerner, let me just say: fuck Alabama and Mississippi.
posted by Foosnark at 8:49 AM on January 1, 2020 [38 favorites]


The day after Star Wars day is also known as the Revenge of the Fifth, naturally.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 8:52 AM on January 1, 2020 [12 favorites]


Wouldn't 'Sixth' make more sense?
posted by biffa at 9:23 AM on January 1, 2020 [3 favorites]


Relatedly.
posted by mhoye at 9:45 AM on January 1, 2020


Enjoy your second day of February, because you won't see a date like 02/02/2020 again in this lifetime.
posted by ardgedee at 10:48 AM on January 1, 2020 [11 favorites]


Enjoy your second day of February, because you won't see a date like 02/02/2020 again in this lifetime.

I won’t stand for this sort of defeatism, and I look forward to seeing you on the field of honor on March 3rd, 3030.
posted by Etrigan at 10:50 AM on January 1, 2020 [26 favorites]


A fair number of people born before 02/02/2020 will live to see 12/12/2121.
posted by plastic_animals at 10:58 AM on January 1, 2020 [12 favorites]


4/20 is technically the entire month

Except this isn't the year 20, it's 2020. So, technically speaking, dude is high
posted by NoMich at 10:59 AM on January 1, 2020 [3 favorites]


Year of the Rat (or more specifically, the Year of the Metal Rat... as opposed to a ProgRock or HipHop Rat?)

Obviously, Year of the Stainless Steel Rat.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:22 AM on January 1, 2020 [4 favorites]


I love how my brain reads this and says THIS IS MEANINGFUL.
posted by AlexiaSky at 11:34 AM on January 1, 2020 [5 favorites]


Be careful if you have any difficulty telling footballs, groundhogs and tater tots apart.

Words to the wise.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:53 AM on January 1, 2020 [4 favorites]


I looked at the calendar and declared that 10/10/20 will be a popular wedding date this year.
posted by vespabelle at 12:04 PM on January 1, 2020 [2 favorites]


Lots of whole numbers.
4-1-20. Weed month most likely taken from Ann Arbors' HashBash which is 4-3 this year because it's Friday and weeds legal.
posted by clavdivs at 1:22 PM on January 1, 2020


02/02/2020
0d/0m/yyyy

02/02/2020
0m/0d/yyyy

2020/02/02

palindromes all around
posted by filtergik at 2:10 PM on January 1, 2020 [6 favorites]


Speaking of palindromes, can we have National George Soros Day just to piss off conservatives?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 2:22 PM on January 1, 2020 [3 favorites]


KDKA was, and still is, in Pittsburgh
posted by dforemsky at 3:05 PM on January 1, 2020 [1 favorite]


sneech, if you want to trigger some right wing snowflakes, we already celebrate in multiple states Rosa Parks Day on Feb. 4 or Dec. 1 (depending on the state), Susan B. Anthony's Birthday on Feb. 15, Cesar Chavez Day March 31, and Harvey Milk Day on May 22 (California only).

and dforemsky, I always include at least one factual error in my FPPs, just to make folks like you feel smart. Plus, I always get lost in Pennsylvania.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:19 PM on January 1, 2020 [3 favorites]


> A fair number of people born before 02/02/2020 will live to see 12/12/2121.

Okay.
posted by ardgedee at 3:24 PM on January 1, 2020 [1 favorite]


With the Year of the Rat, it's also the start of a fresh cycle of the Chinese zodiac (Rat is the first animal in the Chinese zodiac). I'm being particular about this, because other Southeast and East Asian zodiacs don't have the exact same coterie of animals. Anyway be right back, time to go read some forecasts for the upcoming year.
posted by cendawanita at 7:11 PM on January 1, 2020 [5 favorites]


For one thing, the two Friday the 13ths;

A majority of years have two Friday the 13ths. A smaller number have one, and a smaller number still have three (three occur only in leap years where Jan. 1 falls on Sunday or Thursday).
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:22 AM on January 2, 2020


yes, D.A., I thought it was odd that the original twitterer made a big deal about the two Fiday the 13ths (we just finished a year when we had them in September and December), but then I noticed the other calendar shenanegans happening in the same months, especially November. And they are the months that Daylight Savings Time begins and ends. Coincidence? Uh, well, yep.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:40 PM on January 2, 2020 [2 favorites]


Shouldn't it be Fridays the 13th?
posted by slogger at 1:02 PM on January 3, 2020 [2 favorites]


Friday the thirteenths
posted by ardgedee at 5:58 PM on January 3, 2020


Fridayth the Thirteens
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:13 PM on January 3, 2020




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