Welcome to Palindrome Week: the 10 days a year that the numbers align to form a palindrome out of the date. But what is a palindrome? And why is this year’s week especially important?
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First things first, a palindrome is a word, a phrase, or a sequence of numbers which can be read the same forwards and backwards. One you’ve probably come across in all your time on the internet is “taco cat”. So that means the dates of the next week and a half (starting from September 9) reads the same whether you start at the beginning or the end — as long as you’re writing it in the American numerical format.
Palindrome week took off on Tuesday, 9-10-19. It runs through the following dates: 9-11-19, 9-12-19, 9-13-19, 9-14-19, 9-15-19, 9-16-19, 9-17-19, 9-18-19 and finally, 9-19-19.
This phenomenon has actually been happening for 9 years now, with it starting back in 2011.
But what makes it special is that this will be the last Palindrome Week until 2111. According to Time and Date, “every century has nine years with 10 Palindrome Days in a row. These years are always in the second decade of the century.”
Meaning, the next Palindrome Week following this one will take place in 92 years. Much of the world’s population today won’t live to see that day. Or any at all, if climate change has its way.
What do you think about this?
