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Weekend


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February 13, 2004

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. Wouldn't you just guess there'd be more Fridays the 13th than Saturdays the 13th or any other day?

    A. You'd be right, says Alfred Posamentier in "Math Charmers: Tantalizing Tidbits for the Mind." This fact was first pointed out by B.H. Brown in "American Mathematical Monthly." Figuring, the number of days in one 4-year Gregorian calendar cycle is 3 x 365 + 366 = 1,461. So in 400 years there are 100 x 1461 - 3 = 146,097 days. "Note that the century year, unless divisible by 400, is not a leap year; hence the deduction of 3."


     
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