[Home Page][Junior Database] [ enior Database] [!"#oad] [ ear$h] [%isitor&s 'ook] First a brief explanation: In the Gregorian Calendar, over a period of four hundred years, there are 97 leap years and 303 normal years !a"h normal year, the day of #anuary $ advan"es by one% for ea"h leap year it advan"es by t&o 's a result, #anuary $ year ( o""urs on the same day of the &ee) as #anuary $ year ( * +00 ,e"ause the leap year pattern also re"urs &ith a four hundred year "y"le, a simple table of four hundred elements, and single modulus, suffi"es to determine the day of the &ee) -in the Gregorian Calendar., and does it mu"h faster than all the other algorithms proposed 'lso, ea"h element ta)es -in prin"iple. only three bits% the entire table thus ta)es only $/00 bits% on many "omputers this &ill be less than the instru"tions to do all the "ompli"ated "al"ulations proposed for the other algorithms In"idental note: ,e"ause 7 does not divide +00, #anuary $ o""urs more fre0uently on some days than others1 2ri") your friends1 In a "y"le of +00 years, #anuary $ and 3ar"h $ o""ur on the follo&ing days &ith the follo&ing fre0uen"ies: 4un #an $ 3ar $ 67 67 3on 68 68 2ue 67 67 5ed 67 68 2hu 67 67 Fri 67 67 4at 68 67
9f interest is that -"ontrary to most initial guesses. the o""urren"e is not maximally flat In the 3athemati"al Ga:ette, vol 63,, pp $/7;$/9, it is sho&n that the $3th of the month is more li)ely to be a Friday than any other day 2he author is a $3 year old, 4 < ,axter 2he Gregorian "alendar &as introdu"ed in $67/ in parts of !urope% it &as adopted in $76/ in Great ,ritain and its "olonies, and on various dates in other "ountries It repla"ed the #ulian Calendar &hi"h has a four;year "y"le of leap years% after four years #anuary $ has advan"ed by five days 4in"e 6 is relatively prime to 7, a table of + = 7 > /7 elements is ne"essary for the #ulian Calendar 2here is still a 3 day over $0,000 years error &hi"h the Gregorian "alendar does not ta)e into a""ount 't some time su"h a "orre"tion &ill have to be done but your soft&are &ill probably
not last that long1 ?ere is a standard method suitable for mental "omputation: $ 2a)e the last t&o digits of the year / @ivide by +, dis"arding any fra"tion 3 'dd the day of the month + 'dd the monthAs )ey value: #F3 '3# #'4 9(@ $++ 0/6 038 $+8 6 4ubtra"t $ for #anuary or February of a leap year 8 For a Gregorian date, add 0 for $900As, 8 for /000As, + for $700As, / for $700As% for other years, add or subtra"t multiples of +00 7 For a #ulian date, add $ for $700As, and $ for every additional "entury you go ba") 7 'dd the last t&o digits of the year 9 @ivide by 7 and ta)e the remainder (o& $ is 4unday, the first day of the &ee), / is 3onday, and so on 2he follo&ing formula, &hi"h is for the Gregorian "alendar only, may be more "onvenient for "omputer programming (ote that in some programming languages the remainder operation "an yield a negative result if given a negative operand, so mod 7 may not translate to a simple remainder ' good mnemoni" rule to help on the "omputation of the day of the &ee) is as follo&s In any given year the follo&ing days "ome on the same day of the &ee): +B+ 8B8 7B7 $0B$0 $/B$/ 2o remember the next four, remember that I &or) from 9;6 at a 7;$$ so 9B6 6B9 7B$$ $$B7 and the last day of February CIn $996 they "ome on 2uesday !very year this advan"es one other than leap;years &hi"h advan"e / 2herefore for $998 the day &ill be 2hursday, and for $997 it &ill be Friday 2herefore ordinarily every + years it advan"es 6 days 2here is a minor "orre"tion for the "entury sin"e the "entury is a leap year iff the "entury is divisible by + 2herefore /000 is a leap year, but $900, $700, and $700 &ere not C !ven ignoring the pattern over for a period of years this is still useful sin"e you "an generally figure out &hat day of the &ee) a given date is on faster than someone else "an loo) it up
&ith a "alender if the "alender is not right there -' useful s)ill that . <eferen"es 5inning 5ays for your mathemati"al plays Guy Con&ay and !l&yn ,erle)amp Dondon % 2oronto : '"ademi" Eress, $97/ 3athemati"al Carnival 3artin Gardner (e& For) : Gnopf, "$976 !lementary (umber 2heory and its appli"ations Genneth <osen <eading, 3ass % @on 3ills, 9nt : 'ddison;5esley Eub Co , "$993 p $68 3i"hael Geith and 2om Craver 2he Hltimate Eerpetual CalendarI #ournal of <e"reational 3athemati"s, //:+, pp /70;/7/, $9 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; 'lex Dope:;9rti:J4un @e" 3$ $7:$7:/6 !42 $996 [Home Page][Junior Database] [ enior Database] [!"#oad] [ ear$h] [%isitor&s 'ook]