Square root day

Square root day? No, really, you have to be kidding me. People celebrate square root day?

And what is this square root day, you might ask, as I did when I found out that it was being celebrated?

Count on Tuesday's alignment of the calendar to add some excitement to the lives of at least a few math geeks.

Tuesday is Square Root Day, a rare holiday that occurs when the day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits of the current year. Numerically, March 3, 2009, can be expressed as 3/3/09, or mathematically as √9 = 3, or 3² = 3 × 3 = 9.

"These days are like calendar comets, you wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day--and poof--they're gone," Ron Gordon, a Redwood City, Calif., teacher who organized a contest intended to publicize the event, told the Associated Press. The prize, or course, is $339.

Celebrants are expected to mark the occasion by cutting root vegetables into squares or preparing other foods in the shape of the square root symbol.

Square Root Day occurs only nine times in a century. The last one occurred on February 2, 2004, and the next will occur in seven years on April 4, 2016.

Erm, right......yes, I know the world is often thought to be binary, there are the maths geeks and the jocks. But I (and, I have to tell you this, the vast majority of humanity is with me on this) am not interested in either.

Sure, sport's great with a pretzel and a beer but it's not actually serious....and math is great, it's nice when the bridges stay up but after that.....naaah.

I do actually know a math geek....chair of a math department sort of geek. And he would use this as an example of how to sort the geek from the common. Those who are interested are geeks, those who say " how nice" are not.

But there are more stories about this, of course:

Square Root Day a great way to get kids excited about math Examiner.com - USA by Michele & Lexie, Seattle Eastside Parenting Examiners Happy Square Root Day! You've probably never heard of it. Well, it's considered a holiday in the ...

Happy Square Root Day Bostonist - Boston,MA,USA So March * 3 = (200)9, making today a Square Root Day (both the number of the month and the day are the square root of the last two digits of the year). ...

Happy Square Root Day! KDKA - Pittsburgh,PA,USA Read more in our Privacy Policy A quirk of the calendar has numerologists buzzing: it's square root day. March 3, 2009 - or 3/3/09 - is significant because ...

Strange News KVOA.com - Tucson,AZ,USA (AP) - Happy Square Root Day. For the math challenged, today is 3/3/09 and three is the square root of 9. The math-buffs' holiday only happens nine times ...

Nerd alert! Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA Happy square root day to all. It's 03/03/09, and since I'm a square root baby (09/09/81), it's a day to celebrate at OTG. Only nine days per century like ...

Crave Pentax X70: Champion of Superzoom Day Crave - London,UK By Rich Trenholm on 03 March 2009, 12:31pm Today appears to be not just Square Root Day, but also Superzoom Day over at the PMA camera show in Las Vegas. ...

New Apple desktops cause fanboi droolage Computerworld - Framingham,MA,USA Not to mention Square Root Day... It's been busy in the dwarven mines of Cupertino, we can tell: much new iron has arrived today ... here's the basic scoop: ...

The Chatt Roy Exum: It’s ‘Squares Rule’ Day The Chattanoogan - Chattanooga,TN,USA by Roy Exum Today was supposed to a funny day, one where I would try to write about “square root day” since it is 03-03-09 and such mathematical delight ...

Bangladesh Rifles loses its way Express Buzz - Chennai,Tamil Nadu,India The root of the problem lies in the obvious disparities between the BDR and the army. In terms of status and allowances, the BDR has always come second to ...

mental_floss Blog » Celebrating Square Root Day He’s tried to get schools to celebrate Square Root Day since 1981. Gordon also inspired a celebration of Odd Day on March 5, 2007 (3-5-7). He is giving away a prize of $339 to the person who has the best Square Root Day celebratory ...

Tom’s Astronomy Blog » Blog Archive » Happy Square Root Day! By Tom Happy Square Root Day! Author: Tom. 3/3/09. Square root day occurs on dates where the day and month are both the square root of the last two digits of the year. Square root day only happens nine times a century and won’t happen again ...

Today Is Square Root Day By admin_huliq Most people have probably not even heard about it, but today is Square Root Day. It's a very rare calendar event that happens several times in a thousand years.

HAPPY SQUARE ROOT DAY! « JONATHAN TURLEY By jonathanturley For those math geeks ready to party hearty, Square Root day is back. These days come only nine times each century and March 3, 2009 is one such day. (3/3/09 or the square root of nine). Citizens should be cautious as pocket-protector ...

GMANews.TV - 3/3/09: Math fans to observe Square Root Day - Odds ... REDWOOD CITY, California — Dust off the slide rules and recharge the calculators. Square Root Day is upon us.

Homeschool Math Blog: It's square root day By Maria Miller Today - 3/3/09 - happens to be a square root day! It's because 3 is the square root of 9 (3 × 3 = 9). The previous square root day was 2/2/04. And then next one is 4/4/16. An exercise for students: how many square root days are there in ...

Happy Square Root Day! Party like it's 3/3/09 - Crave at CNET UK Today is a rare -- and extremely dorky -- holiday that occurs when the day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits of the current year. Plus more technology news in Crave, the gadget blog at CNET UK.

BabyCenter: MOMformation » Blog Archive » Happy Square Root Day! By Kristina Sauerwein Officially, that means it is Square Root Day, a holiday for math maniacs and other oddities (including myself) who relish calendar quirks such as today, when the day and the month are the square root of the last two digits in the ...

Happy “Square Root Day” « The Sensuous Curmudgeon By The Curmudgeon A day like this comes but once a century. Yes, we know … there are other square roots. The last such day was 02-02-’04. The next will be 04-04-’16. But only today marks the square root of nine. ...

3.3.09: Happy Square Root Day!: Sci-Tech: News: News24 News24: Sci-Tech: News: 3.3.09: Happy Square Root Day!: A rare event is upon us, touted by math fanatics as Square Root Day. The holiday falls on Tuesday this time - 3.3.09 (for the mathematically challenged, three is the square root of ...

MethodShop: 3/3/09 - Math Nerds Celebrate Square Root Day By MethodShop.com Square Root Days, as they are commonly called, only occur 9 times each century. If you weren't paying attention, you might have missed the last Square Root Day on Feb. 2, 2004 (Groundhog Day). So enjoy today while you can. ...

Hirhurim - Musings By Gil Student Orthodoxy and the Public Square, Oso Ha-Ish, Outreach vs. Inreach, Pamphlet about Chacham David Nieto, Passion, Passover Riddles I, Passover Riddles II, Persia and the Talmud, Pirchei Politics, Pollard in Prison, PoMo Objections to ...

Under the Dome: 03/03/09: Square root day By Steve Harrelson Happy square root day, a phenomenon that only occurs nine times a century. The last such day was five years ago, 02/02/04, which coincided with Groundhog Day. The next is seven years away, on 04/04/16. And thanks for the birthday card, ...

Math Geeks Celebrate Square Root Day - Education News Story - WDIV ... REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- The countdown is over for math fans, 3/3/09 marks the first Square Root Day in five years. Tuesday, March 3, 2009.

Math fans to celebrate Square Root Day / - Knoxville, TN - Local ... Knoxville, Tennessee - News, Weather, Sports, Real Estate & Jobs.

March 3rd is Square Root Day! By Ann Bartow Square Root Day is upon us. The math-buffs’ holiday, which only occurs nine times each century, falls on Tuesday — 3/3/09 (for the mathematically challenged, three is the square root of nine). “These days are like calendar comets, ...

Black Political Thought: Today's Square Root Day, Time to Get Your ... By Janet Shan Today is Square Root Day. What exactly is that you may be asking? It is a rare holiday that occurs when the day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits of the current year. Numerically, March 3, 2009, ...

GINA COBB: Happy Square Root Day! (3/3/09) By Gina Cobb Woo-hoo! The math-buffs’ holiday, which only occurs nine times each century, falls on Tuesday — 3/3/09 (for the mathematically challenged, three is the square root of nine).“These days are like calendar comets, you wait and wait and ...

happy square root day | daily observations By Charles Noble Since it is 03/03/09 - it is a square root day - the year is the square of the day/month: in this case, the square root of 9 is 3, or inversely, the square.

Today marks rare Square Root Day - ARTS & LIFE (AP) - Dust off the slide rules and recharge the calculators. Square Root Day is upon us. The math-buffs' holiday, which only occurs nine times each century, is today - 3/3/09 (for the mathematically challenged, three is the square root ...

Instant Tea » Blog Archive » Celebrate Square Root Day By Tammye Nash I don’t know how this managed to sneak up on me without me realizing it, but today — 03-03-09 — is Square Root Day. Yes, that’s right, Square Root Day (3 is the square root of 9, for all you who didn’t catch it) and there are people out ...

Square Root Day / WILX News 10 Lansing/Jackson-, Breaking News ... Dust off the slide rules and recharge the calculators. Tuesday, 3/3/09, is Square Root Day. For the mathmetically challeged, three is the square root of nine. The holiday for math buffs occurs only nine times each century. ...