Check out This Simple Trick for Figuring out What Day of the Week Falls on Any Given Date

Most of us measure milestones like anniversaries and birthdays by day, month and year, and don’t worry too much what day of the week something fell on. However, every once in a while – like when our kids get to the stage of asking one hundred questions an hour, for example – it can come in handy to know what day of the week someone’s birthday fell on.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Also, it’s a pretty cool party trick. It could also save you from the arduous task of pulling out your phone to check a date or, if you’re old school, rummaging through your physical planner.

Luckily for all of us nerds in the house, mathematician John Conway invented the so-called Doomsday Algorithm to calculate the day of the week for any date that’s in the past.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

There are a few steps and rules to abide by, plus you’ll need to memorize a handful of dates that always share the same day of the week, no matter what year it is (for example, April 4, June 6, August 8, October 10, December 12 and the last day of February all fall on a Wednesday this year), but using those “anchor days” along with the other instructions, you can shock and amaze your friends with your quick ability to calculate.

You can learn more about the Doomsday Algorithm in the video below, but if you’re math-challenged, like me, you might want to keep this cheat sheet from It’s Ok to be Smart handy, just in case.