If you’re presented with a date and you want to put the correct day of the week to it, how would you go about it? Well, there are only a few parts that go together to make a date – there’s the date itself (i.e. the 12th of the month, the 27th, or whatever), there’s the month, and there’s the year.
If you have these variables (and if you have the date, you do already have them), you have most of what’s needed to help you find the correct day of the week. Now, if you want to find correct day of the week for a particular date, the only thing you need now is the method!
This method works, so stick with it!
First, let me say this; there is more than one method of finding correct day of the week for any given date. I’ve come across a few, but I always stick to the one I first came across. I think it’s easier than some, and I’m pretty much used to it (Note: I didn’t say I was particularly good at it, or fast at doing it, just that finding the day of a date is within my grasp)! If you find a method that works, you’d be daft to keep looking – like I was! So, here goes …
All you need to do is put a value on each of the component parts of the date, total them all up, and it will give you the answer.
- So, the first is the date. You already have that. It is the number of the day of the month (like I said, the 12th, or whatever).
- Next, you need to put a value on the month. This is easy, because I’m going to list them for you.
- Then you need to find the numerical value of the year. Again, this isn’t difficult, because I’m going to list them all.
Incidentally, none of these figures is high. The highest is 6, because there’s seven days in a week (the seven is equal to zero … you’ll see why in a minute)!
You then add these figures up, divide by seven, dump all the sevens (they’re all weeks) and just keep the remainder (which will be the last few days of the calculation). The number you’re left with is the day of that particular week.
The Day Keys
When you need to find what day of the week a particular date falls on, you need to have the days of the week defined, i.e. have a numerical value for each of them. For the purposes of this method, the week starts on Sunday.
THE DAY KEYS | ||
1 | Sunday | 1 |
2 | Monday | 2 |
3 | Tuesday | 3 |
4 | Wednesday | 4 |
5 | Thursday | 5 |
6 | Friday | 6 |
0 | Saturday | 0 |
The Month Keys
So what are the month keys? Like the days, each month has a numerical value. You’ll be glad to know they range from zero to six, that’s all (just like the days). All you have to do is memorise them. There’s only twelve (well, obviously!), and I’m going to give you something to remind you of each, so they’re pretty straightforward too, like the days.
Putting the correct day of the week to any date doesn’t seem quite so impossible now, does it? 😉
THE MONTH KEYS | ||
January | 1 | First month, number 1! |
February | 4 | COLD month (4 letters) |
March | 4 | Another COLD month (4 letters) |
April | 0 | April fool knows NOTHING - zero! |
May | 2 | May-Pole (2 words) |
June | 5 | 'June BRIDE' (bride, 5 letters) |
July | 0 | Holidays - everyone's away - zero! |
August | 3 | HOT month (3 letters) |
September | 6 | September and Six both start with S |
October | 1 | Oct=8 (as in 'octopus') ... lose 7, left with 1 |
November | 4 | LEAF, lots in November (4 letters) |
December | 6 | CHRISTmas (6 letters) |
Remember, you’ve already mastered the sequence of the months, and you did that as a kid, so this is dead easy!
The Year Keys
How about the key numbers for all the years? Again, there’s only a few numbers involved, and the highest is 6, so the mathematics isn’t going to be a problem. It’s just a case of committing the Year Keys to memory.
I’m going to list all the years of the 20th century, with their key numbers. As you’ll see, there’s a simple sequence – the number increases by one each year, then, after four years, it jumps by two, to take account of the leap year. Not that that matters … all you have to do is remember the key number for each year, and there are ways of doing that.
THE YEAR KEYS | ||||
1901 - 1 | 1921 - 5 | 1941 - 2 | 1961 - 6 | 1981 - 3 |
1902 - 2 | 1922 - 6 | 1942 - 3 | 1962 - 0 | 1982 - 4 |
1903 - 3 | 1923 - 0 | 1943 - 4 | 1963 - 1 | 1983 - 5 |
1904 - 5 | 1924 - 2 | 1944 - 6 | 1964 - 3 | 1984 - 0 |
1905 - 6 | 1925 - 3 | 1945 - 0 | 1965 - 4 | 1985 - 1 |
1906 - 0 | 1926 - 4 | 1946 - 1 | 1966 - 5 | 1986 - 2 |
1907 - 1 | 1927 - 5 | 1947 - 2 | 1967 - 6 | 1987 - 3 |
1908 - 3 | 1928 - 0 | 1948 - 4 | 1968 - 1 | 1988 - 5 |
1909 - 4 | 1929 - 1 | 1949 - 5 | 1969 - 2 | 1989 - 6 |
1910 - 5 | 1930 - 2 | 1950 - 6 | 1970 - 3 | 1990 - 0 |
1911 - 6 | 1931 - 3 | 1951 - 0 | 1971 - 4 | 1991 - 1 |
1912 - 1 | 1932 - 5 | 1952 - 2 | 1972 - 6 | 1992 - 3 |
1913 - 2 | 1933 - 6 | 1953 - 3 | 1973 - 0 | 1993 - 4 |
1914 - 3 | 1934 - 0 | 1954 - 4 | 1974 - 1 | 1994 - 5 |
1915 - 4 | 1935 - 1 | 1955 - 5 | 1975 - 2 | 1995 - 6 |
1916 - 6 | 1936 - 3 | 1956 - 0 | 1976 - 4 | 1996 - 1 |
1917 - 0 | 1937 - 4 | 1957 - 1 | 1977 - 5 | 1997 - 2 |
1918 - 1 | 1938 - 5 | 1958 - 2 | 1978 - 6 | 1998 - 3 |
1919 - 2 | 1939 - 6 | 1959 - 3 | 1979 - 0 | 1999 - 4 |
1920 - 4 | 1940 - 1 | 1960 - 5 | 1980 - 2 | 2000 - 6 |
Okay, now we have the key numbers for the days, the months, and the years. That’s all you need to be able to work out the correct day for any date.
So let’s move on to working out a few dates …
Let’s say someone says they were born on the 15th of November, 1977 …
Okay, so you start adding together all the key numbers. And the first one is 15, for the date – but hold on, there’s two whole weeks there that we’re not concerned with (2 x 7s), so let’s get rid of 14 right away, which leaves us with just 1.
Right, now we move on to the month. November … the key is 4 (remember that LEAF falling in November?) … so we add the 4 to the 1, and we now have 5.
Next we come to the year. 1977 was a 5 year (see the table above), so we have to add 5 to the 5 we already have, making 10. Oops, there’s another week we don’t need, right there! Let’s get rid of that 7 and we’re left with just 3. And that’s the day of the week we’re looking for, the one represented by 3, which as you know by now, is Tuesday.
Let’s try one more. Say someone tells you they got engaged on the 11th of April, 1995, and they want you to amaze them by telling them what day it was.
Here’s the calculation:
11th. Lose the 7 right away, leaving 4.
It’s April, so that’s 0 (remember, any Fool knows April is zero!) … still just 4.
1995 was a 6 year – add it to the 4, now we’ve got 10. Lose the 7, leaves us with 3.
Once again, we’ve got a Tuesday. And they’re suitably amazed that you could possibly know that!
But hold on, how about …
How about leap years, huh? Doesn’t that throw all your calculations out? And how about other dates, apart from the 20th century? And most annoying, how are we supposed to remember all those Year Keys?? Working out the correct day of the week ain’t so easy now, huh?
The Month Keys and the days are okay, but the Year Keys … that’s a hundred key numbers! How on earth are we supposed to memorise all those Year Keys?
Best check out the next page!