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Oddest Day Of Year Is July 9, 2011: 7/9/11

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First Posted: 07/09/11 08:07 AM ET Updated: 11/15/11 06:35 AM ET

Regular readers of AOL Weird News know that every day is weird, but July 9, 2011, is truly the oddest day of the year -- from a calendar standpoint.

If you were to write down the date in numerical form, it would look like this: 7/9/11 -- all odd numbers.

To make things odder, there are only six days each century when three consecutive odd numbers make up the date.

The odd sequence of events began on Jan. 3, 2005 (1/3/05), which was followed by March 5, 2007 (3/5/07), and May 7, 2009 (5/7/09).

Other than July 9, there will only be two days -- Sept. 11, 2013 (9/11/13), and Nov. 13, 2015 (11/13/15) -- left to celebrate this, well, odd series of calendars quirks.

So who is celebrating?

Oddly enough, the main person seems to be Ron Gordon, a retired high school teacher in Redwood City, Calif., who has been getting the word out about the odd calendar day ever since Sept. 9, 1981, which he declared "Square Root Day" because nine times nine equals 81.

"I stumbled on to that one and I stumbled onto Odd Day back in 2005," said Gordon, who lists his age as "eight squared plus one" (65 to non-math geeks).

Honestly, since these odd days don't come around very often, very few traditions for celebrating them exist.

However, Gordon is suggesting a few things that come across as quite odd.

"It's a great day to do your odds and ends," he said. "Or you can give a friend a high-five, root for the odds-on-favorite, read 'The Wizard of Odds,' watch 'The Odd Couple,' say 'Aaaahd' in the doctor's office, look for sea 'odders,' find that missing odd sock and beat the odds."

Gordon is also offering a fairly odd contest as well on his website, and said he will offer a prize of $791.10 to the people who involve others in things like the "Oddest Parade of Odd Characters," write the best "Odd Ode," or create the best odd celebrations.

Since the word is just getting out, you'd think the odds would be good to win, but Gordon said he's doing something odd: He's trying to increase the pool of entries by "allowing entries for seven plus nine plus 11 days" (27 days for those
who would rather be normal than odd).

"People can either enter 13 days before July 9 or 14 days after," he said. "Also, there will be seven plus nine plus 11 winners [again, 27], so every one will get around $29.29 -- minus the odd cent or two."

Gordon hopes to attract as much attention as possible to this odd day because an odd quirk is keeping him from promoting the next one.

"The next odd day is Sept. 11, 2013, and I think, under the circumstances, I will just send a message quietly to the media about a month beforehand," he said.

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Regular readers of AOL Weird News know that every day is weird, but July 9, 2011, is truly the oddest day of the year -- from a calendar standpoint. If you were to write down the date in numerical ...
Regular readers of AOL Weird News know that every day is weird, but July 9, 2011, is truly the oddest day of the year -- from a calendar standpoint. If you were to write down the date in numerical ...
 
 
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07:38 PM on 08/17/2011
HP, it isn't 'all odd numbers'; it is all odd numbers in sequence. Otherwise, we would have 05/03/11, 03/05/11, 03/01/11. I'm sure someone pointed that out already.
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Elliot Klein
10:57 PM on 07/12/2011
Odder still is the U.S. is maybe the only country left in the world that puts the month first. For everyone else 7/9/11 is the 7th of September.
11:44 PM on 07/09/2011
You're really reaching with this. Maybe if the year were 1113 it would be interesting.
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LateBoomer2
To love beauty is to see light. -Victor Hugo
11:12 PM on 07/09/2011
I'm oddly amused.
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nearold
10:58 PM on 07/09/2011
Tomorrow will be 7/10/11, it will be a thousand years before it happens again. That's even more remarkable than 7/9/11.
11:18 PM on 07/09/2011
I'm pretty sure it's 100 years, won't july 7th, 2111 be 7/10/11?
11:45 PM on 07/09/2011
math fail
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nearold
02:27 PM on 07/12/2011
Humble pie is delicious.
09:06 PM on 07/09/2011
And oddly enough it's my birthday, 51, another odd ;-)
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NewLiberals
Make a Difference
08:49 PM on 07/09/2011
Can work against you too.

Had a friend who was born on June 6. 1966

6/6/66
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01:46 PM on 07/11/2011
i graduated on 6-6-66
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safety6737
08:20 PM on 07/09/2011
my daughter was born 7-7-77 12:07am , Doctor in delivery room kept telling my wife to slowdown slowdown lol. He wanted to deliver first baby on that date.
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LMPE
I connect the most dissimilar things
07:56 PM on 07/09/2011
I'm still waiting for November 11. It will be 11/11/11.
lovepumpkin
no, your micro-bio is empty.
07:30 PM on 07/09/2011
i like how if you know what 8 squared plus 1 is you are a math "geek". i thought it made you someone w/ an elementary education.
06:42 PM on 07/09/2011
It's my birthday! I was born on the oddest day of the year! Plus, I was born in '97, which is an odd number! :)
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sadwitness
Haters have no effect on me. I'm idiot proof.
07:04 PM on 07/09/2011
Happy odd day- er, birthday! Hugs
07:23 PM on 07/09/2011
Hey mine too.... But I was born in '59, quite a few years ago...
09:22 PM on 07/09/2011
I had to *fan* you when you said you were born in '59. Me too!
09:22 PM on 07/09/2011
Oh yeah, and this article is really out there!
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06:24 PM on 07/09/2011
I just need to know - was David PAID to write this article? if so, THAT would be odd...
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Rubyfoo
06:05 PM on 07/09/2011
Thank goodness it will soon be July 10 and we can put this horror behind us.
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sadwitness
Haters have no effect on me. I'm idiot proof.
07:04 PM on 07/09/2011
lmao
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Arthur L
04:36 PM on 07/09/2011
I was hoping to the article would explain why the day was queer - like odd queer, not queer queer. Or maybe not.
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Robert Frank
My last name is FRANK so thats what I am..
04:01 PM on 07/09/2011
(snores in background after reading the first few paragraphs)