Computational Complexity

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

 
2pi-day? Other holiday possibilities!

Posted by GASARCH

May 28 should be Pi-day instead of March 14 since pi should be what we now call 2*pi (6.28...) since 2*pi comes up in more formulas than pi. (When I blogged about this here one of the commenter's suggested 2*pi*i.)

So what-should-be-pi-day was last Sunday. To honor this day I asked people what day or concept they would want to make a holiday. Here is what I got.

1. Multicultural day. OR give every ethnic group a holiday. This may lead to the 4-day work week.
2. Mid-autumn day to give us a break.
3. Pi-Day (March 14)
4. Mole Day (Oct 23)
5. Talk like a pirate day (Sept 19.) Did pirates really talk that way in the past? now?
6. Election day. That way more people will vote.
7. The day Louis Brandeis got appointed to the supreme court. He was the first Jewish member of the court. This could be a way to celebrate the decline of anti-semitism in America.
8. Peace Day. Could celebrate the end of some war. But there is always the next war. Oh well.
9. The day women got the vote. (Aug 26, 1920). To quote Hail to the Chiefs, with regard to the election of Warren G. Harding as president in 1920: {\it It was the first election women voted in. They needed more practice}.
10. The day the civil rights act passing. Actually there were many civil rights bills passed, so you'd have to pick which one to celebrate. Or celebrate all of them and get a 4-day work week.
11. Groundhog day. (Feb 2). The movie movie Groundhog day higher Google rank than the day does.
12. Chocolate day.
13. Moon day. They have Earth Day so why not Moon Day?
14. Children's day. We have Mothers and Fathers day, so why not Children's day?
15. St. Patrick's day. Or the day after to get rid of your hangover.
16. Teacher's day. Would teachers get this day off?
17. Weird Al's birthday (10/23). Since its the same as Mole Day we can combine them to get Weird Mole Day.

Lets say they made your choice a holiday. And then there was a movement to make it, instead of the actual day, the 2nd Monday of that month it was in. (or something like that). Would you mind? On the one hand, your holiday is getting made into just a day off. On the other hand, you get a 3-day weekend!

Veterans day would have been the 2nd Monday in November except that some veterans protested. Or did they? Maybe it was groups that claim to represent them. I wonder if veterans prefer 3-day weekends or prefer having their holiday be on the day WW I ended. What is more important: Efficiency or meaning?

Some days would be hard to move. July 4, Cinco do Mayo and Pi-day are rather tied to the day they are celebrated. Even so, the government (and others) gives July 3 off if July 4 is on a Saturday.

11:03 AM # 9 comments

1.  Anonymous says:  
   
   May 28?! In my calendar 6.28 is something else ;)
   

   11:29 AM, July 01, 2009

2.  Anonymous says:  
   
   Nov 23 for Fibonacci day. Also the birthday of my nephew (11/23/05 even).
   

   11:31 AM, July 01, 2009

3.  sep332 says:  
   
   "I wonder if veterans prefer 3-day weekends or prefer having their holiday be on the day WW I ended. What is more important: Efficiency or meaning?"
   
   I think the end of WWI has meaning any day of the year.
   

   11:31 AM, July 01, 2009

4.  Anonymous says:  
   
   I don't care what you call it - just correct the imbalance in the holiday calendar.
   
   
   Up to 7 holidays in 3 months:
   Nov: Veteran's Day (maybe)
   Thanksgiving
   Day after Thanksgiving
   Dec: Christmas
   Jan: New Year
   MLK Day
   Feb: President's Day
   
   Then:
   Mar: NOTHING
   April: NOTHING (Patriot's Day in Mass)
   May: Memorial Day
   June: NOTHING (but well sandwiched by holidays)
   July: Independence Day
   August: NOTHING
   Sept: Labor Day
   Oct: Columbus Day (Eastern half only)
   
   Though it wouldn't help academics much, having the first Monday of August as a holiday would be pretty popular. Also, we have 2.5 months with no holiday from mid-Feb to late-May. How about a Loony Monday in the spring that moves based on a lunar calendar?
   

   12:16 PM, July 01, 2009

5.  jelani says:  
   
   Despite 6/28 being my birthday, I never noticed that it was 2pi day. Thank you -- you have given my life a new meaning.
   

   4:41 PM, July 01, 2009

6.  Anonymous says:  
   
   I thought we already have a Children's Day. It's on December 25 ...
   

   2:03 AM, July 02, 2009

7.  the reader from Istanbul says:  
   
   In Turkey, Children's Day is April 23. It's an official holiday. It's taken very seriously, and the President and the Prime Minister get off their chairs and are replaced for about half an hour by primary school kids, who then give some orders to subordinates and answer reporters' questions.
   

   5:36 AM, July 02, 2009

8.  Fred says:  
   
   There is also the cloying stock answer to #14 (that many of us heard as kids):
   
   "Every day is Children's Day."
   
   Too bad there can't be an annual "e day." We do have a one-time chance this century, though, on February 7, 2018.
   

   4:54 PM, July 02, 2009

9.  Anonymous says:  
   
   In India, we have Children's day on 14th Nov
   

   9:26 PM, July 04, 2009

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