Family Life

03.03.09 | FL News Team

At the stroke of midnight mathematicians around the globe began celebrating a special time. Today, March 3rd, 2009 is Square Root Day. It is not one of those marks mail delivery and garbage collection is halted for. Drivers still have to feed the greedy parking meters but at least nobody has to pony up for a celebratory card.

Square Root Day is one of those rare calendar events where the day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits of the current year. Three is, of course, the square root of nine and three times three equals nine.

One suggested way of celebrating the holiday is by eating square radishes, or other root vegetables cut into shapes with square cross sections. Whatever you do, enjoy the day; they only come around nine times every century. Those with scientific calculators have already figured out the next one won't roll by until April 4, 2016 (4/4/16). The final square root day of the century will occur on September 9, 2081 (9/9/81).