Alolan_Apples
“Assorted” Collector
As New Year’s is around the corner (as well as Christmas), I would like to write a few entries about 2017 in review and 2018 in preview. I would like to admit that 2017 was rougher than 2016. It’s also not surprising if 2018 would be any worse. Our society has gotten so bad since 2012. Not just in America, but everywhere. But for now, let's not worry about that. Instead, here are some interesting facts about 2018.
- Last time March begins on Thursday - March 1st began on a Wednesday in 2017. Last time every date from March to December appeared on each day of the week in 2017 (as well as the dates in January and February in 2018) was in 2006 (2007 for January and February). Examples include, but not limited to, Friday the 13th in October, Thanksgiving being November 23rd, and Christmas landing on a Monday. In 2018, whatever days of the week every date appears on, won't appear on these days of the week for 11 years. It's the 4th occurrence of the century each of these dates appear (i.e. 9/11 is on Tuesday, Halloween is on Wednesday), and it's the last occurrence in the 28-year cycle (6-5-6-11). The last calendar arrangement to start the 11-year break was the one from 2014-2015. Next one to end the 11-year break is the one from 2010-2011. Although you guys may not care, I observed this a lot.
- April Fools to coincide with Easter - just like how Friday the 13th landed in October in 2017, Easter and April Fools will be on the same day. As April 1st won't be on Sunday for 10 years after 2018, it will at least land on Easter before the 11-year hiatus.
- My birthday is on Mardi Gras - in related news, Ash Wednesday is on Valentine's Day. We all know my birthday is before Valentine's Day, and Mardi Gras comes before Ash Wednesday. My birthday will never be on Valentine's Day, but it will be on Mardi Gras. Another special thing about it is that it’s my 25th birthday. I will be a quarter of a century old.
- Thanksgiving is at the earliest - every time March 1st is on a Thursday (whether or not it's a leap year), November 22nd is on a Thursday as well. Since the first day of the fourth week of a month is always the 22nd, Thanksgiving is at its earliest. This means you have more time to do Christmas shopping and more time to decorate for Christmas, but much less time to prepare for Thanksgiving.
- Black Friday is a week before November - while Thanksgiving begins earlier than usual, one week after Black Friday is still a date in November. But the earliest possible date for Black Friday is November 23rd, one week before the last day of November.
- Abraham Lincoln’s birthday - since February 1st is on Thursday, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday will be one week before President’s Day. In 2016, President’s Day was a week before George Washington’s birthday. And in 2017, President’s Day was one month after Inauguration Day (when Trump became president).
- Two blue moons - just to remind you what a blue moon is, it's the second Full Moon in a month. Typically, there can be only one blue moon a year. But 2018 is a rare exception. In 2018, we will have two blue moons. One of them is even a supermoon and total lunar eclipse, while the other is Passover (it's even sandwiched between Good Friday and Easter). In 2017, a similar event was the total solar eclipse, which was the first nationwide total eclipse in the United States in nearly a century. The tradeoff, no full moon in February.
- Supermoon on New Year's Day - the year of two blue moons will begin with another supermoon. In the United States, both full moon and perigee will occur on January 1st (both of them being four hours apart). This is a rare occurrence, but we will go through this. Amazingly, it's two days before perihelion.
- Full Moon on Thanksgiving - if you're living in the United States, you will get a chance to see a full moon on Thanksgiving Day. 2018 must be an interesting year for the lunar calendar.
- 100th Anniversary of WWI ending - June 28th of 2014 marks the 100th Anniversary of when World War I began. Since then, each World War I event is 100 years out of present time. By November 11th of 2018, the entire war is 100 years out from present time. It's very interesting that in recent times, World War I was within the last century. Once the year of 2018 ends, World War I will no longer be within the last 100 years.
- Video Game Anniversaries - as the Nintendo Switch turns one year old, here are some other anniversaries to notice: 5 years after the release of ACNL and Pokemon X&Y, 10 years since Little Big Planet got released, 15 years after the release of the 3rd generation Pokemon games, and 20 years since the release of Ocarina of Time and Banjo-Kazooie.
- Jurassic Park turns 25 - as 90’s movies pass the 25-year milestone, the next one to turn 25 is Jurassic Park. Coincidentially, the second movie to the Jurassic World trilogy comes out in 2018, just like how the second movie of the Star Wars sequel trilogy came out in 2017 when 2017 was the year of Star Wars’ 40th anniversary and a new Pokemon generation was launched in the year Pokemon turned 20. It’s also worth mentioning that The Nightmare Before Christmas turns 25 along with Jurassic Park, as well as Disney’s Mulan turning 20, Finding Nemo turning 15, Wall-E turning 10, and Disney’s Frozen turning 5. But more importantly, 2018 marks the 25th Anniversary that Steven Spielberg brought the dinosaurs back to life.
- Class of 2018 - if we’re not counting repeats or early graduates, 2018 will not only be the last year 20th century born students will be in high school, but it’s also when the first wave of 21st century born students will graduate from high school and start college. I’m kinda excited to see the new millennium born students to start college. These people were born when I was in the 1st grade. By the time I graduated from high school, they weren’t even in middle school. In 2018, they will be out of the 12-year school.
- Prime Numbers - the sum of the digits in 2018 is 11, which is a prime number. Divide it by 2, you get 1009, which is also a prime number.
- Asian Olympics - the next three Olympics sporting events (winter 2018, summer 2020, winter 2022) will all be set in East Asia, none of them being in the same country. Amazingly, the last three years ending with an 8 (1988, 1998, 2008) were also the years the Olympics were set in an East Asian country. They’re even in the same countries the next three events will take place in.
- Academy Awards - like every year, the Oscars take place in late February or early March. This time, it will be the 90th Academy Awards. That means once the ceremony is over, the Oscars would have held 90 ceremonies within its history. I wonder if something new will happen this year.
- The sums and differences between day and month - In 2018, at least two dates where the sum of the day and the month number is 18 will be a holiday in America. Those would be Columbus Day (10/8) and Mother’s Day (5/13). There is also one date where the difference between the day and the month number is 18 that will be a holiday. That would be Earth Day (4/22).
- Martin Luther King - the last fact is about the Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King. Not only Martin Luther King Day is on his real birthday (January 15th), but 2018 would also mark the 50th anniversary of his assassination. The 2010’s has been a very interesting decade for tragedy anniversaries, with the 1910’s events (such as the Titanic sinking) at 100 years, World War II events (such as the Pearl Harbor bombing) at either 70 or 75 years, 1960’s events (such as the JFK assassination) at 50 years, and events from the 80’s and 90’s (such as the Chernobyl disaster) at 25 years. Not to mention, but 9/11 had its 10th anniversary this decade.
I didn't know that Supermoon waa gonna occur on New Years. 
jk
