Square Root Day

{{Short description|Unofficial holiday}}

Square Root Day is an unofficial holiday celebrated on days when both the day of the month and the month are the square root of the last two digits of the year.{{cite news |title= A day getting to the root |last= Wong |first= Nicole C. |work= The Mercury News |url= http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7854616.htm |date= 2004-02-02 |accessdate= 2007-02-20 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20040818204722/http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7854616.htm |archivedate = 2004-08-18}} For example, the last Square Root Day was April 4, 2016 (4/4/16), and the next Square Root Day will be May 5, 2025 (5/5/25).{{Update after|2025|5|5}} The final Square Root Day of the century will occur on September 9, 2081. Square Root Days fall upon the same nine dates each century.

Ron Gordon, a Redwood City, California high school teacher, created the first Square Root Day for September 9, 1981 (9/9/81). Gordon remains the holiday's publicist, sending news releases to world media outlets.{{cite news |title=Have a rootin' tootin' Square Root Day |last=Hill |first=Angela |work=Oakland Tribune |url= http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_11821782?source=rss |date=2009-03-02 |accessdate= 2009-03-02}} Gordon's daughter set up a Facebook group where people can share how they were celebrating the day.{{cite news|title=Math Fans to Celebrate Square Root Day |work=Yahoo News |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090303/ap_on_fe_st/odd_square_root_day |date=2009-03-02 |access-date=2009-03-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306184913/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090303/ap_on_fe_st/odd_square_root_day |archive-date=March 6, 2009 }}

One suggested way of celebrating the holiday is by eating radishes or other root vegetables cut into shapes with square cross sections (thus creating a "square root").{{cite news |title=Square Root Day revelers to party like it's 3/3/09 |last=Musil |first=Steven |work=cnet news |url= http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10186121-76.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5 |date=2009-03-02 |accessdate=2009-03-02}}