(CNN) — The next ten days are sure to be historic, and it’s not just because of the inauguration.
Wednesday marks the beginning of a slew of palindrome dates, which are dates that can be read the same forward and backward.
For 10 consecutive days, from 1/20/21 to 1/29/21, the dates are mirrored. And, according to the Farmers’ Almanac, this is the first palindrome-number Inauguration Day, with the next one occurring in 1,000 years on January 20, 3021.
Later this year, we’ll have even more palindrome dates — beginning with 12/1/21 and going until 12/9/21.
For those that use the DD/MM/YY format — like in the UK — there won’t be any such palindrome fun.
But in 100 years, we’ll have another date that will be a palindrome date in all formats: 12/12/2121.
Palindromes can also be phrases, such as “rats live on no evil star,” “never odd or even” and “a man, a plan, a canal, Panama.” The phrase “A Toyota’s a Toyota” can continue as a palindrome forever, as in, “A Toyota’s a Toyota’s a Toyota…”
Palindrome comes from the Greek words “palin,” which means “again, back” and “dromos,” meaning “running,” according to Dictionary.com. A palindrome, then, is a word or phrase that runs back on itself.
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