No, really!

Today’s date, expressed in purely mathematical terms, is ‘3/3/09’. And, as most of us will recall, three is the square root of nine. That makes it Square Root Day!

“[Square Root] days are like calendar comets. You wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day and — poof — they’re gone,” Ron Gordon, the Redwood City, CA, teacher who started it all, told reporters.

Gordon says his daughter’s ‘official’ Square Root Day MySpace page has attracted hundreds of visitors who have reported their plans to celebrate Square Root Day in a variety of ways, many of which involve food. Some were planning to carve root vegetables into squares. Others were planning to serve cakes and other dishes made in the shape of the square root sign.

Square Root Day is not an annual event, or even a regular occurrence. In fact, the last one happened on Ground Hog Day in 2004 (2/2/04), and the next one won’t come around until April 4, 2016 (4/4/16).

So party hearty today, square root fans! It’s going to be a long wait for the next one…