How to Calculate the Day of the Week from Any Date

by Josh Cohen on July 27, 2012

Here is a calendar calculation technique that I learned from a book called Mind
Performance Hacks. It allows you to take a date, like 14 March 1987, and
mentally calculate which day of the week it fell on.

The Formula

The formula is:

(Year Code + Month Code + Century Code + Date Number Leap Year Code)
mod 7

Heres How it Works

Ill run through an example with the date, 14 March 1897 Einsteins birthday.

The Year Code

To calculate the Year Code, use this formula:

(YY + (YY div 4)) mod 7

YY is the last two digits of the year. For the year 1897, its 97.

First, divide YY by 4 and discard the remainder: 97 div 4 = 24.

Then add 24 back into the YY number, which is 97 in this case, resulting in 121.

The next step is: 121 mod 7.

Mod means to divide the number and keep only the remainder. For 121 mod 7,
start removing sevens:
10 x 7 is 70, leaving us with 51, because 121 70 = 51.
7 x 7 = 49, and 51 49 = 2.

Weve removed all the sevens from 121 until we are left with a remainder of 2.
That is the Year Code for 1897.

You could use a number shape image like a swan to hold that in memory while
you calculate the items below.

The Month Code

This is easy just memorize the number 033614625035:

January = 0
February = 3
March = 3
April = 6
May = 1
June = 4
July = 6
August = 2
September = 5

October = 0
November = 3
December = 5

Now you have the Month Code. For Einsteins birthday in March, it is 3.

A Quick Note on Memorizing Numbers

If you dont know how to memorize a number like 033614625035, you could
either use repetition or learn a mnemonic system like the Major System or
Dominic System. I use my Ben System images: Samwise (033) throws a glass of
beer (614) on George Boole (625) who falls backwards on Sally (035).

A way to quickly memorize 033614625035 without a complex mnemonic system

would be to use a number shape system to associate images with each month.
For example, you could picture a game of soccer (football) in January, with ball
being a mnemonic image for zero. You could picture a butterfly in February and
March, if you use a butterfly image for the number three. If the number six is
represented by the image of an elephant, picture an elephant in April and July,
and so on. If you are having trouble associating the images with the months, pick
an aspect of each month to associate the image with. For example, Halloween is
in October, so to remember that October has a Month Code of zero (represented
by an image of a ball), you could picture a group of people in Halloween
costumes doing something with a ball. That would link the month of October with
the number zero.

The Century Code

You then need to apply an adjustment based on the century. In Great Britain, and
what was to become the USA, the calendar system changed from the Julian
Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar on 2 September 1752. The Gregorian
Calendar began on 14 September 1752, skipping 11 days.

Gregorian Dates

For the Gregorian Calendar, remember the number 4206420:

1700s = 4
1800s = 2
1900s = 0
2000s = 6
2100s = 4
2200s = 2
2300s = 0

If you are only doing this calendar trick with friends birthdays, you could
probably leave this step out, because dates that fall in the 1900s get a Century
Code of zero and dont affect the outcome of the calculation.

Julian Dates

If you are looking at a Julian date, the formula is to take the century number and
subtract it from 18 and then mod 7.

Example 1: if the year is 852 CE, take the century number, 8, and subtract it
from 18, leaving 10. Then, 10 mod 7 =3.

Example 2: if the year is 1625 CE, take the century number, 16, and subtract it
from 18, leaving 2. 2 mod 7 = 2, so in this case the Century Code is 2.

For Einsteins birthday in 1897, the Century Code is 2, because its a Gregorian
date, and the chart above shows that dates in the 1800s get an adjustment of 2.

Leap Year Code

The other thing to take into account is whether you are dealing with a leap year.
EDIT: If the date is in a January or February of a leap year, you have to subtract
one from your total before the final step.

Gregorian Calendar

If you can divide a Gregorian year by 4, its a leap year, unless its divisible by
100. But it is a leap year if its divisible by 400.

1992 is a leap year because you can divide it by four.

1900 is not a leap year because you can divide it by 100.
2000 is a leap year because you can divide it by 400.

Julian Calendar

If you can divide a Julian year by 4, its a leap year.

Einsteins birthday was in 1897 which was not a leap year (0), so it doesnt affect
the outcome.

Calculating the Day

Back to the original formula:

(Year Code + Month Code + Century Code + Date Number Leap Year Code)
mod 7

For 14 March 1897, here are the results:

Year Code: 2
Month Code: 3

Century Code: 2
Date Number: 14 (the 14th of the month)
Leap Year Code: 0

So:

(2 + 3 + 2 + 14) mod 7 = 21 mod 7 = 0

Match the resulting number in the list below, and youll have the day of the
week:
0 = Sunday
1 = Monday
2 = Tuesday
3 = Wednesday
4 = Thursday
5 = Friday
6 = Saturday

Einstein was born on a Sunday.

More Examples

Here are three more examples from different centuries:

The Moon Landing

Humans set foot on the moon: 20 July 1969:

Take 69 and divide by 4, discarding the remainder. That leaves 17. Add 69 to
17 to get 86. Then, 86 mod 7 = 2. The Year Code is 2.

The Month Code for July is 6.

The Century Code for the 1900s is zero.
The Date Number is 20, because its the 20th of July.
1969 wasnt a leap year since it cant be divided by 4.
2 + 6 + 0 + 20 = 28
28 mod 7 = 0

20 July 1969 was a Sunday.

The Battle of Hastings

The Battle of Hastings took place on 14 October 1066.

Take 66 and divide by 4, ignoring the remainder: 16. Add 66 to 16 to make 82.
82 mod 7 makes a Year Code of 5.
October has a Month Code of zero.
The Day Number is 14.
The Century Code for this Julian date is 18 10 = 8. 8 mod 7 = 1.
1066 was not a leap year.
Answer: 5 + 0 + 14 + 1 = 20. 20 mod 7 = 6

14 October 1066 was a Saturday.

Beginning of the 21st Century

1 January 2000:
Start with 00, leaving a Year Code of zero.
January has a Month Code of zero.
The Day Number is 1.
The Century Code for dates in the 2000s is 6.

2000 is a leap year, since it can be divided by 400, and the date is in a January
or February, so subtract 1 from the total in the final step.
Answer: 0 + 0 + 1 + 6 1 = 6.

1 January 2000 was a Saturday.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. There are also some
shortcuts and tips in the Mentat Wiki scroll down to the section titled, The
Classic Formula.