May 28 should be Pi-day instead of March 14 since pi should be what we now call 2*pi (6.28...) since 2*pi comes up in more formulas than pi. (When I blogged about this here one of the commenter's suggested 2*pi*i.)

So what-should-be-pi-day was last Sunday. To honor this day I asked people what day or concept they would want to make a holiday. Here is what I got.

1. Multicultural day. OR give every ethnic group a holiday. This may lead to the 4-day work week.
2. Mid-autumn day to give us a break.
3. Pi-Day (March 14)
4. Mole Day (Oct 23)
5. Talk like a pirate day (Sept 19.) Did pirates really talk that way in the past? now?
6. Election day. That way more people will vote.
7. The day Louis Brandeis got appointed to the supreme court. He was the first Jewish member of the court. This could be a way to celebrate the decline of anti-semitism in America.
8. Peace Day. Could celebrate the end of some war. But there is always the next war. Oh well.
9. The day women got the vote. (Aug 26, 1920). To quote Hail to the Chiefs, with regard to the election of Warren G. Harding as president in 1920: {\it It was the first election women voted in. They needed more practice}.
10. The day the civil rights act passing. Actually there were many civil rights bills passed, so you'd have to pick which one to celebrate. Or celebrate all of them and get a 4-day work week.
11. Groundhog day. (Feb 2). The movie movie Groundhog day higher Google rank than the day does.
12. Chocolate day.
13. Moon day. They have Earth Day so why not Moon Day?
14. Children's day. We have Mothers and Fathers day, so why not Children's day?
15. St. Patrick's day. Or the day after to get rid of your hangover.
16. Teacher's day. Would teachers get this day off?
17. Weird Al's birthday (10/23). Since its the same as Mole Day we can combine them to get Weird Mole Day.

Lets say they made your choice a holiday. And then there was a movement to make it, instead of the actual day, the 2nd Monday of that month it was in. (or something like that). Would you mind? On the one hand, your holiday is getting made into just a day off. On the other hand, you get a 3-day weekend!

Veterans day would have been the 2nd Monday in November except that some veterans protested. Or did they? Maybe it was groups that claim to represent them. I wonder if veterans prefer 3-day weekends or prefer having their holiday be on the day WW I ended. What is more important: Efficiency or meaning?

Some days would be hard to move. July 4, Cinco do Mayo and Pi-day are rather tied to the day they are celebrated. Even so, the government (and others) gives July 3 off if July 4 is on a Saturday.

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Posted By GASARCH to Computational Complexity at 7/01/2009 11:03:00 AM