Happy Odd Day!

Though typically a fairly creepy day, Friday the 13th has an extra special meaning this month. The full date of Nov. 13, 2015, or 11/13/15, represents the last day of the century in which succeeding odd numbers make up the date. The day is at its "oddest" at 5:19 p.m. and 21 seconds, which is 17:19:21 in military time. Other number days like Pi Day may get more press and adoration, but Odd Day is an unsung hero of math-related unofficial holidays. The owner of the Odd Day website, Ron Gordon, thinks the special day should not only be an opportunity to champion odd numbers above all else. Along with his wife, Linda, he's come up with a guide and contest for how to celebrate odd day.

A former high school teacher from the Bay Area, Gordon is also the man behind Square Root Day and has been passionately supporting number days for decades. His excitement for Odd Day is palpable and has led to his creation of an Odd Day contest in which $1,113.15 will be divided among those who honor the day to the best of their abilities. Interested entrants can do anything from hosting an odd parade with costumes and anachronistic characters to composing an odd ode to the strangest day of the year, if not the century.

Linda Gordon drew the artwork detailing the odd day contest rules, which is featured both on the Odd Day website as well as its official Facebook event. She even offers suggestions on ways to celebrate, including high-fiving a friend, finding missing odd socks, and pondering one of life's big questions: why the word "odd" has an odd number of letters while the word "even" has an even number of letters. To further inspire, Ron even composed his own ode to Odd Day:

As odd as it is, the 13th of NovemberBrings a glorious day we will always rememberThis won’t happen again for 90 long yearsLook!! — 3 odds in a row — enjoy ‘em and cheers!!

Odd day rules are simple: be safe, be odd, and have fun. The Odd Day celebration can continue as long as you want, though the contest itself ends on Dec. 2. Entries can be submitted either by email or snail mail. It's worth noting that Ron's email address contains an odd number, as does his PO box number. The next Odd Day is not until Jan. 3, 2105, so it makes sense that Ron would choose to stay odd the whole year through.

Images: Erich Ferdinand/Flickr (1); Odd Day/Facebook (2)