# What happens on May 33rd but only on leap year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2000, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637 "2000-11-04T01:33:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/241 "2001-03-06T06:15:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pulykamell \* > \*\*Would this be outside the realm of possibility: > > It seems the radio station wants to dissuade people from searching the infinite data expanses of the internet. Lots of hints on going to the library, and looking it up. More luck with “calendars” than “festivals” they say. > > Could someone at the radio station been silly enough to go to the central Milwaukee library and, say, inserted a calendar of the station’s own invention into a book on obscure calendars, hoping somebody would just get off his/her ass and search the normal way? > > Naa…but there’s gotta be a damn catch somewhere. > I think the answer can only be found in a library. \*\* I’d have to agree. I think trying to “figure this out” with net resources and web search engines was _deliberately_ designed by the contest originators to be a huge waste of time. I’m going to quit trying to make sense of it. I suspect the answer is in some little known book in the community library of the radio station. I’ll just wait for the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/242 "2001-03-06T14:08:20Z")
I HAVE THE ANSWER! No doubt, no question, no guess. I have located an alternative calendar, named after its inventor, that has a definite day called May 33rd, which is a holiday in leap years. Since I never would have heard of this furshlugginer contest without the OP, I am willing to split the prize with **pkbites** (or his friend). I shall be in touch by e-mail. I will reveal the answer once it is confirmed that it is correct. Then we can put this excruciating thread to sleep. What is amazing to me is that I was able to find it fairly easily. It’s hard to believe it’s taken so long to solve it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/243 "2001-03-06T14:18:45Z")
I just tried a quick search, and I can’t find any reference to this calendar on the web. I found it in a book. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/244 "2001-03-06T14:33:56Z")
Well, good for you if it pans out. And good for **pkbites** (or friend), that slacker!😃 But if you **DO** have the correct answer, promise you’ll remain the same sweet and unassuming **Colibri** we’ve come to love. In other words, that celebrity (fleeting as it may be) won’t go to your head. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/245 "2001-03-06T15:16:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by omni-not \* > \*\*same sweet and unassuming **Colibri** we’ve come to love. \*\* 😕 😕 😕 Either my sarcasm meter is set too low, or I’ve been doing _something_ wrong! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/246 "2001-03-06T15:55:02Z")
They just finished another “You Can’t Win”, Brian had another hint. He said " If you can find the answer to question 1, why can’t you find the answer to question 5?", which leads me to think that G. Etzel Pearcy may be in the same book as the creator of this unknown (except by Colibri) calendar. Back to the library tonight! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/247 "2001-03-06T16:16:40Z")
Yup, that clue makes perfect sense to me, and confirms that I am referring to the exact same source that they are. But I suspect you are probably not going to find it in the library unless it’s a very good one. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Freddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/82dd89/32.png) [@Queen\_Freddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Freddie)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/248 "2001-03-06T18:11:37Z")
I may be going about this the wrong way but since the DJ’s have said, go to the library and start reading, I’d go to the library and find MAY.33 (Dewey decimal) in the stacks. Maybe it’s a book that has a new version published every four years, on leap year. Sorry for the repeat if somone already suggested this. For all I know, MAY.33 may not even exist in the DD System. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/249 "2001-03-06T18:35:04Z")
Colibri…not that we’re impatient or anything but we _are waiting_. (TAP! TAP! TAP!) It’s time cap this thread in the head Sporanos style and put it (and all of us) out of our respective misery with this stupid question. Congrats for finding the answer! ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/250 "2001-03-06T18:37:28Z")
Go out there and win one for the SDMB! And when you do, please tell those people that I do not like them. So do they do this thing every day? I’d like to hear about the logistics of getting on the air. One more question: I’m really not going to give a rat’s ass about the answer, am I? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/251 "2001-03-06T19:25:11Z")
Patience all! We have to win the contest before I spill the beans. Let’s hope pk (with whom I have reached a preliminary agreement, with details being worked out) & company manage to be the lucky caller tonight. No one would like to see this thread die more than I would. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/252 "2001-03-06T19:29:04Z")
I have to disagree with **astro** , I’d rather not have the answer put in this thread until someone wins the contest, especially since this thread is now linked to on that unofficial page. I’d hate to have some schmuck who has done NO research find the answer before I do just by linking from that page. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/253 "2001-03-06T23:28:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sofa King \* > \*\*Go out there and win one for the SDMB! And when you do, please tell those people that I do not like them. > \*\* 😛 Mind if I use this as my sig? Pwease? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/254 "2001-03-06T23:44:15Z")
All now depends on the dialing dexterity of pkbites and his friends. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/255 "2001-03-07T05:46:35Z")
One thing **Coli** Is it a groaner? ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/256 "2001-03-07T06:36:31Z")
I imagine it’s going to be something just inanely obscure, like “In Joseph Whitinghall’s book discussing alternative calendars, the Gordon Fiske calendar (hexadeciamal, with 50 decimal days per month) is unique in having the Festival of Live Fishes on May 33, but only on leap year”. But like the rest of us, I just want it to be over. I had a dream last night about it, even, and i wasn’t even searching for the answer. I walked into a bookstore and found a calendar just lying there labeled ‘Gordon ??? Decimal Calendar’ I opened it up, and much to my surprise found that on May 33, the “Festival of the World Forests” (Leap Year) was written there. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/257 "2001-03-07T13:15:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Moe \* > \*\*One thing **Coli** > > Is it a groaner? \*\* No, while obscure it is definitely not a trick question (as the DJs have confirmed). And the source where I found it, while not in every library, is not _that_ impossibly hard to find. Dammit, I _should_ have remembered it months ago - it just took some of the additional hints to jog my memory of where I had seen it before. I will say no more, lest I give out too much information to the competition. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![maralinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@maralinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maralinn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/258 "2001-03-07T16:14:17Z")
Colibri, I think I have it too. However, the festival is actually a week long, and does not occur _only_ on May 33. 🙂 Maybe the correct answer is “the last day of the \_\_\_\_ Festival”? [mara@mindless.com](mailto:mara@mindless.com) ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/259 "2001-03-07T17:22:14Z")
But of course you may use that line, **Some Guy**. ---
**Author:** ![dietrologia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@dietrologia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dietrologia)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/260 "2001-03-07T18:56:55Z")
Summer Festival? (working on confirming this) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637.md?page=14)