# 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:** 14
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/261 "2001-03-07T19:27:08Z")
So some crackpot comes up with an alternative calendar and that is the basis for the answer? It would be far more interesting if they used questions that didn’t use some BS created by some random joker. Anyway, I hope you are right Colibri! ---
**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, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/262 "2001-03-07T23:30:21Z")
Well pk was unable to get through today (as you know already since the contest has not yet been won). As they take random callers and the line is always busy it may still take some time. Or someone else may twig to it and beat us to it. Actually, it’s worth a lot more to me to get credit on the Board for being the first to find the answer than to actually win the contest. (But not worth enough to lower our odds of winning by just posting the answer. ;)) So I’m going to mention a detail that shouldn’t give anyone else a lead, but will serve to confirm later on that I actually have the right calendar in hand, even if someone else beats pk to the dial-in and the answer is revealed. On this calendar, October 27-29th is the Music Festival. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/263 "2001-03-07T23:44:55Z")
(since Colibri is being so close-mouthed I’ll try psychological warfare. I want to **know**! I spent an hour in the library once but couldn’t find anything) Colibri, I think you’re full of it. You don’t really have any answer, you’re just yanking our collective chain. If you’re so smart and do have the answer, then what is it? Huh? Huh? ---
**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, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/264 "2001-03-07T23:50:59Z")
Not that I’d want anyone else to get the credit for what **Coli** so rightly deserves, or hopefully will deserve as thecase may be, but where’s Cecil in all this? It would seem that this would be right up his alley? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2001, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/265 "2001-03-08T00:15:17Z")
Moe, please see the post by administrator C K Dexter Haven on page 1 of this thread. > [@](#): > > We haven’t put this to Cecil, although it has been tossed around by Staff. We’re agreeing with the conclusion that it might be some very obscure trivia, rather than some cleverl mathematical or calendar puzzle, and so we suspect that Cecil would just not be interested. ---
**Author:** ![GasDr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@GasDr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GasDr)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2001, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/266 "2001-03-08T00:20:59Z")
quote We haven’t put this to Cecil, although it has been tossed around by Staff. We’re agreeing with the conclusion that it might be some very obscure trivia, rather than some cleverl mathematical or calendar puzzle, and so we suspect that Cecil would just not be interested. i.e. he/they can’t figure it out 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dietrologia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@dietrologia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dietrologia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2001, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/267 "2001-03-08T00:49:53Z")
This is looking more and more like the answer is " ‘The last day of the Summer Festival’ according to the Barlow Calendar," however I’m not absolutely 100% sure until I see this myself. I **know** where to look. If anybody can get their mitts on a copy of _The People’s Almanac 3_ I have seen it referenced to this. Look for a Barlow Calendar reference. It is definately not in the 2nd edition. As much as I **love** _sarcasm_ the cloak and dagger “answer by email” aspect this thread is taking on, I don’t think that’s what this board is all about. I could be wrong though. _still working on this_ ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2001, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/268 "2001-03-08T00:49:57Z")
Hmmm… Nobody’s commented on Summer Festival… Sounds pretty good to me…Especially if you check out the You Can’t Win homepage… _thinks he’s starting to see the end of this tortuous thread_ ---
**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 8, 2001, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/269 "2001-03-08T00:52:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GasDr \* > \*\*quote > > We haven’t put this to Cecil, although it has been tossed around by Staff. We’re agreeing with the conclusion that it might be some very obscure trivia, rather than some cleverl mathematical or calendar puzzle, and so we suspect that Cecil would just not be interested. > > i.e. he/they can’t figure it out 🙂 \*\* I will bet dollars to donuts that Cecil actually has the book in question in his possession, although he may have misplaced it. I think he must be using it to prop open a door somewhere, or else it has fallen behind a filing cabinet. And I expect at least a few of the Staff will be smacking themselves in the forehead with great force once it is revealed. Heck, I did when I figured it out. But I was misled by some of the early speculation in the thread. Just goes to show, Cecil has forgotten more than most of us will ever know. (Except me, of course. :D) ---
**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 8, 2001, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/270 "2001-03-08T00:52:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Colibri, I think you’re full of it. You don’t really have any answer, you’re just yanking our collective chain. If you’re so smart and do have the answer, then what is it? Huh? Huh? Chapeau, Arnold! J’aurais difficilement pu trouver plus subtil comme approche…😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2001, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/271 "2001-03-08T00:52:49Z")
i gotta learn to type faster… ---
**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 8, 2001, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/272 "2001-03-08T01:09:15Z")
Looks like **dietrologia** unwisely(?) let the cat out of the bag. Here’s a partial quote: > [@](#): > > Others, such as May, would be follwed by a seven-day festival on leap year and a six-day festival normally. _The People’s Almanach #3_, p. 697. The Barlow calendar is reproduced therein and, yes, it would seem that the answer is ‘the end of the Summer Festival’. All that remains is to wish the best of luck to **pk** and **Colibri** in the ‘fastest-finger dialing’. ---
**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 8, 2001, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/273 "2001-03-08T01:22:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dietrologia \* > **As much as I love _sarcasm_ the cloak and dagger “answer by email” aspect this thread is taking on, I don’t think that’s what this board is all about.** Jeez, I bet you’re the kind of person that gives out movie spoilers and tells people about surprise parties that are being planned for them. Thanks a lot. Sheesh. Ah, well, since it’s just a matter of time before someone checks it now, its on pg. 696-698. And **dietrologia** , since this thread is linked to that site in Milwaukee, all you did was make it into a contest of who has the fastest auto-dialer. You just gave the answer to a hundreds of people who have done absolutely no research on it. ---
**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 8, 2001, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/274 "2001-03-08T01:23:01Z")
Same goes for you, **dietrologia** …😉 ---
**Author:** ![sethdallob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@sethdallob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethdallob)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2001, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/275 "2001-03-08T01:27:12Z")
And you just confirmed his answer 🙂 Anyway, I’m more than willing to split the proceeds with Coli and pk (via some sort of PayPalage) if I get in… Seth ---
**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 8, 2001, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/276 "2001-03-08T01:42:58Z")
And congrats to **maralinn** for getting it independently too. Some coincidence, huh? This thing goes on for months, then several people apparently get the answer independently in the space of a couple days. And just after that, the whole thing is blown wide open by somebody mentioning the Peoples’ Almanac. You know, I probably would have got it a lot sooner except for all the speculation earlier on that it was some kind of fictional or fantasy calendar. Once it became clear it was a real calendar, I recalled that the Peoples’ Almanac had several alternative ones. All 3 volumes were sitting on my bookshelf. But it’s been a quite a few years since I read them! I suspect the Peoples’ Almanac is the only place the Barlow Calendar has ever been published. ---
**Author:** ![Snaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Snaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snaf)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2001, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/277 "2001-03-08T01:59:19Z")
If it is indeed the case that the answer has been fully publicised (and that therefore this won’t give anything else away), could someone please describe this Barlow calendar? 🙂 Why was it created, and how does it differ from our current calendar? What significance do the festivals have? This thread has been mind-boggling and I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s suggestions. Good luck Colibri and pkbites! Snaf ---
**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 8, 2001, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/278 "2001-03-08T02:00:10Z")
My copy lay/lies exactly seven feet from my computer!! It’s been so long I had gone through it that I had completely forgotten about that info being in there. Actually, **Coli** , if you go to the end of the piece in the _Almanach_, it gives the Calendar Reform Foundation as a source for the calendar reproduced on page 697. Best of luck to you anyways. I think you deserve it. ---
**Author:** ![dietrologia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@dietrologia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dietrologia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/279 "2001-03-08T02:03:43Z")
The question was asked. The question was answered. That’s the purpose of the board, right? Or are we to all work for months on solving puzzles such as this only to not post the answers when we run across them? Personally, I’ve spent several hours researching this one. It wasn’t until there was the post mentioning the DJ’s hint with regards to how this question and the first in the series were related that I was able to find what I wanted. ---
**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 8, 2001, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/280 "2001-03-08T02:16:08Z")
Well yip-the-hell-ee. I really didn’t give a rat’s ass. Shame you guys ain’t gonna win the prize, though. I suppose this thread and the last election are the latest confirmations that victory doesn’t always go to the swiftest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637.md?page=15)