# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/21 "2000-11-04T18:50:21Z")
There is an online page for this feature on this radio show: [http://www.execpc.com/~rwerning/](http://www.execpc.com/~rwerning/) Refer to that for the nature of the questions they’ve been running. What’s really annoying is that I’ve heard this before, and can’t remember the gimmick, or even the nature of the gimmick. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/22 "2000-11-04T20:23:48Z")
Looking for things like the lunar cycle is a definite dead end: Leap years are a human convention, and totally independent of the lunar cycle. The date of the solstices and equinoxes will vary by a day depending on where you are in the leap cycle, but there’s no interpretation whereby those would correspond to May 33, and there’s no other events for which common people consider a year to be the proper 365.2425 days. I’d suspect that it has something to do with some other human institution which is timed for every four years, like the Summer Olympics or the U. S. presidential elections. Is June 2 (or June 29) the date of a primary, or some Olympic trials, or something? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/23 "2000-11-04T22:43:58Z")
Somebody check their Lewis Carroll or Douglas Adams–that date sounds like something one of these wildly imaginative guys could have come up with. Sir ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/24 "2000-11-04T23:25:09Z")
Yes, this is obviously some inane bit of obscure trivia, not something that can be reasoned. I’ve just lost interest. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/25 "2000-11-05T00:03:08Z")
I would have guessed that May 33rd is an adress. Something happens there every leap year, even if lasts all year. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/26 "2000-11-05T00:05:27Z")
That’s a good site, Yabob, but slightly incorrect. I had won more prizes than they had listed, and my dinner party was for 20, not 10. (the owner of the restaurant upped it but I don’t know why) Also, the appliance store was out of 5 disc players and gave me a 200 disc in it’s stead, and skylab also gave me a phone. It’s nice to win, but it’s also nice to win more than you thought you won!😃 ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/27 "2000-11-05T01:38:13Z")
Leap years correspond to Presidential election years and Summer Olympic. I can’t think of anything that might be related to Presidential elections. Primaries are usually on a Tuesday, so they wouldn’t fall on the same date every time, and besides, states have been changing around the dates of primaries a lot lately. I wonder if it might have something to do with lighting the Olympic torch, but I couldn’t find out when that happens. Then again, they light the torch for the Winter Olympics too, which no longer occur in leap years. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/28 "2000-11-05T02:18:22Z")
Just a search on Google turned up a few interesting things: 1. > [@](#): > > In B.E. 2125, Pope Gregory **33rd** of Rome improved upon the Julian calendar the rule to provide for leap year every four years except at the of the century A.D. that is not divisible by 400. This means that A.D. such as 1600, and 2000 are leap years where 1700 and 2100 is not. Bolding mine. Maybe just a coincedence? 1. In Jewish leap years they add a whole extra month named Adar I. > [@](#): > > If the Jewish calendar were based exclusively on the lunar year, Pesach (15 Nisan) would fall in the spring in one year, in the winter a few years later, then in the autumn, then in the summer and - after about **33** years - in the spring again…\ > > …It is added after the month of Sh’vat and is called Adar I, whereas the original Adar (of 29 days) becomes Adar II… There’s that 33 again. AND you have the added benefit of TWO months named essentially the same thing. Maybe **Zev Steinhardt** could help you on this angle. 1. Something to do with a Jewish holiday in May? > [@](#): > > 18 Lag ba-Omer (33rd Day of the Omer Counting) I’d really check out the Jewish holiday called **Lag B’Omer** , in 2001 it falls on May 11th, but it has something to do with the 33rd day of counting. IANJewish, so you’ll have to ask someone who is, but it looks kind of promising. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![cykrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@cykrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cykrider)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/29 "2000-11-05T02:48:36Z")
To be honest I don’t think this is something you can just look up. The first step to solving this is to find out what they are really asking. What do they mean by May 33rd? Once we figure that out, it will probably be easier to figure out an answer. My WAG is this: After reading the question aloud over and over, May thirty third came to me as this: may 30(1/3) or May 10th. So maybe they want to know what happens on may 10th of leap years. Furthermore, is it possible that May 33rd a place? Such as a bar, a street, or a building, then possibly their is a celebration held at this location every leap year. Another thought: what do they want leap yearS or just one leap year. If they are talking about one leap year, then this is a single event. Otherwise they might be talking about something that happens tetra-annually( is this a word, if not, it is now.) If all else fails I’d follow K.I.S.S: (Keep-it-simple-stupid!) And say that nothing happens, b/c this day isn’t real…but that’s no fun! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/30 "2000-11-05T06:02:14Z")
The answer could be “The 154th day of the year.” I’m sure it isn’t **their** answer, but it is an answer. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@The\_Ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ryan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/31 "2000-11-05T06:45:48Z")
Hmm. The site mispelled “Hagrid”. And what exactly is a “parfet”? [QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Sue Duhnym \* 2. In Jewish leap years they add a whole extra month named Adar I. > [@](#): > > If the Jewish calendar were based exclusively on the lunar year, Pesach (15 Nisan) would fall in the spring in one year, in the winter a few years later, then in the autumn, then in the summer and - after about **33** years - in the spring again…\ So perhaps it’s the 33rd May, not the 33rd _of_ May? ---
**Author:** ![Glenoled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Glenoled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glenoled)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/32 "2000-11-05T07:01:08Z")
if you want to get reaaaalllllyy obscure, I did a search in altavista, for “may 33rd”, and came up with this reference: May 33rd ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) World Congress that happened in 2000, which was a leap year… there was also an Honorable Joe T. May, 33rd House District, Virginia House of Delegates… but I haven’t found any references to any leap year, that would involve him… hey… you can’t say I didn’t try… :oP Glenoled ---
**Author:** ![Glenoled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Glenoled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glenoled)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/33 "2000-11-05T07:02:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Glenoled \* > \*\* > hey… you can’t say I didn’t try… :oP > > Glenoled \*\* Grr… damned smileys… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/34 "2000-11-05T14:01:21Z")
Maybe y’all are on the wrong track? If you rephrase the question as “What happens on May 30, _third_, but only on leap year?”, it means that something happens on May 30th for the third time, but only on leap year. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/35 "2000-11-06T00:14:35Z")
Well, as long as **Sue Duhnym** brought up my name in regard to the Jewish calendar… There are no months in the Jewish calendar that last 33 days. There is a holiday called _Lag B’Omer_ (the 33rd day of the Omer). However, the Omer is not a month, but a period of counting the days between Passover and Shavous. I do recall something, however, about a Roman Emporer who extended one year to over 400 days to correct calendrical problems they were having. Perhaps the May in that year had 33 days?? Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/779978/32.png) [@Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zumba_The_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/36 "2000-11-06T12:01:31Z")
pkbites - Please come back and let us know what the answer is when you find out. I have to know! ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/37 "2000-11-06T15:22:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zumba The Cat \* > \*\*pkbites - Please come back and let us know what the answer is when you find out. I have to know! \*\* Yeah, this is a toughie. But I bet the answer is a groaner. ---
**Author:** ![spazo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spazo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spazo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/38 "2000-11-06T15:29:22Z")
Don’t know the answer,but how about Cecil taking a shot at this one? C’mon big guy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/39 "2000-11-06T15:44:53Z")
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:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2000, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637/40 "2000-11-06T15:52:02Z")
> [@](#): > > but only on leap year? Was this the exact syntax? not “ **a** leap year”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637.md?page=3)