Upside down year

An upside down year is a year which reads the same when the 'year number' is turned upside down, when the numerals which form the year's number appear the same when rotated 180 degrees (turned upside down).

The most recent upside down year was 1961, and before that where sequentially 1881 and 1691.

Before that, the year 1001 began the second millennium, and before that were 3-digit years, such as 986, 888, 689, 181, 101, etc.

The next upside down year will be the extremely distant 6009.

Mad magazine parodied the upside down year in March 1961.[1][2][3]

Upside down year in culture

In 2001, Jon Clair wrote a book of science fiction, The 1961 Experiment, citing in the introduction Mad magazine's prediction that 1961 would be an upside-down year in several ways, not merely as a visual oddity.[4]

Alternate ways to determine 'upside down years'

One alternate understanding of 'upside down year' is the 'flipping' of each digit in its respective position, so that 1861 would become 1891 (the 1s and 8 flip to 1s and 8 respectively, while the 6 flips to a 9, and the 'flipped digit year' becomes 1891.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mad Magazine archival 'cover site'
  2. ↑ Mad Magazine, #61, March 1961. Upside Down Year. ASIN: B00ZJHXR4U
  3. ↑ MAD MAGAZINE MARCH 1961 #61 UPSIDE-DOWN YEAR SPY VS SPY. WorthPoint
  4. ↑ Clair, J. The 1961 Experiment. iUniverse, 2001. 156 pages. Page xi, Introduction: An introduction to The 1961 Experiment


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