Problem:
A year is a leap year if and only if the year number is divisible by 400 (such as 2000 ) or is divisible by 4 but not by 100 (such as 2012). The 200th anniversary of the birth of novelist Charles Dickens was celebrated on February 7, 2012, a Tuesday. On what day of the week was Dickens born?
Answer Choices:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Solution:
There were non-leap days in the 200-year time period from February 7, 1812 to February 7, 2012. One fourth of those years contained a leap day, except for 1900 , so there were leap days during that time. Therefore Dickens was born 73049 days before a Tuesday. Because the same day of the week occurs every 7 days and , the day of Dickens' birth (February 7, 1812) was 4 days before a Tuesday, which was a .
The problems on this page are the property of the MAA's American Mathematics Competitions