The Symmetry of the Date, Year, and Time on February 20…It Will Never Happen Again–Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
The message says that at 8:02pm on February 20, 2002, something will happen that has not occurred in more than a thousand years and will never happen again. The date, time, and year will be in perfect symmetry: 20:02, 20/02, 2002. It says that the last time this happened was at 10:01 on January 10, 1001.
The Truth:
Symmetry lovers really enjoy this sort of thing, but the claim that this is so rare and won’t happen again isn’t accurate. Also, it depends on which style of representing date and time is used.
The one in this eRumor uses the European style of day and date with the day first, then the month. Christmas, for example, would be 25/12. In the United States, the day is first then the month. Christmas, for example, is 12/25. Interestingly, the American form of the date works as well: 20:02, 02/20, 2002,
Calendar watchers say it will happen three more times this year and more than a hundred times this century. The next after February 20: March 30. That is: 20:02, 03/30, 2002