Calendar dates

How a date count works

A date count is the number of whole days from tomorrow to the date. Today is not included, and neither is the date itself unless you ask for it.

If the date has already passed this year, the page counts to next year. On the day, the page says that today is the date.

Each date page also gives the weekday for ten years ahead, the ISO week number and the star sign for that date.

Dates and weekdays

A common year has 365 days, which is 52 weeks and one day. So a date lands one weekday later each year.

After a leap year it moves two. A date that is a Saturday this year may be a Monday in two years, so check before you book anything.

A calendar repeats only when the leap year pattern and the starting weekday both match. That can be five, six or eleven years apart.

Why people look up dates

Many searches are for a deadline, an exam, a birthday or a holiday that is not in the main list. A date page gives the count and the context in one place.

The nearby date links let you step a day or a week either side. That is handy when you are comparing two possible dates for an event.

For anything unusual, the days between dates tool takes any two dates and returns the days, weeks, months and work days.

How to count the days until any date

To count the days until a date, subtract today from that date. Today is left out, because it is already under way, and so is the day itself.

If the date is tomorrow, the answer is 1. If it is the 5th of next month and today is the 31st, the answer is 5.

The quickest way is to type your date into the question box on the home page. You can also open a holiday page, which already knows the date and recounts it every day. The days between dates calculator handles any two dates.

Quick answers about the calendar

The year always has 365 days, except in a leap year, which has 366. A leap year adds a February 29 to keep the calendar in step with the seasons. Every count on this site includes that extra day whenever a range crosses it.

Day counts change at midnight in your time zone. Clock-time pages, such as how long until 5 PM, change every second as you watch. They use your own clock, so the answer is right wherever you are.

For the gap between two times, use the hours calculator. To add or subtract time, use the time calculator.

Birthdays and anniversaries

A date page is a good way to count down to a birthday or anniversary. It shows the weekday for the next ten years, so you can see when it lands on a weekend.

Each page also names the star sign and the birthstone for that date. These traditions vary a little by source, and each page says where the lists come from.

If you want the exact age in days, the what day was I born tool gives that, along with the weekday of the birth.

How dates are ordered

Dates are written the American way in most of our tables, with the month first. The UK and Australia put the day first, so the question box reads both and checks which one makes sense.

Finding a date quickly

The month table gives the nearest checkpoint, the first of each month. For a date inside a month, open the month and pick the day.

If a date is not listed, the question box on the home page reads it from plain text. You can write "july 12", "12 july" or "7/12" and get the same result.

To compare two dates, the days between dates tool is a better fit. It gives the gap, not the count from today.

Weekday tables

The table of fixed dates shows how a date drifts through the week. Christmas Day moves one weekday later each year, and two after a leap year.

It is a useful check before you book. A holiday on a weekend means no day off for many workers, while one on a Monday or Friday gives a long weekend.