Wednesday: 10 Interesting Facts You Might Not Know

Do you know the exact number of Wednesdays that have ever happened in your life? How much do you know about this day of the week?

Well, knowing more isn’t a waste of time, and if you are thirsty for knowledge, then why not try reading on with this article? It may sound boring, but we have a lot of interesting facts and wonders in store for you.

Here are 10 Interesting Facts About Wednesday

1. Wōdnesdæg

In terms of gods and astrology, Wednesday comes from the name Woden. He is the supreme God in the German Pantheon and is often connected to the Norse God, Odin.

The name is derived from Wōdnesdæg, which is an Old English word, and Wednesdei, which is a Middle English word. They all mean the same which is the “day of Woden.”

2. Hump Day

If you’re always on your social media accounts, there is a good chance that you have already run into the term Hump Day.

We are pretty sure that the first thing that comes to your mind is something sexual or even a camel, right? But, no, it isn’t about something sexual or the desert animal. It is a commemoration of getting through the “hump” of your week.

Since this day is the middle of a workweek, it means that you’re already halfway through your week’s responsibilities and a few more days until you get to have your well-deserved relaxation on your weekends.

3. Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is the mark where Catholics and Christians know that it’s the start of the Holy Week, which is six and a half weeks before Easter Day.

In general, it kick starts the Lenten Period, and also when Christians and Catholics confess their sins. They do this repentance in a way like abandoning worldly things or fasting.

It is a tradition that during the mass on this day, Christians and Catholics receive a cross made of ash on their foreheads from a priest. This is a representation of the person’s mourning and grief for their sins.

4. Betrayal of Jesus

The day that Jesus was betrayed is called the Spy Wednesday. This is a religious observance that remembers the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot. The word spy is a reference to the exploitations of Judas as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

5. American Christianity

Christians in America usually set aside their Wednesday evenings for religious activities by setting up prayer meetings or Bible studies.

This is the reason the sports calendar for a lot of American public schools keeps away from setting any events on this day of the week. Instead, they schedule girls’ games on Mondays and Thursdays and Tuesdays and Fridays for the boys’ games.

6. This day of the week and Mercury

One thing that Wednesday and Mercury on the planet have in common is an astrological sign. In astrology terms, the (☿) symbolizes both Mercury and Wednesday. It is a direct translation that means Dies Mercurii, which explains why Romantic languages refer to Mercury in their particular words for Wednesday.

7. Australia’s Grim Ash Wednesday

On Wednesday of February 16, 1983, a hundred bushfires swept and ignited all across the southern part of Australia. This incident caused 75 human casualties with a total injury of 2,600, and livestock cost was estimated to be 300,000. 

Other damages were 9,000 homes, which total to around 325 million U.S. dollars. From that day and the repercussions of that incident, the event that transpired on that day was named and known as “Ash Wednesday.”

8. This week day and the Stock market

This day of the week may have been the most successful day in the world of stock trading until 2008. We know that the stock market can be very random, but numbers don’t lie, and they show that Wednesdays brought up the best numbers from the years 1923 to 2007.

Not involving dividends, S&P 500 remitted 2,179% for Wednesdays. -98.5% on Mondays, 244% on Tuesdays, and 502% on Thursdays. However, in 2008, the trend slowly changed back to Saturdays that gave off the best results.

9. Pro Football Team

There is a football team named after this day of the week that is based in the U.K. called the Sheffield Wednesdays. It made a name for itself in 1820 as the Wednesday Cricket Club.

For a reason being it was called Wednesday is because all the members who founded the team all had their work off on Wednesday. Often than not, the team was also called the Darnall Wednesday from participating in games at the New Ground in Darnall.

10. Wednesday Friday Addams

This is a fictional character created by American cartoonist Charles Addams in his comic strip The Addams Family. The character has also appeared in television and film, in both the live action and animated formats.

In Addams’ cartoons, which first appeared in The New Yorker, the character and other members of the family had no names.

When the characters were adapted to the 1964 television series, Charles Addams gave her the name, based on the well-known nursery rhyme line, “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.”

Takeaway

Well, there you have it! These are just some amazing and interesting facts about Wednesday. We are pretty sure you haven’t heard some of them, right? It’s a day that makes you look forward to the weekend. These facts can be shared to your friends and family as fun trivias at gatherings.

Watch this space for updates in the Facts category on Running Wolf’s Rant.