Just for fun; Do you know what day of the week you were born

Question

The birthday nursery rhyme says:

Monday's child is fair of face,

Tuesday's child is full of grace,

Wednesday's child is full of woe,

Thursday's child has far to go.

Friday's child is loving and giving,

Saturday's child works hard for a living,

And the child that is born on the Sabbath day, is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

I am one of 7 children, we were born on the 7 days of the week. 

Child # 1 was born on a Saturday

Child #2 me was born on a Monday 

Child #3 was born on a Friday

Child #4 was born on a Thursday

Child #5 was born on a Tuesday

Child # 6 was born on a Wednesday

Child # 7 was born on a Sunday 

Comments

That is so cool! What are the chances? (Any mathematicians out there who want to answer that?)

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The calculation is relatively simple. 

The first child has 7 choices from 7 possibilities. This means 7/7 = 100,0%.

The second child has only 6 choices from 7 possibilities, as 1 choice is blocked. This means 6/7 = 85,7%. Together 7/7 * 6/7 = 85,7%.

…

The seventh child has only one choice from 7 possibilities left, as 6 choices are blocked. This means 1/7 = 14,3%.

All together you have 7/7 * 6/7 * 5/7 * 4/7 * 3/7 * 2/7 * 1/7 = 0,61%.

But you need also the rare case of exactly seven children.

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Thanks, Siegfried! I’m glad you included your calculations; seeing them I remembered learning this, way back when.   The takeaway, for me, is that while quite unlikely, it’s certainly not one in a million! Thanks again!

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I'm a bit astonished.

0,61% means 1 to 164. That's not very little.

For comparison: The probability for seven children being born at the same weekday is 1 to 117649.

Answer 1

Friday! I remember the rhyme from my childhood… I always wanted to be born on a different day, to have one of the best options I can’t remember now which I valued most at the time, but I felt sorry for the Wednesday babies…

Answer 2

Sunday :-)

Answer 3

I was born on a Saturday, and I did work hard for a living. But I retired early, so it’s all good!   I have 2 children, the elder born on a Wednesday (on my birthday), the younger born on a Friday. And the poem nailed it for the two of them.

Also, something I find interesting, every year my husband and I and both our children have our birthdays on the same day of the week. When our son married, his wife’s birthday also falls on the “right” day of the week. But then our daughter married, and her husband’s birthday doesn’t follow suit. (Lucky for him, we all adore him!)

Answer 4

I'm glad you called it "just for fun", M.  I remember this poem from my childhood and being a Wednesday birth, said to Dad: "But I'm not filled with woe."  Mournful, wretched, miserable is woe.  I was a happy child.  Dad said like all other fortune telling some say it's true, some say it's false and the rest don't care.  So now I'm over 70, have lived most of my life and can happily report that the prediction of woe for me was false.

Comments

Pat, as a child born on Monday with far too much red hair, too many curls and too many freckles, I never felt fair of face.

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Thank you for that, M.  I'm laughing.

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Think of young me as Pippi Longstocking with short hair!

Answer 5

I was born on a Friday afternoon. I had three children: #1 was born on a Tuesday, #2 was born on a Friday exactly two months after my birthday, and #3 was born on a Saturday.

Answer 6

I'm sort of the opposite of you - I was born on a Sunday, but everybody in my first circle - parents, sibling, former spouse and 3 children were all born on Monday.

And I found out about this before child #3 was born. When the obstetrician told me the due date the first thing I did was look up the Monday closest to it. And that's when she was born.

Answer 7

Monday, child.

Answer 8

I was born in a Monday 

Answer 9

Thursday ( I thought so, but had to double check). Yes, I've come pretty far and plan to go even farther! (The bucket list keeps growing.)