Fake news! It's everywhere! Even in this space, my sacred Sunday column.

Two weeks ago I told you that a month like this - which has four of each day of the week - wouldn't occur for another 823 years.

Not.

I can't believe that information, forwarded by a reliable source, was, indeed, false.

As a February baby, I should have checked.

And you, my loyal readers, let me know what a dunce I am.

So, commence the flagellation.

" You made a mistake of 822 years," wrote a reader. "Every year except leap year has February with four of every day of the week in the month.

"Rusty, Rusty, Rusty...," wrote another reader. "Your statement about this February is wrong.

"Look at the 2018 calendar. February starts on a Thursday and the month has just four of every day."

Yet another reader wrote:

"Sir, you have fallen for a hoax. It is perfectly normal for February to have four of every day of the week.

"It happens every year except leap year, when there are five of the day of the week that Feb. 1 falls on. So it happens three out of every four years, not once in 823.

Color me chastized.

Sunday sermon

"I'm not young enough to know everything."

- Sir James Matthew Barrie

Other Feedback

"My bride and I take great pleasure in your weekly Sunday column, working our aging brains at arriving at the answers to your weekly questions," writes a reader. "Thank you for that!"

"I refer in this missive to the battery question. We were truly surprised at the answer.

"After all, if the smallest can supply the same voltage as the largest, why would any manufacturer want their item to contain the extra weight and space for a larger battery?

"I could look it up, but hope you can add this tiny nugget to your column next week. Not that I am lazy, but others might be interested as well."

Well, I will explain, although I am not a rocket scientist. (See lead item of this column.)

Anyway, let's let a battery expert (I hope) explain it. This is from www.education.com:

"AAA, AA, C, D batteries all are rated at 1.5 volts, but besides the difference in physical size there is a big difference between them all.

"In an electrical circuit or device, there are two really important things: voltage and current. You can think of voltage like the water pressure that pushes things down a pipe, and current like the amount of water flowing down the pipe.

"Some electrical devices need a lot of current to operate, but do not need a lot of voltage. That's where battery size comes in.

"The D size battery will deliver more current than the C, AA, and AAA size battery. So even if a AA battery and a AAA battery are both rated as having a voltage of 1.5, the AA battery will deliver more current than the AAA battery."

Got it?

So you're so smart...

Last week I bet you that you couldn't tell me what is used to cut diamonds, the hardest known substance on earth.

"Answer: Another diamond," writes a reader correctly.

Now, I bet you can't tell me the milk of which animal was traditionally used in Italy to make mozzarella cheese.

See you next week.

ORESTE P. D'ARCONTE is a former publisher of The Sun Chronicle. Reach him at [email protected].