What's The Big Deal About 'Thursday The 20th?' The Recurring Meme And 'Simpsons' Reference Explained

Last week, October 20th landed on a Thursday. This may seem like a mundane and typical date to everyone else, but to fans of The Simpsons, it’s entirely different. Every time a day like this comes around, a popular joke is resurrected: Thursday the 20th.

But what does Thursday the 20th mean, and why is everyone so obsessed with such a strange minor detail from the show? Here’s why we’re probably all doomed to Thursday the 20th jokes every Thursday the 20th for the rest of our lives.

Where Did “Thursday the 20th” Come From, and What Does It Mean?

The joke dates all the way back to season sixteen of The Simpsons, airing in 2005. In the ninth episode, entitled “Pranksta Rap,” a rapper performs a song while wearing a gold chain necklace that reads “THURSDAY THE 20TH,” which is part of a longer joke about identifying the time and date the performance occurred, and could also be a play on “Friday the 13th.”

A screenshot of this scene has been circulating online since at least 2010, with the first known meme, featuring Misha Collins in the rapper’s place, appearing in 2014. The template began to appear more often, but the meme itself isn’t quite where the entertainment comes from.

There’s a clear reason this joke didn’t just die off — it’s part of a long-running joke and conspiracy theory that The Simpsons actually predicts the future. In fact, The Simpsons has appeared to predict a number of disasters, from 9/11 to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With such a long-running show, it’s almost hard not to predict the future by accident. So even though The Simpsons doesn’t actually predict the future (probably…right?), seeing this ominous date on the rapper’s chain seemed to imply that something horrible would happen on a Thursday the 20th, which is what makes this image reappear every time a Thursday the 20th comes around.

How Is “Thursday The 20th” Used Online?

Thursday the 20th is a holiday of sorts in the meme community. Since so many people are convinced The Simpsons predicts the future and are looking for additional proof, it feels like this warning of impending doom on a Thursday the 20th is, ironically, something to celebrate rather than fear.

On (and leading up to) Thursday the 20ths, some people make memes where they photoshop the chain into The Simpsons references. Others share the same image of the rapper and his chain everywhere online. But predictably, the most popular posts of the bunch are Thursday the 20th predictions and references to The Simpsons predicting a disaster.

For the full details on the Thursday the 20th meme and viral story, be sure to check out our entry on the meme here for even more information.