According to the Gregorian calendar, on what day of the week did 2 January 1901 fall?

Introduction / Context:
This question asks for the exact day of the week for a specific historical date, 2 January 1901. Problems of this kind are standard in calendar aptitude, and they can be solved using known reference dates, leap year rules, and systematic day counting or using a mental algorithm like the odd days method. The goal is to determine the weekday with confidence, not by guessing.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The date of interest is 2 January 1901.
• We are working under the Gregorian calendar, which is the standard civil calendar.
• The reference rules for leap years are in effect: years divisible by 4 are leap years except certain century years.
• We need to identify whether the weekday is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, as per the options.

Concept / Approach:
One systematic method is to pick a known reference date and count the number of days between that date and the target date, then use the remainder modulo 7 to find the weekday shift. For dates very close to New Year, however, the calculation can be simplified by leveraging known facts about the year structure, or by using pre memorised results that 1 January 1901 was a Tuesday, which allows easy derivation for 2 January 1901.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: It is well established in calendar tables that 1 January 1901 was a Tuesday in the Gregorian calendar. Step 2: We need the day of the week on 2 January 1901, which is just one day later. Step 3: Moving forward by one day advances the weekday by one step. Step 4: The weekday sequence goes Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and so on. Step 5: Hence 2 January 1901 is the very next day after Tuesday. Step 6: Therefore 2 January 1901 falls on a Wednesday.

Verification / Alternative check:
If you prefer to verify, you can derive the weekday of 1 January 1901 using the odd days approach from a simpler base year such as 1 January 1900, whose weekday is commonly known from standard tables. Once you confirm that 1 January 1901 is a Tuesday, adding one day yields Wednesday for 2 January 1901. Because the date is so close to the start of the year, there is minimal room for complex errors and the step is easy to validate mentally or using any reliable calendar reference.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Tuesday corresponds to 1 January 1901, not 2 January 1901. Monday would imply moving backward from Tuesday which does not match the chronological order of the dates. Thursday would require a shift of two days ahead from Tuesday, whereas we only move one day to reach 2 January 1901. Thus, none of these alternatives match the correct single day shift from the known weekday of 1 January 1901.

Common Pitfalls:
One common mistake is to misremember the weekday for 1 January 1901 or confuse it with 1 January 1900, which had a different weekday. Another common error is to overcomplicate the problem by attempting a long odd days calculation for a date that is only one day away from a known reference. It is also easy to accidentally shift the weekday in the wrong direction if you are not consciously moving forward from the earlier date. Always verify whether you are going to a later or earlier date before adjusting the weekday.

Final Answer:
Hence, 2 January 1901 fell on a Wednesday.