If 1st January 2013 was a Wednesday (assume this for the problem), then on which day of the week did 2nd January 2014 fall in the Gregorian calendar?

Introduction / Context:
This calendar reasoning question asks you to move across a full year and one extra day to find a weekday, based on an assumed starting weekday. Even though the real calendar may differ, you must strictly follow the assumption given in the question and apply the rules relating to leap and non-leap years.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Assumed: 1st January 2013 was a Wednesday.
• We need the day of the week on 2nd January 2014.
• 2013 is a non-leap year (2013 is not divisible by 4).
• The calendar follows the usual Gregorian pattern.

Concept / Approach:
The central idea is that a non-leap year has 365 days, which is 52 weeks plus 1 day. Therefore, the same calendar date one year later will fall one weekday ahead. After we find the weekday for 1st January 2014 using this rule, we then move forward one more day to reach 2nd January 2014.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Note that 2013 is a common (non-leap) year with 365 days. Step 2: 365 days correspond to 52 full weeks (52 * 7 = 364) and 1 extra day. Step 3: This means that if we take any date in 2013 and look at the same date in 2014, the weekday will be shifted by +1 day (for a non-leap year). Step 4: Given that 1st January 2013 is Wednesday, 1st January 2014 must be one weekday ahead, i.e., Thursday. Step 5: Now we need 2nd January 2014, which is one day after 1st January 2014. Step 6: Moving one day ahead from Thursday gives Friday. Step 7: Hence, 2nd January 2014 falls on a Friday under the given assumption.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can verify the logic in general: from 1st January of a non-leap year to 1st January of the next year, the weekday always advances by one day. For a leap year, it advances by two days. Here, because 2013 is non-leap, we correctly used a +1 shift. Adding one more day to move from 1st to 2nd January 2014 naturally results in a total shift of +2 weekdays from 1st January 2013, i.e., Wednesday to Friday.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Wednesday would imply no net shift, which is impossible after more than 365 days. Thursday would correspond only to the +1 shift from 1st January 2013 to 1st January 2014 without accounting for the extra day. Tuesday or Monday would correspond to backward shifts that contradict the forward passage of time. Only Friday correctly represents the two-day net shift from the original Wednesday.

Common Pitfalls:
Candidates sometimes forget that the shift is +1 day for non-leap years and +2 for leap years, and they may mistakenly treat every year as producing a two-day shift. Another mistake is to forget to add the extra day when moving from 1st January to 2nd January of the same year. Keeping track of each step carefully avoids such errors.

Final Answer:
Under the given assumption, 2nd January 2014 fell on Friday.