Presidents Day in the US falls on the third Monday of February, so we're announcing the winners of this contest just in time! For this contest, we asked a question that may have required a little web searching to answer. This month's contest was to list the US presidents in the order of the Fibonacci sequence. We received eight submissions, and the winners were Team Kayrakkum from Tajikistan. Congratulations! We particularly appreciated their explanation.

The Fibonacci sequence is a famous numerical sequence that starts with one, adds the preceeding number and repeats the process with the resulting sum. You can read about the sequence (in detail if you want) or Mr. Pisano (who described it in the 12th Century). Wikipedia has a good article too.

If you consider Washington to be the first president, Adams second, Jefferson third, etc., you can write out their succession in terms of the Fibonacci sequence. The presidents are listed in order on the White House website and wikipedia Here's how Team Kayrakkum explained their answer, which was mostly correct:

Hello, we are the students from Tajikistani ILC,
from Kayrakkum town, have colculated the 
Fibonacci's sequence and listed the America presidents.

1+1=2
2+3=5
3+5=8
5+8=13
8+13=21
13+21=34
1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34.

According to the Fibonacci sequence the list
of the American presidents will be:

1. George Washington
2. John Adams 
3. Thomas Jefferson 
5. James Monroe
8. Martin Van Buren 
13. Millard Fillmore  
21. Chester Alan Arthur 
34. Dwight David Eisenhower 

Team_Kayrakkum
Tajikistan

This is the answer that we expected, but it isn't 100% correct for two reasons. The first is mathematical: technically, the Fibonacci sequence begins 1,1,2,3,5,8..., so the answer should read

1. George Washington
1. George Washington
2. John Adams 
3. Thomas Jefferson 
5. James Monroe
8. Martin Van Buren 
13. Millard Fillmore  
21. Chester Alan Arthur 
34. Dwight David Eisenhower 

But, we think that's a minor point, Team Kayrakkum still gets credit.

The other issue is even more abstruse -- Dwight Eisenhower wasn't the 34th person to be President of the US, even though he is listed as President number 34. You can blame that on Grover Cleveland who was the 22nd President, lost the next election, and was then elected President again. The way the Americans have numbered their presidents, he is both #22 and #24. By this reasoning, John F. Kennedy would be the thirty-fourth person to hold the office.

The contest still goes to Team Kayrakkum, however, because they listed Chester Arthur's middle name. Good attention to detail.

Let's not even discuss what David Rice Atchison does to the answer...