9 + 10 = 21

On June 22nd, 2013, a Vine that would haunt mathematics teachers everywhere emerged from the void. The premise was devastatingly simple: an adult asks a child "What's 9 plus 10?" The child, with the confidence of someone who has never been wrong, responds: "Twenty-one." The adult's flat "You stupid" landed like a punchline written by the universe itself.

The six-second clip racked up over 30 million loops, spawning remixes that spliced the answer into everything from Bobby Shmurda tracks to philosophical debates. The wrong answer became the only right answer. Math teachers wept. Comment sections devolved into people typing "21" under anything vaguely numerical.

But 9 + 10 = 21 had a destiny no other meme could claim: a literal expiration date. September 10th, 2021—written as 9/10/21—became "Judgement Day." A countdown account amassed 98,000 followers waiting for the moment when the calendar would finally make the math correct. When the day arrived, the internet celebrated like it was Y2K, New Year's Eve, and a child's birthday party combined. #nineten21 trended. 110,000 likes. The meme had its perfect funeral.

Now it resurfaces every September 10th like a mathematical ghost, reminding us that sometimes the wrong answer is the only one that matters.

Rest in pieces. You were always right.