TORONTO – Wednesday will be celebrated with fanfare as Dec. 12, 2012 marks the last date of its kind – when all three numbers in a date are the same – for the next 88 years.
The next time this will happen is just after the turn of the next century on Jan. 1, 2101 or 01-01-01.
A lucky day for marriages, births
According to popular belief, 12-12-12 is a lucky date that will bring good fortune. Many engaged couples plan to hold their weddings on December 12, 2012, while some expectant parents hope to deliver their baby on that date.
A survey conducted by wedding outfitters, David’s Bridal, suggests that 7,500 brides will tie the knot on Dec. 12. That’s a 1,446 per cent increase from last year’s run-of-the-mill 12-12-11, according to Yahoo.
Agence-France Presse even reports that in Hong Kong, four times as many couples are heading to the altar on 12-12-12 compared to last year. In Singapore, marriages multiply by eight on Tuesday.
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This isn’t a surprise as previous years’ 11-11-11, 10-10-10, and 08-08-08 all marked record-breaking increases in weddings.
In 2007, for example, Las Vegas’ Clark County documented a huge spike in marriages: 4,333 on 07-07-07, compared with the usual 7,400 in a month.
For people attaching special significance to numbers, the highlight of this auspicious day will occur at twelve minutes and twelve seconds past noon. At that moment, the numerical pattern will consist of no less than six repetitions: 12-12-12 12:12:12.
Speculation on December 12, 2012
The rare numerical pattern may make some people believe that something extraordinary will occur at this very moment.
However, the global significance of 12-12-12 is undermined by the fact that it occurs at different times in every time zone around the world.
So, while some areas of the world experiences the auspicious second, other clocks around the world will still show a very different time, and about half the planet will not even have entered December 12 yet.
In countries that use the 12-hour time format, there will even be two instances of 12:12:12 per time zone: first just after midnight (12:12:12 a.m.), then just after midday (12:12:12 p.m.).
Countless internet sources also claim that the end of the, as prophecised by the Mayans, will occur on this date. However, the Mayan Calendar ends on December 21, 2012 and not on December, 12, 2012.
For most people, 12-12-12 12:12:12 is nothing but a fun fact, and December 12, 2012 will be a day like any other.
The significance of 12
The number 12 has a great significance in many cultures. In western tradition, it is commonly associated with completeness and seen as a perfect and harmonious unit. As such, it has found its way into religion (e.g. the 12 apostles), mythology (e.g. the 12 gods of Olympus), and every day life (e.g. 12 hours on a modern clock face).
The practical and numerological significance of the number 12 is attributed not least to its mathematical properties. There are few small numbers that can be evenly divided by so many subsets. 12 is evenly divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.
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