12-12-12: a date to remember

Today's date, 12/12/12, is considered auspicious by some, doomed by others, and just plain easy to remember by many.

Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012 - 12/12/12 - is the last triple-digit date alignment until Jan. 1, 2101. There will be other interesting dates, of course, but none quite as aesthetically pleasing as 12/12/12, at least not for the next century or so.

The number certainly holds significance in human existence through the millennia: 

12 hours of day and night, 

12 months in the year in the Roman calendar, 

12 signs of the Zodiac, 

12 Apostles hand-picked by Jesus to spread his word. , 

12 days of Christmas, 

12 tribes of Israel  named for the sons of Jacob.

12 gods of Olympus,

12 old testament prophets... you get the idea.

12 people in a jury

12 labors or tasks must be completed by Hercules

12 hours how the Egyptians divided the day: 10 for daylight and one each for dawn and dusk.

12 considered a "three" number because the digits add up to three — corresponds with the largest planet, Jupiter (to the sun's No. 1 and the moon's No. 2), which means wealth.

 Mathematics fanatics are excited by the sheer number of ways the number 12 can be divided: halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, and twelfths.The number 12 is easily divided by 2, 3, 4, and 6  making it one of the easiest low numbers to work with and separate into groups,

 The number 12 brings harmony to the yin and yang of Chinese numerology: The number 1 is a yang number ruled by the sun, while 2 is a yin number ruled by the moon

 We group many things - baked goods, cans of beer, roses, the hours of the day - into sets of 12.

 In the Judeo-Christian tradition, it represents the product of three - symbolizing divinity (Holy Trinity, three classes of ancient Jews) - and four - symbolizing the earth (four directions, four seasons).

Doomsday diehards

However, many doomsdayers believe the date 12/12/12 heralds the end of the world, mainly owing to an interpretation of the Mayan calendar.

More pedantic believers in the end-of-the-world, meantime, are convinced that the actual doomsday is on 12/21/12, when the Mayan calendar is set to end.