10/11/12 - How is This Date Special?

Source: http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/19787640/what-are-you-doing-on-10-11-12#.UHYspQSZKvg.twitter
How rare is the day? After all, there will be a neat moment right around the time many alarm clocks ring at 07:08:09, on 10-11-12. But won't it be better later this year, on Dec. 12, when we will have 12:12:12 on 12-12-12?
In fact, the kind of sequence happening Thursday is one that's been occurring every year since 2003, when we had 01-02-03. It will end for a while in 2014, with 12-13-14. Then we'll need to wait until 2103. "It basically happens in the early years of a new century," says Geoff Chester, public affairs officer at the U.S. Naval Observatory, which, if you didn't know, is the official timekeeper for the Department of Defense.
"Really, this is just a numerological curiosity," says Chester. "People find it amusing. But there is no cosmic significance. It's an artifact of the calendar and time system that we use."
Eric Carlson, a physics professor at Wake Forest University, agrees. "No great significance," he says. "Just a curiosity. I like number patterns, like many of us. Our lives are dominated by numbers."
How rare is the day? After all, there will be a neat moment right around the time many alarm clocks ring at 07:08:09, on 10-11-12. But won't it be better later this year, on Dec. 12, when we will have 12:12:12 on 12-12-12?
In fact, the kind of sequence happening Thursday is one that's been occurring every year since 2003, when we had 01-02-03. It will end for a while in 2014, with 12-13-14. Then we'll need to wait until 2103. "It basically happens in the early years of a new century," says Geoff Chester, public affairs officer at the U.S. Naval Observatory, which, if you didn't know, is the official timekeeper for the Department of Defense.
"Really, this is just a numerological curiosity," says Chester. "People find it amusing. But there is no cosmic significance. It's an artifact of the calendar and time system that we use."
Eric Carlson, a physics professor at Wake Forest University, agrees. "No great significance," he says. "Just a curiosity. I like number patterns, like many of us. Our lives are dominated by numbers."