12/12/12
This year marks the last series of repeated day/month/years (as long as you omit the century) until January 1st, 2101. What does it signify? Not a damned thing, but it’s neat. We’re a mere nine days away from the coming Mayan Apocalypse, and 2012 is rapidly drawing to a close.
The end of the year is often a time of reflection on the preceding twelve months, but days like today make me reflect on time throughout human history, on the entirety of my life, and on the coming century.
11/11/11
Once every hundred years we get to think about the passage of time and celebrate a day where the numbers repeat when the four digit year is shortened (did the Y2K bugs teach us nothing?). This year is even more special since it’s Palindrome Day, and Nigel Tufnel Day to boot.
Since 10/10/10 I’ve bought a house with my then fiancée, married her, and are already knee-deep into our future together. We’ll look forward to 12/12/12 next year, but then may have to wait for a long long time for another repeating sequence. So it goes.
One hundred years ago the New York Times looked at this day and considered its historical import (spoiler: there isn’t much):
https://plus.google.com/u/0/102854051892257849160/posts/QmB2LTSCfHV