After a summer full of ups and downs in the news, we now hit the number 9 date; 09 09 09 or 09/09/09 and for some September 09, 2009.

A lot of people are wondering what this actually means? 09/09/09 is marked as the third most searched term on Google Trends and September 9, 2009 is marked as sixth most favourite today. So today is a pretty popular day to search “today”. But why September 09, 2009 is so important?

Well there are a lot of reasons why. You can find sites dedicated to 09/09/09 numerology, countdowns, sites showing you how to get ready for 09/09/09, you can even find pages with “lets party like its 09/09/09″ theme.

But here are some of the more popular reasons

Repeating single digits dates:

Today represents the last set of repeating – all single-digit dates – that is seen for nearly a century. If you happen to live long enough you can see another single digits on 01/01/01 (That is until January 1, 2101 – 92 years later) or if you really count on you longevity then open you calendar a millennium from now and mark down January 1, 3001.

Cheaper deals:

If you are looking for special deals for a special occasion, 09/09 could be the day you save. Top of these savings are wedding and travel packages. There is news of wedding clerk offices offering a one-day wedding special for $99.99. If you are a student then you might find a satisfying back-to-school 09/09 coupon.

Math:

Lots and lots of math equations playing with the number nine.

For instance, someone with lots of time on their hand or maybe a bit more brains that the normal crowd has figured out that September 9, 2009 is actually 252nd day of the year… So 2+5+2 adds to 9.

And there are lots more.

Cultural meaning:

Chinese 9 vs. Japanese 9

China and Japan have opposite feelings about this number.

The Chinese opened the Beijing Olympics games at 8:00 pm on 08/08/08 since the number 8 represents luck. However, In the Chinese tradition the number 9 is related to long life since its pronunciation closely resembles “long-lasting” and not so surprisingly the number eight sounds like wealth. For the Japanese on the other hand number 9 is considered unlucky.