Odd facts about 12/12/12

Everything you always wanted to know about Dec. 12 but were afraid to ask.

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Fri, Dec 07 2012 at 3:09 PM

Photo: liseykina/

Poor Dec. 12. It’s one of the year’s more interesting dates, but Dec. 21, what with all its doomsday this and end-of-the-world that, is completely monopolizing the spotlight. Sure, Dec. 21 is the winter solstice and the day that countless legions of gloomy doomsayers have anointed as the pinnacle of important dates, but Dec. 12 deserves some attention too. So in honor of the 346th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, here’s what Dec. 12 has to offer:

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific has declared Dec. 12, 2012, as Anti-Doomsday Day in celebration of rational thinking and reasoned discourse.

Dec. 12 is the last of the repeating dates until Jan. 1, 2101. Repeating dates (like 12/12/12) can, for obvious reasons, only occur in the first 12 years of a century.

At 12:12:12 p.m., the day will offer fans of the number 12 a whopping six repeats! 12/12/12 12:12:12. Nice.

At 1:21:02 a.m., palindrome lovers everywhere can rejoice in the single second that marks when the date-time combination is the same read both forwards and backwards: 2012-12-12 1:21:02 = 201212-1-212102.

Dec. 12 has been an auspicious day for the arts. "Madame Bovary" author Gustave Flaubert was born on the date in 1821, followed by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863), the ‘ol blue-eyed crooner Frank Sinatra (1915), abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler (1928), San-Jose seeking Dionne Warwick (1940), and jazz drummer extraordinaire, Tony Williams (1945).

Dec. 12 hasn’t proven to be an exceedingly popular day for famous deaths, however English poet Robert Browning, Baroness Spencer-Churchill (wife of Winston) and Ike Turner all hold the honor.

But perhaps most fascinating of all, Dec. 12 is National Ambrosia Day; once known as food to the gods, now known as canned fruit combined with Cool Whip, sweetened coconut, mini-marshmallows, and the food-dye bombs called maraschino cherries. Which leads us to think that perhaps Dec. 12 would have made a good candidate for doomsday after all.

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