Some doom-mongers are predicting the end of the world today – on the ninth day of the ninth month of the ninth year – but, so far, they will have been greatly disappointed.
Today was heralded by some pessimists as the last day in the history of the human race. Internet chat rooms devoted to the occult have been awash with talk of 09/09/09.
On Tuesday the term 09/09/09 was among the top 100 search terms on Google, with some warning that the world would be sucked into a black hole created by the Cern particle collider in Switzerland, or humans would be hit by a killer outbreak of swine flu.
But at 9am this morning nothing happened, although there is still the possibility that the world could end at precisely 9pm of course.
But so far the most interesting things to have happened have been engineered by marketing companies wanting to benefit from the conspicuous date.
Today sees the release of a Beatles computer game, as well as the release of their digitally remastered back catalogue and the announcement of the new Apple iPod.
A new animated feature film, "9," set in a post-apocalyptic world, will also hit movie theatres in the states as US hotels offer discounts and American county clerks offer special "9/9/09" wedding prices.
In the UK, where 999 is the emergency phone number, conspiracy theorists were particularly hopeful that the date would herald the end of the world.
This is despite the fact that the world has endured despite a number of previous dates for Armageddon, including the millenium and 06/06/06.
Though technically there's nothing special about the symmetrical date, some concerned with the history and meaning of numbers ascribe powerful significance to 09/09/09.
Users of the alien-earth.org website combined Nostrodamus, the Book of Revelation and the Mayan prophecies with fears about the Cern Large Hadron Collider in Geneva in their predictions.
But scientists dismissed the conspiracy theories and said numerology and the belief in special dates should be ignored.
Professor Chris French of Goldsmiths, University of London and editor of The Skeptic Magazine, told the Daily Mail: "Numerology, like any other system of divination, has no validity whatsoever with the exception that sometimes your belief that a day is auspicious may affect your behaviour."
"If a deeply superstitious person is anxious about driving on Friday 13th it's possible they may be more likely to crash.
"We are very good at seeking out meaning and patterns in randomness – it's one of the reasons humans are such a successful species. But the price is that we see significance in things that aren't there at all."
10 things to look out for today:
The computer game that children, parents and even grandparents can enjoy together finally hits shops on Wednesday. The release date was selected with a nod to the band's song Revolution 9, with its "number nine, number nine, number nine" refrain - a marketing opportunity so good they've used it twice. (see below)
2) Remastered Beatles albums go on sale too
Over the past four years every album in the Beatles back catalogue has been digitally remastered at Abbey Road studios. Now they are being made available both as single albums - with expanded sleevenotes and rare photos - and a box set. Completists can also splash out on a second box set in mono rather than stereo.
3) Apple announces something big (possibly to do with The Beatles)
The teasingly secretive tech giant has invited a hand-picked audience to a press conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. Steve Jobs and co are keeping quiet about what they plan to unveil, but have dropped enough hints to ensure feverish speculation.
The invitation shows a silhouetted woman dancing to music from an iPod, with the caption "It's only rock and roll, but we like it", sparking rumours that the long-awaited deal to make Beatles (them again) tracks available on iTunes has finally been struck. But why would the band agree to split the Penny Lane pound by releasing remastered CDs and MP3s on the same day?
4) Cats vanish from the internet
Whimsical trend blog Urlesque have christened 09/09/09 A Day Without Cats on the Internet, urging other websites to ban amusing cat videos and pictures from their pages for 24 hours. They write: "Cats rule the internet... but whether you're a bona fide cat lady who loves it all, or someone who can't stand the over-population of cats on the interwebs, we can all agree that cats need a break."
A poll to find an alternative animal meme for the day indicated strong support for rabbits (16 per cent), just ahead of turtles (14 per cent) and goats (13 per cent).
5) Fantasy film 9 released
Given its title, the name of the Elijah Wood-voiced lead (9), and the number of major characters (also 9), it is almost as if this post-apocalyptic animation was dreamed up with the release date in mind. In fact, the feature length film is an adaptation of an Oscar-nominated short released in 2005. The plot centres on nine dolls, known as stitchpunks, created by a scientist to keep the human soul alive after military machines take over the planet.
6) Barack Obama addresses Congress
The US president will seek to erode opposition to his healthcare reform programme with a prime time televised speech to a joint session of Congress. Uncertainty about Mr Obama's personal views on the detail of the proposed bill has hampered Democrat attempts to win over sceptics.. "People will leave the speech knowing where he stands," said Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, promising that the president will "draw some lines in the sand".
7) The 'biggest ever' Twitter Tea Party protest
Shortly after Mr Obama sits down, opponents of his fiscal stimulus package will attempt to take over the micro-blogging website with anti-tax hashtags . The online gathering, planned for 9pm, comes three days before thousands of libertarians and fiscal conservatives are expected to assemble on Capitol Hill as part of a "March on Washington" . The Tea Party protest movement takes its name from the 1773 Boston Tea Party, with the initials appropriated to spell out "Taxed Enough Already".
8) England qualify for the 2010 World Cup...
... if they beat Croatia at Wembley. Fabio Capello's side are in fine form and top Group 6, but the last time they had a chance to qualify for a major tournament by beating the Croatians at home, they flunked it.
9) Derren Brown wins the lottery
The self-confessed conman will attempt his most intriguing stunt yet on Wenesday night - guessing at least five of the six Lotto numbers minutes live on Channel 4 minutes before they are drawn. "This the culmination of a LOT of secret work and research," Brown wrote on his blog. "I apologise now if it goes boobs-up." Win or lose, he will explain his method in a full-length show on Friday.
10) The end of the world
Numerologists who predicted doomsday would fall on June 6 2006 weren't wrong, they just got their numbers upside down. 999 is far worse than 666 and we're all going to die, it appears. This video explains everything.
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