World set to celebrate 11.11.11

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AUSPICIOUS DATE: Judy Holiday and Craig Harnett will marry on 11.11.11.

CARALISE MOORE/Fairfax NZ

LONG WAIT OVER: Andrew Fearon grew up knowing his 11th birthday - on 11.11.11 - would be a special one.

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What's in a number? Well, tomorrow's unique confluence of dates - 11.11.11 - has thousands around the world planning something special.

In New Zealand, Judy Holiday and Craig Harnett say the date definitely influenced their choice of wedding day.

The couple, from Manly, met on November 11 in 2009 and became engaged in October last year. They are getting hitched tomorrow at Stanmore Bay Beach.

Overseas, couples are planning to say "We do" at 11.11.11am.

It is also an extra special day for Whangaparoa boy Andrew Fearon, who turns 11 tomorrow.

"We worked out when he was just a few months old that he would turn 11 on November 11, 2011 and we've told him since then that it will be a special day," mum Tracy says.

The Whangaparaoa Primary School student thinks his unusual birthday is "pretty cool".

We've come up with nine reasons (we know, we couldn't quite get to 11) why there is such a fuss about tomorrow:

- 11.11.11 is special because there is no other date that consists of all the same number. The day comes around once every 100 years, meaning tomorrow is the only time many people will be alive to experience the unique date.

- Some websites are predicting the date 11.11.11 marks the end of the world because the comet Elenin, Earth, Venus and Mercury are expected to align.

- 111111 x 111111 = 12345654321

- The movie 11.11.11 will be released on the 11.11.11. It follows a famed American author whose wife and child are killed. He keeps seeing the number 11 and soon realises 11.11.11 is more than just a date, it's a warning.

- 11.11.11 marks the 93^rd anniversary of Armistice Day. Armistice Day was the last day of WWI. It is observed with one minute of silence at 11am.

- The last time 11.11.11 occurred, temperatures dropped significantly in the United States. On November 11,1911, Kansas City was a warm 76F (24C) in the morning - but this had dropped to 11F (-12C) by the end of the day. It also dropped substantially in other states. The event became known as the Great Blue Norther.

- The date is seen as being a lucky and many people around the world have chosen to make it their wedding date. Thousands are expected to flock to Las Vegas... there's no forgetting the anniversary!

- The number 11.11.11 is a classic example of apophenia, the human urge to see patterns in essentially random events.

- A group from the Netherlands have declared the 11.11.11 the third world day of interconnectedness and have a number of events planned, including a guided visualisation journey and a 'Mirror of Love' gathering.

- © Fairfax NZ News