Today is Labor Day, a moment in time created by the American labor movement more than a century ago and dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.

Americans get a day off from their labors. But, ironically, most Americans spend the day doing a lot of work: Closing down lake cabins for the season, working on the house or vehicle, helping friends or relatives with projects.

If you have some spare time today, you might want to check out the sites below to learn a little more about this holiday:

History of Labor Day

www.dol.gov/OPA/ABOUTDOL/LABORDAY.HTM

From the U.S. Department of Labor. A good overview of the origins and impact of the holiday.

Labor Day

www.usa.gov/Topics/Labor_Day.shtml

A great resource for links and information regarding Labor Day.

Labor Day

www.history.com/content/laborday

History.com has a great historical perspective on Labor Day in America, complete with photos and videos.

Labor Day Stats

www.infoplease.com/spot/ labor2.html

From the InfoPlease Almanac, statistical information about the American laborer: Median household income, occupations with the highest and lowest earnings and more.

09/09/09

The day after Tuesday is Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009. That's 09/09/09 in one shorthand version of the date. It's more dramatic and supernatural with the leading zeros. Most people write it as 9/9/09 which, while still strong in terms of impact, loses a little dramatic symmetry.

By the way, this is the only day of the year when both the American and European ways of noting dates are exactly the same. Americans write the shorthand date in the form of month/day/year, while Europeans (and the military) write it as day/month/year. Either way, it still comes out 9/9/09.

Some interesting numerical quirks about 09/09/09:

n It will be the 252nd day of the year. Add 2 + 5 + 2 and you get 9.

n Add the date's numbers together (9 + 9 + 9) and you get 27. Add 2 + 7 and you get 9.

Many numerologists love dates like 9/9/09, attaching great importance to the conjunction of numbers. But is there really anything more unusual about 9/9/09 than, say, 08/16/03? A number of people writing on the Internet suggest 9/9/09 is meaningless as a numerical harbinger of anything. They offer the following argument: Did anything out of the ordinary happen on 08/08/08, 07/07/07 or 06/06/06?

So, is there really anything "special" about Sept. 9, 2009? If you go online and do a search on "09/09/09," you're likely to find more results for The Beatles, Apple Records and Apple Computer than anything else (go ahead and try it in Google, Yahoo! or Bing).

Why?

Apple picked Sept. 9 as the day to host an event outlining new iPod models and changes to existing iPod lines. Usually, Apple holds these events on Tuesdays, so there may be some significance to waiting until 9/9/09.

Indeed, on Wednesday, the new "Rock Band" video game featuring The Beatles will be released. And Apple Records is also releasing the remastered Beatles album catalog on CD, the first significant remastering of the group's music in more than 25 years.

Is Apple the computer and iPod company planning to make some kind of Beatles-related announcement involving Apple the music company? The Beatles have yet to release their catalog for sale in a digital format on iTunes, Amazon, Napster, LaLa and other online music sellers. Hmm …

Anyway, if you don't celebrate 09/09/09, you'll have to wait until next year to hop on the 10/10/10 date bandwagon.

Take advantage of these special days while you can. After 12/12/12, you won't have another opportunity to celebrate a time where the year, month and day are all the same until Jan. 1, 2101.

Want to do something to commemorate the unique date? Go to an article on eHow.com for a list of suggestions (www.ehow.com/ how_4476456_get-ready-for.html).

(Keith Darnay has worked in the online world for more than a decade, the traditional media world for a few decades more and manages the online department and Web site for the University of Mary. His own site, featuring this column going back to 1995, is at www.darnay.com.iec.)