Today is Sept. 6.

At first, this might not seem significant. But numerically, it’s 9-06-23. Does 906 sound familiar? People phone and write these three numbers all the time.

Today is 906 Day, which celebrates the Upper Peninsula area code — an area code that serves the U.P. and nowhere else.

“No area code in America is so unique in its defined borders,” says 906day.com.

Justin “Bugsy” Sailor, who owns the U.P. Supply Co., takes photos of sunrises and is involved in the Fresh Coast Film Festival, is the mastermind behind 906 Day.

He said on the official 906 Day website that on Sept. 6, 2011, he had an “epiphany,” noticing that the date looks like 906.

In a blog post he published on Sept. 15, 2008 and updated on Dec. 24, 2017, Sailor noted that the area code 906 is the sixth largest area code east of the Mississippi River, being one of the largest area codes by land mass but one of the smallest in terms of population.

Sailor also listed a few fun facts about the number 906, which was created in March 19, 1961 as a split from what was area code 616. Additionally, if you flip 906, it is identical.

Sailor was quoted in a recent Detroit Free Press article about 906 Day.

“I’ve always wanted to find unique and fun ways to celebrate the Upper Peninsula,” he said. “I’ve been trying to do that for a long time through various ways and I think this place is so unique, I think it deserves to be recognized, it deserves to be celebrated, and it deserves to be on the map, quite literally.”

Perhaps 906 Day should be celebrated nationally. How many times has the state of Wisconsin mistakenly engulfed the U.P. on an unfortunate map? Do some people in other parts of the country even know there is a U.P.?

“It would be great to have official recognition from the governor, which has always been a long-term goal of mine, a proclamation, of sorts, for September 6th,” Sailor told The Detroit Free Press.

How can individuals celebrate today? They can support local businesses, since they help make the U.P. what it is. If they have a red-and-black plaid piece of clothing, they can wear it proudly.

They also can talk up the U.P. to their out-of-state friends, expressing their pride as being in the 906 area code.

Although 906 Day is a specific time to celebrate the U.P., maybe people can keep their support of the region year-round.