Today, April 8, isn't the day hit supernatural drama "Lost" premiered, and it isn't the date of the series finale, either. So why is today considered "Lost" Day?

If you're a fan of the show, you know why: It's all thanks to Hurley's (Jorge Garcia) lottery numbers -- for the unfamiliar, those would be 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 -- which just so happen to coincide with today's date, 4/8/15. And for an extra kicker, the last four numbers align as the (military) time 4:23:42 p.m.

The numbers were first introduced back in the 18th episode of the show's first season (which aired on March 2, 2005), explaining that Hurley played them and hit the lotto jackpot -- and was immediately beset by bad luck. It turns out that those numbers were significant to the island, too, with Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) tasked with punching them into a computer hidden in The Hatch every 108 minutes.

The sequence popped up throughout the series, eventually revealed as coinciding with specific members of the castaways' group who were candidates to take over the role of the island's protector from the mysterious Jacob (Mark Pellegrino). A different digit was assigned to each person by Jacob, who determined the numbers using degrees on a lighthouse mirror.

If that all sounds convoluted, that final revelation wasn't a big hit with fans, either, though part of the fun of "Lost" was coming up with theories to explain the island's endless mysteries. And based on all the hype surrounding the celebration of "Lost" Day, it seems that fans have (mostly) forgiven the show's creators and producers -- including J.J. Abrams, Carlton Cuse, and Damon Lindelof -- for all the miscues.

Here's to a once-in-a-century celebration of "Lost" Day, in honor of a once-in-a-lifetime show.

[via: Variety]

Photo credit: ABC