# Call 911 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2001, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-911/81003 "2001-09-12T03:49:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Neurodoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/848f3c/32.png) [@Neurodoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurodoc)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-911/81003/1 "2001-09-12T03:49:30Z")
I wonder if the bastards who did this picked the date of their infamous deed. McVeigh said that the Oklahoma murders were scheduled to coincide with the Waco tragedy. I certainly hope that Americans were not involved in this hideous crime, and everyone seems to think that scumbag, Osama Ben Laden, was behind it. But the 911 reference suggests an American symbolism… or is 911 a universal phone number signifying “emergency?” ---
**Author:** ![Palve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@Palve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palve)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-911/81003/2 "2001-09-12T04:10:12Z")
If 9/11 was chosen as the date in coincidence with 911, it was certainly American. 911 is an American service and throughout the rest of the world, the date for today is written 11/9, not 9/11, not to mention Binladdy probably uses the Islamic calendar. ---
**Author:** ![RAWisSYDNEY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4491bb/32.png) [@RAWisSYDNEY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWisSYDNEY)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-911/81003/3 "2001-09-12T05:54:09Z")
it isnt universal, in australia its 000 (which i though was stupid on the old dial phones due to the fact that 0 was furtherest from the beginning) and i think part of the UK (if not all) is 999. ---
**Author:** ![JCThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dc4da7/32.png) [@JCThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-911/81003/4 "2001-09-12T06:40:51Z")
IMO, he best guess at the significance of this date is that one of Bid Laden’s associates (who was involved in the last WTC bombing) was to be sentensed in a Federal Court right across the street the next day. I think they know it was linked to him already & that we will soon find out the same. ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-911/81003/5 "2001-09-12T07:45:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RAWisSYDNEY \* > \*\*…and i think part of the UK (if not all) is 999. \*\* Wrong. In all of Europe it is now **112**. It is proposed (with limited success) by ITU as a worldwide standard. (According to [this site](http://www2.itu.or.th/harmo/annex1.htm) it is even in current use in Australia!) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-911/81003/6 "2001-09-12T08:03:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tc \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by RAWisSYDNEY \* > > \*\*…and i think part of the UK (if not all) is 999. \*\* > > Wrong. > In all of Europe it is now **112**. > It is proposed (with limited success) by ITU as a worldwide standard. (According to [this site](http://www2.itu.or.th/harmo/annex1.htm) it is even in current use in Australia!) \*\* 112 or 999 from mobiles in the UK Still 999 from land lines here AFAIK, I’ve not been told that it’s changed to 112. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-911/81003/7 "2001-09-12T14:58:15Z")
If 9/11 was chosen purposely, more than likely it was a retaliation for the Camp David accords back in 1970. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-911/81003/8 "2001-09-12T15:04:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by furryman \* > \*\*If 9/11 was chosen purposely, more than likely it was a retaliation for the Camp David accords back in 1970. \*\* FTR, the Camp David accords took place in 1978. If that’s the case, why retaliate a quarter-century after the fact? My guess is, it’s got some obscure meaning not known to the US but that is significant to those behind this. Or it has no significance at all, but was chosen at random as a surprise. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-911/81003/9 "2001-09-12T19:25:47Z")
“Xinoehpoel” \ started a [thread on alt.prophecies.nostradamus](http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&frame=right&th=54ab4d241c34e0cc&seekm=3b8) on 8/31/01, entitled 911, stating: > [@](#): > > Something is going to happen tomorrow. This is a witness against everyone on this newsgroup. I hate this newsgroup, and everyone on it sucks. REPENT! You are all evil liars! Do not be so evil, and be holy. You are going to get me killed because of the truth of my mouth. I am not telling you what is going to happen until it does, because an EVIL and adulterous generation seeks for a sign. Apparently, the 911 here was supposed to be 9/1/01. But nothing happened, and people jeered him. Then on 9/4/01, he wrote: > [@](#): > > Wait 7 days, and then maybe I’ll answer this post. You see, I am going away in seven days, and you will not hear from me again. People who follow alt.prophecies.nostradamus tell me that in fact this sort of thing happens there all the time on that group, and clearly this guy was known for making waves already. It is a very reasonable likelihood that this guy got lucky, as one of these nuts was bound to if they kept making predictions. But I find it also reasonable to suppose that this is evidence of the man’s complicity in the affair. If we held that theory, we would have to assume that something went wrong to screw up the 9/1/1 timetable, but that 911 was still important to them, so the re-scheduled for 9/11. But again, so many wacky predictions are made that none of this can be ruled out as a mere coincidence. Most likely it’s wishful thinking on my part to try and make this into a lead of some kind for investigators. ---
**Author:** ![RAWisSYDNEY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4491bb/32.png) [@RAWisSYDNEY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RAWisSYDNEY)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-911/81003/10 "2001-10-19T07:08:36Z")
actually 112 works on australian Mobile Phones AFAIK, i am not gonna call it from home… just incase. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2001, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/call-911/81003/11 "2001-10-19T07:19:36Z")
112 works from mobiles, but not from landlines **RiS**. There was a lot of discussion about standardising our emergency service number a couple of years ago when some tourists got into trouble calling the emergency number from their home country and not realising that ours was non-standard. Why Telstra can’t just route all calls made to the recognised emergency numbers of other nations to 000 is beyond me - guess it’s just too simple an option.