Singles’ Day today

Sometimes, you just need to celebrate yourself. The words hold doubly true if you haven't found someone to share your life with.

Luckily, today just might be your day, as the world celebrates Singles' day.

Originally invented as a 'cynical' response to traditional couple-based occasions like Valentine's Day, it soon grew to be a festival of its own, with singles celebrating themselves with gifts and other niceties.

The first Singles' day was commemorated at China's Nanjing University in 1993, by only four students.

As time went on, the world caught up to the demand of single people, who usually were left dejected after seeing couples dominate almost all major celebrations.

Singles' day is celebrated on 11.11, as it is the only day of the year with four '1's.

In 2009, Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang announced that this day would be an all-out shopping festival holiday, with extensive discounts to boot.