Welcome to Worldwide Weird Holidays, where you’ll find a new reason to celebrate every day of the year.
April 20 is Lima Bean Respect Day
Today is Lima Bean Respect Day. We don’t know who invented this holiday, but we suspect it may have been someone who grows them. So let’s cultivate a little knowledge about this underappreciated legume. Lima beans have been found at archeological sites dating back as far as 6000 BC. They were named by Spaniards traveling through Lima, […]
April 19 is Bicycle Day
Today is Bicycle Day, a holiday originated in 1985 by Northern Illinois University professor Thomas Roberts to commemorate the first LSD trip, taken on April 19, 1943. Chemist Albert Hofmann synthesized lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on November 16, 1938, at the Sandoz laboratory in Basel, Switzerland, while experimenting with ergot fungus to find medicinal treatments for […]
April 18 is Champions’ Day
In 1936, Michigan governor Frank Fitzgerald and Detroit mayor Frank Couzens declared April 18th would henceforth be known as Champions’ Day, to honor an outstanding sports season. The Lions won their first NFL championship, the Tigers won their first World Series and the Red Wings won their first NHL championship. In addition, Detroit’s own Joe Louis dominated […]
April 16 is National Stress Awareness Day
Today is National Stress Awareness Day. It was created in 1992 by Dr. Morton Orman of the Health Resource Network, a nonprofit health education organization. We’re all aware of stress. Many of us are steeped in it right now. Acute stress can be a positive thing, allowing us to react to upsetting or dangerous situations. But […]
April 15 is McDonald’s Day
Today is McDonald’s Day. It commemorates the day in 1955 when Ray Kroc put his stamp on a fast-food chain and made it into one of the most successful franchises on Earth. In 1940, brothers Dick and Mac McDonald opened a barbeque joint in San Bernadino, CA. Eight years later, they introduced the “Speedee Service System,” […]
April 13 is Scrabble Day
Today is Scrabble Day. It celebrates the birth in 1899 of Alfred Mosher Butts, inventor of the game the world knows as Scrabble. Butts lost his job in the early 1930s; there wasn’t much call for an architect during the Great Depression. He worked to develop a board game that would emulate games of chance with […]
April 11 is International Louie Louie Day
Today is International Louie Louie Day and celebrates the birthday in 1935 of Richard Berry, the composer and singer of one of the most-recorded songs of all time. Berry took inspiration from the rhythm of “El Loco Cha Cha” when writing his tune. He and his band, Richard Berry and the Pharoahs recorded “Louie Louie” […]
April 10 is International Safety Pin Day
Today is International Safety Pin Day. On April 10, 1849, Walter Hunt received a patent for his invention of the safety pin. Walter Hunt (July 29, 1796 – June 8, 1859) was born in Martinsburg, NY, and earned a degree in masonry. He worked as a farmer in Lowville, NY, and designed more efficient machinery […]
April 9 is Jenkins’ Ear Day
Today is Jenkins’ Ear Day, also known as Jenkins’s Ear Day. It commemorates an event that took place on April 9, 1731, and remains one of the strangest rationalizations for war in human history. It’s difficult to find any time in the early 18th century when England and Spain weren’t at odds or war. At various […]
April 8 is Dog Farting Awareness Day
Have you ever let slip a silent-but-deadly gas bomb and blamed it on the dog just as your guests see him through the window, playing in the yard? Worse yet, have you ever done it only to have your friends remind you that you don’t own a dog? Hey, we’ve all been there. It’s safe to […]