Welcome to Worldwide Weird Holidays, where you’ll find a new reason to celebrate every day of the year.
National Opposite Day
Today is National Opposite Day. Then again, maybe not. Many sources quote many other sources that claim it occurs on January 25th each year. We would never repeat such a vague assertion. On August 27, 1927, U.S. president Calvin Coolidge, at his vacation residence in the Black Hills of South Dakota, handed his secretary, Everett […]
January 23 is National Handwriting Day
Today is National Handwriting Day, created in 1977 by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association to remind us of the increasingly lost art of cursive writing and, we presume, to sell a few pens. This unofficial holiday takes place on the birthday of John Hancock. Hancock (January 23, 1737 – October 8, 1793) served as president of the […]
January 21 is National Hugging Day
Today is National Hugging Day. The holiday was created in 1986 by Reverend Kevin Zaborney, whose National Whiner’s Day is a favorite here at Worldwide Weird Holidays. Hugs make us happy, help relieve stress, and communicate affection without saying a word. National Hugging Day’s official website recommends asking for permission first. National Hugging Day has gained worldwide popularity […]
January 20 is National Disc Jockey Day
Today is National Disc Jockey Day. It marks the death of legendary radio DJ Albert James “Alan” Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965). Freed’s radio career began in 1945 at WAKR in Akron, Ohio, where he played rhythm and blues (R&B) records. He moved to WJW Cleveland in 1951 and continued to champion music without […]
January 19 is Tin Can Day
Today is Tin Can Day. On this date in 1825, the first U.S. patent for the invention of the tin can was awarded to Ezra Daggett and Thomas Kensett. Like many things, the story of the tin can is not without intrigue. (Tintrigue?) A little history: France Paris confectioner Nicolas Appert invented a method of sealing foods in […]
January 18 is Thesaurus Day
Today is Thesaurus Day. It celebrates the birthday on January 18, 1779, of Peter Roget, who published his Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases in 1852, at the age of 72. According to Joshua Kendall’s biography, The Man Who Made Lists, Roget was compelled from an early age to create lists and tally objects to bring order to a chaotic childhood […]
January 17 is Palomares Hydrogen Bomb Accident Day
Palomares Hydrogen Bomb Accident Day January 17, 2016, marked the fiftieth anniversary of the worst nuclear accident you’ve probably never heard of, which took place over and on Palomares, Spain, and its 2,000 inhabitants. Its effects are still being discovered and its dangers are evolving as plutonium, with a half-life of 24,000 years, continues to […]
January 16 is National Nothing Day
Today is National Nothing Day, created by journalist Harold Pullman Coffin and celebrated every year on January 16th since 1973. Its purpose is “to provide Americans with one national day when they can just sit without celebrating, observing or honoring anything.” In 1983, a law was passed declaring the third Monday of January to be […]
January 15 is National Hat Day
Today is National Hat Day, celebrating headgear in all its crowning glory. Hats have a long, rich history and are worn for warmth, status, religious and ceremonial reasons, or fashion. A tomb painting in Thebes, Egypt, dating back to around 3200 BC shows a man wearing a conical hat. Many well-to-do Egyptians shaved their heads and […]
January 14 is Caesarean Section Day
Today is Caesarean Section Day. (Cesarean is a popular alternate spelling.) It commemorates the first recorded successful caesarean delivery in the U.S. On January 14, 1794, Dr. Jesse Bennett performed the operation on his wife, in his home, with no antiseptics or medical equipment. Dr. Bennett, 24, did not intend to deliver his own baby. He […]