Welcome to Worldwide Weird Holidays, where you’ll find a new reason to celebrate every day of the year.
December 1 is Eat a Red Apple Day
Today is Eat a Red Apple Day. Unlike the freewheeling, any-apple-goes International Eat an Apple Day (September 17), today is all about the reds: Delicious, Rome, Ambrosia, Braeburn, McIntosh, Cameo, Empire, Macoun, Rubyfrost, Cortland, Jonagold, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, Snapdragon, Gala, Fuji, Reinette, Lady, Baldwin, Gravenstein, Liberty, Northern Spy, Cripps Pink, Sweet Tango and more Remember the adage: Consuming […]
Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting has become a worldwide symbol of the holiday season. The tree is lit on the Wednesday after Thanksgiving, celebrated with live musical performances at Rockefeller Plaza and broadcast around the globe on television and the internet. What’s the truth behind the legend? Worldwide Weird Holidays investigates. Tree Story Oneonta, New […]
November 29 is Square Dance Day
Today is Square Dance Day. Some of us remember awkward co-ed square dance lessons in the high school gym. Or maybe we watched a group do-si-do on a parade float down Main Street. How can we keep the memory alive of an American folk dance and its European roots? We’re glad you asked. In 17th-century […]
Make Your Own Head Day
Today is Make Your Own Head Day. Grab anything: clay, a bar of soap, a roll of tinfoil, dryer lint, mashed potatoes, peanut butter—even ice cream, if you plan to work fast. If you’d rather put pens, paints, pencils or crayons to paper or canvas, that’s fine. too. The medium is up to you. The object of […]
November 27 is Pins and Needles Day
Today is Pins and Needles Day but it has nothing to do with anxiety, diabetic neuropathy or the creepy sensation you get after sleeping all night on your arm. On November 27, 1937, musical revue Pins and Needles opened on Broadway in New York City. Comprised of skits lampooning fascist dictators and their sympathizers, bigoted Daughters of the American Revolution, […]
November 26 is National Cake Day
Today is National Cake Day. One of the most delicious things ever invented, cake has earned every one of the fifteen holidays dedicated to different variations. Whet your appetite with the story of how it all got started. A Brief History of Cake Cake dates back to ancient Egypt, where it was often flavored with […]
Tie One On Day
Tie One On Day takes place every year on the day before Thanksgiving. But it has nothing to do with Drinksgiving or Blackout Wednesday and doesn’t promote alcohol use or abuse. It began on Thanksgiving eve in 2003, when EllynAnne Geisel wrapped a pie in an apron, slipped a handwritten note of sympathy into its pocket and […]
November 19 is World Toilet Day
World Toilet Day World Toilet Day was established on November 19, 2001, by the World Toilet Organization to raise awareness of the global need for proper sanitation facilities. Since then, it has grown in scope and recognition. In 2013, the United Nations passed a resolution recognizing World Toilet Day as an official UN international day. Each year, World […]
November 18 is Pushbutton Phone Day
On November 18, 1963, the first pushbutton telephone went on sale to the public. It may seem quaint now in the age of mobile phones when many of us don’t even have landlines anymore. But this was cutting-edge technology in its day and remains an integral part of the history of telecommunications. Industrial designer Henry […]
November 12 is Guinness World Records Day
Today is Guinness World Records Day, when hundreds of thousands of people around the globe will try to make it into the famous book. Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday said, “Guinness World Records Day unites people across the planet from all walks of life, all of whom have one common goal – to become the greatest in […]