Welcome to Worldwide Weird Holidays, where you’ll find a new reason to celebrate every day of the year.
September 26 is Presidential Debate Day
Today is Presidential Debate Day. It commemorates the first televised debate, which aired on September 26, 1960, and changed the way American citizens select their leaders. Democratic senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard M. Nixon met in a Chicago studio to debate domestic policies. Kennedy, telegenic and seemingly at ease in front of […]
September 23 is Checkers Day
Today is Checkers Day, also known as National Dogs in Politics Day. On September 23, 1952, Senator Richard M. Nixon addressed the nation to dispute allegations he had taken $18,000 from a secret campaign slush fund. His speech became known as the Checkers Speech because of his reference to the family dog. General Dwight D. Eisenhower […]
September 22 is Hobbit Day
Today is Hobbit Day, the longest-running holiday celebrated by fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth Cycle books, The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings. It originated in 1973 after Tolkien’s death on September 2 of that year. It honors the birthdays of characters Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, which occurred on the same date in 2890 […]
September 21 is Miniature Golf Day
Today is Miniature Golf Day. The first miniature course was created in 1867 on the grounds of St. Andrews Links in Scotland. Legendary golfer Thomas “Old Tom” Norris laid out the nine-hole course over land that frequently flooded and was riddled with rabbit holes. The course was designed for the newly-formed St. Andrews Ladies’ Putting […]
International Eat an Apple Day
Today is International Eat an Apple Day, celebrated on the third Saturday of September. So, eat an apple. That is all.
August 25 is Thoughtful Thursday
Today is Thoughtful Thursday, originated by Lorraine Jara in 1988 as part of Be Kind to Humankind Week. She created bk2hk.org after hearing about a boating accident near her hometown of Toms River, NJ. Two young men, drowning after their rowboat capsized, were pulled from the water by two young women in another small boat. They had no […]
August 15 is Taffy Sculpting Day
Today is Taffy Sculpting Day on the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ. It is the first competition in the city’s annual Weird Week. According to organizers, today’s “wacky, but not tacky” contest challenges participants to build a work of art from saltwater taffy. One year, an entrant modeled a Ferris wheel from the candy. Tuesday […]
August 13 is TugFest
Today is the 30th annual TugFest. In 1987, residents of Port Byron, Illinois, and LeClaire, Iowa, decided it would be fun to have a tug-of-war. They didn’t let the fact that the towns are separated by the Mississippi River get in their way. The tradition continues today with 11 teams of 20 tuggers on either side of […]
July 18 is World Listening Day
Today is World Listening Day. It honors the birth on July 18, 1933, of Raymond Murray Schafer, the Canadian composer, teacher and environmentalist who invented the study of acoustic ecology at Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University in the late 1960s. Acoustic ecology uses field recordings to create and preserve the planet’s disappearing soundscapes while battling schizophonia, […]
July 14 is National Hot Dog Day
Today is National Hot Dog Day, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC), an august body created by the North American Meat Institute, which has declared July to be National Hot Dog Month. The NHDSC serves as a clearinghouse of information about the preparation and nutritional quality of hot dogs and sausages, funded by contributions […]