Welcome to Worldwide Weird Holidays, where you’ll find a new reason to celebrate every day of the year.
Buzzard Day 2016
June 11, 2016, is Buzzard Day in Glendive, Montana, and neighboring Makoshika, the state’s largest park, which covers 11,538 acres at an elevation of 2,415 feet above sea level. It falls on the second Saturday of June and celebrates the return of turkey vultures to eastern Montana. The name Makoshika (Ma-ko’-shi-ka) is derived from a Lakota phrase […]
June 7 is VCR Day
Today is VCR Day. It commemorates the date in 1975 when Sony Corporation supposedly released the Betamax videocassette recorder (VCR) made specifically for home use. Some histories place the release in November 1975. In any case, it beat JVC’s Video Home System (VHS) to market by a year. A VCR records the analog audio and […]
May 28 is Julia Pierpont Day
Today is Julia Pierpont Day, named in honor of the woman who originated Decoration Day. In 1866, Julia Pierpont, wife of the Governor of Virginia, noticed that the graves of Civil War soldiers in Richmond’s cemeteries looked neglected. She started Decoration Day to show respect for those who had given their lives by tending to […]
International Virtual Assistants Day 2016
Today is 2016’s International Virtual Assistants Day (IVAD), which honors the support staff who will never hit on a coworker, pass gas in the conference room or steal someone else’s yogurt from the company fridge. It takes place on the third Friday of May, during the Online International Virtual Assistants Convention (OIVAC). On OIVAC’s home page, […]
May 13 is National Blame Someone Else Day
Today is National Blame Someone Else Day, celebrated on the first Friday the 13th of the year. According to almost every source we checked, the holiday was invented by Anne Moeller of Clio, Michigan in 1982. That fateful day, her alarm didn’t go off, so she was late for work. More bad luck ensued. When Anne realized […]
May 12 is National Nutty Fudge Day
Today is National Nutty Fudge Day. Where did this tasty treat originate and how did it get its name? The creation of American-style chocolate fudge is often credited to student Emelyn Hartridge and her Vassar Fudge recipe. She later revealed in a letter, preserved in the Vassar College Archives, that she had cheated: Fudge, as I first knew […]
50th Annual Barbed Wire Festival
May 5, 2016: The 50th Annual Barbed Wire Festival kicks off this evening in La Crosse, Kansas. The first convention for collectors of barbed wire was hosted there in 1967. According to the festival’s website, 2,000 people attended, earning La Crosse, described by Wikipedia as a “city” of 1,342, the title of “Barbed Wire Capital […]
National Hairball Awareness Day
Today is National Hairball Awareness Day, observed annually on the last Friday of April. Hairballs are a nuisance and just plain gross, as anyone who’s stepped on one in bare feet can attest. They’re no fun for cats, either, causing discomfort and irritation. In some cases, they can be an indicator of serious illness. Talk […]
April 26 is Alien Day
Today is Alien Day. The date 4/26 pays homage to LV-426, the planet where Ripley and her expendable crew set down and take on a stowaway that no amount of Pepcid-AC can overcome. By the time the monster surprises Dallas with a gesture that looks suspiciously like jazz hands, it’s clear that the entire crew […]
April 26 is National Pretzel Day
Today is National Pretzel Day. In 2003, Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell dedicated April 26th to the snack food that continues to be a major contributor to the state’s economy. By the 18th century, when German immigrants introduced them to the people of Pennsylvania, pretzels already had a long history. One popular origin story states that […]