Welcome to Worldwide Weird Holidays, where you’ll find a new reason to celebrate every day of the year.
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, […]
National Flip Flop Day
National Flip Flop Day is a holiday invented by the U.S. national restaurant chain Tropical Smoothie Café. On the third Friday of June, from 2 pm to 7 pm local time, every customer wearing flip-flops will receive a free Jetty Punch Smoothie. From 2007 to 2020, Tropical Smoothie Café customers donated $ 7.5 million for Camp […]
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, […]
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 […]
April 24 is New Kids on the Block Day
Today is New Kids on the Block Day and has been ever since Massachusetts governor and failed presidential candidate Michael Dukakis declared it so in 1989. Boston’s favorite boy band is still going strong. The NKOTB Cruise has been an annual tradition since 2009. This year, Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre and Danny Wood […]
April 14 is Pathologists’ Assistant Day
Today is Pathologists’ Assistant Day, founded in 2014 by the American Association of Pathologists’ Assistants (AAPA) to recognize the vital role every PA plays in protecting our health. Their meticulous attention to detail helps pathologists detect the abnormalities in tissue samples which lead to the diagnosis and treatment of disease. At first glance, the site […]