Welcome to Worldwide Weird Holidays, where you’ll find a new reason to celebrate every day of the year.
Jimmy Hoffa Day
Today is Jimmy Hoffa Day. On July 30, 1975, James Riddle “Jimmy” Hoffa disappeared after leaving the Machus Red Fox Restaurant on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan. A labor leader and union activist with strong ties to the Mob, Hoffa presided over the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1958 until 1971, when he was forced […]
Rain Day
Today is Rain Day. Why? According to records kept since 1874, it has rained in the town of Waynesburg, PA, on July 29th in 118 of the last 151 years, more than 78% of the time, a statistical anomaly. Every year, the town holds a festival, come rain or come shine. Events include a t-shirt design […]
National Day of the Cowboy
Today, July 26th, 2025, is the 20th annual National Day of the Cowboy, always observed on the fourth Saturday of July. On March 18, 2016, Idaho became the 11th state to pass a law recognizing the holiday. The National Day of the Cowboy Organization created this day in 2005 to acknowledge the contributions of the cowboy (and […]
July 26 is Esperanto Day
Today is Esperanto Day. On July 26, 1887, Dr. L.L. Zamenhof published Dr. Esperanto’s Lingvo Internacia (International Language), also known as Unua Libro (First Book), a textbook about the new language he’d just invented. Zamenhof didn’t create Esperanto as an intellectual exercise. It was his practical solution to an issue dividing people and cultures. He created a common language […]
Test Tube Baby Day
Today is Test Tube Baby Day. On July 25, 1978, in Oldham, England, Louise Joy Brown became the first person born after being conceived outside her mother’s body, in a revolutionary process now called in vitro fertilization, or IVF. In IVF, egg and sperm are placed together in a liquid with some smooth jazz and Bacardi […]
The Great Texas Mosquito Festival
Since 1981, the Great Texas Mosquito Festival has been celebrated on the last Thursday, Friday and Saturday of July in Clute, TX. Visitors are greeted by a 26-foot-tall mosquito clad in a cowboy hat and boots. Promoters claim it’s the world’s largest and we certainly hope they’re right. Highlights include the Mosquito Calling Contest, where entrants […]
Amelia Earhart Day
Today is Amelia Earhart Day, celebrating the aviation pioneer’s birth on July 24, 1897. In 1932, she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, for which she received the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross. A member of the National Woman’s Party and an early proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment, Earhart’s self-confidence and spirit of […]
Gorgeous Grandma Day
Today is Gorgeous Grandma Day, created by author Alice Solomon. After graduating from Wellesley College in 1984, at age 50, she felt she and her generation had been written off and branded “senior citizens” by society. Solomon believed this occurred the moment she hit the half-century mark. “In an instant and only one day older, I was […]
Invite an Alien to Live with You Day
Today is Invite an Alien to Live with You Day. Relax! We aren’t talking about the aliens that a certain reality star turned president has said are coming to murder us and steal our jobs — although, once we’re dead, they’d technically just be taking advantage of sudden employment opportunities. This type of illegal alien […]
National Lollipop Day
Today is National Lollipop Day! Early incarnations of the lollipop date back thousands of years. Archaeologists* have found evidence that ancient Egyptians used honey to preserve fruit, then inserted sticks to make it easier to eat. New Haven, CT, confectioner George Smith claimed he got the idea for the lollipop from the stirrers he used […]