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Start Your Own Country Day

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Today is Start Your Own Country Day. According to legend, it was introduced at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City to honor “those free-spirited souls who dared to hope and believe in a better world where they too could declare any land their own.”

start your own country

We’ve been unable to confirm that account. No matter its origin, Start Your Own Country Day promotes awareness that, within certain parameters, it is possible to form a micronation.

That might sound appealing to anyone who is unhappy about the outcome of, say, a recent election, but doesn’t want to move to Canada because it’s too cold up there, and packing is a miserable task.

But there is more involved than not paying taxes and designing a fun yet meaningful flag. The new nation must provide and maintain roads, power, emergency services, sewage treatment, waterworks, telecommunications infrastructure, and Internet service.

The 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States declared that a nation requires four things to exist: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.

Let’s take a look at two people who’ve pursued their dreams of telling the whole world, “You’re not the boss of me!”

The Republic of Kugelmugel

start your own country day

The lack of building permits for the construction of a spherical house turned Edwin Lipburger from an artist into a dissident and the president of his one-person nation, bordered on all sides by Vienna, Austria, yet independent of it. The house itself contained the country of Kugelmugel and its sole inhabitant.

Lipburger was eventually convicted and sentenced to prison for refusing to pay taxes and, among other things, for printing his own stamps. Public sympathy for the artist persuaded the Austrian president to pardon him and halt the demolition of his house.

Lipburger now lives in exile in Vienna, while his structure has been relocated to the nearby Wiener Prater amusement park, where it has become a tourist attraction. Though barbed wire surrounds the Republic of Kugelmugel, it is still possible to get a glimpse of the spherical nation by looking through the fence.

The Principality of Hutt River

start your own country

Prince Leonard Casley seceded from Australia on April 21st, 1970, founding the Principality of Hutt River as part of an agricultural protest. The sovereign state claimed to pay no taxes but donated an equivalent sum to the Australian government each year, which apparently didn’t care what Leonard wrote in the memo line as long as it got the check. The kingdom lasted 50 years.

Like the Republic of Kugelmugel, the Principality of Hutt River issued its own stamps. It also minted coins, printed banknotes, and sold commemorative teaspoons, cufflinks, postcards, magnets, tie clips, letter openers, and other items, many of which can still be found online on eBay and CoinsNB.

What this nation had going for it was its size. Situated 595 kilometers north of Perth, it covered about 75 square kilometers — 18,500 acres — of land, roughly the size of Hong Kong. Even if the UN didn’t recognize the country’s presence, Google did. The Principality of Hutt River was one of the few micronations to appear on Google Maps. (As of this writing, it still does. Shh, don’t tell Google!)

Visitors paid a small fee and had their passports stamped upon arrival. Prince Leonard said he hosted thousands of tourists each year. Reviewers described Hutt River’s campground accommodations as “rustic.” Despite its closure, TripAdvisor still rates it “#620 of 2,913 things to do in Western Australia,” which doesn’t seem like a ringing endorsement for tourism in the area. Luckily, nearby Kalbarri offers river cruises and whale watching as a balm for adventurers who’ve driven 30 kilometers on a dusty road in search of a micronation only to arrive at a locked gate and dirt as far as the eye can see.

The story of the realm’s end is a sad one. Leonard abdicated the throne in favor of his son Graeme in 2017 and passed away in 2019 at the age of 93. Eighteen months later, Graeme dissolved the principality. Per its official website:

In June 2017, the West Australian Supreme Court ruled against Prince Leonard following litigation initiated by the Australian Taxation Office, which asserted that Prince Leonard owed a substantial sum. After Prince Leonard’s passing, it became evident that the ATO intended to foreclose and sell the land to recover the claimed debt.

In August 2020, HRH Prince Graeme declared that, after consulting with the Casley Royal Family, due to the prevailing circumstances all Principality staff and assets would be relocated, and the land returned to agricultural use in Western Australia.

Kugelmugel and Hutt River aside, many micronations still exist. Before you pack your bags, check out Wikivoyage, Atlas Obscura, or NomadMania, but be warned: these sites will take you down an hours-long rabbit hole if you let them. Still married to ink on paper? Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations is the only printed travel guide of its kind. It was published in 2006, so it pays to call ahead for current travel information before you trek to a country like Molossia, which has been at war with East Germany since 1983 and pegs its currency to the value of Pillsbury cookie dough.

If you’re feeling inspired, check out this handy online guide to starting a micronation, complete with Model Constitutional Code. Whether you choose to celebrate today by creating a new country, traveling to one, or just relaxing at home, have a happy Start Your Own Country Day!

Update: A year after we first posted about this holiday in 2017, we were cited as a source in The Times Herald [paywall-free link here]. We know a “micromention” isn’t as cool as a micronation, but we’ll take it!

World Hello Day

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world hello day

November 21st is World Hello Day, also known as Greet Ten People for Peace. It was founded in 1973 by brothers Brian and Michael McCormack, university students at the time,  in response to the Yom Kippur War.

“We wanted to do something to celebrate the importance of personal communication to preserving peace,” Michael McCormack later explained. They wrote to world leaders, asking them to support the new holiday. To date, they have received 83 letters of support from world leaders, Nobel Prize winners, authors and entertainers. Citizens in 180 countries have taken part in World Hello Day.

world hello day

Kofi Annan

Anyone can participate in World Hello Day. The McCormack brothers’ goal was that everyone say hello to ten strangers to encourage dialogue, understanding and friendship between people of diverse backgrounds.

world hello day

Gene Roddenberry

Around the globe, people use World Hello Day as an opportunity to express their desire for unity and peace.  With a simple greeting, they send a message to leaders, encouraging them to use diplomacy rather than force to settle conflicts. The occasion helps each person realize he or she is an instrument of change and can contribute to creating a more inclusive society.

Each time you say hello to a stranger, your heart acknowledges over and over again that we are all family. — Suzy Kassem

Happy World Hello Day! Get out there and say hi to some friends you haven’t met yet.

Hobbit Day

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Today is Hobbit Day, the longest-runniHobbit Dayng 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 and 2968, respectively. There is some disagreement among readers about the specific date.

The Gregorian calendar would place it on September 14, but Tolkien once stated that the Shire calendar is ahead by about ten days, depending on the month.

In 1978, the official date of the Long Awaited Party was fixed as September 22 by the Tolkien Society, which also happens to fall one day after  was published on September 21, 1937.

It is part of Tolkien Week, observed on the calendar week containing Hobbit Day. Festivities around the globe include feasts, costume parties, reenactments, exchange of gifts and cards and fireworks.

Happy Hobbit Day!

 

September 16 is World Play-Doh Day

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world play-doh dayToday is World Play-Doh Day. On September 16, 2006, Hasbro created National Play-Doh Day to honor its 50th anniversary. In 2015, it kicked the unofficial holiday up a notch by going global. Today we celebrate the 61st anniversary of Play-Doh and the third World Play-Doh Day.

Noah McVicker of Cincinnati-based soap manufacturer Kutol Products invented the stuff in 1933 for Kroger Grocery, which requested a non-staining, reusable product to clean coal residue from wallpaper. (He cribbed the putty’s recipe—boric acid, mineral oil, flour, water and salt—from homemakers who had been whipping up their own since some time in the 19th century, but never mind.) Kroger was happy and the company flourished for several years.

During World War II, the production of planes, ships, and motor vehicles increased the demand for fuel. Oilfields in Texas and Oklahoma pumped out so much that very little gasoline or diesel had to be imported. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between in 1945 and 1960, the number of cars on U.S. roads increased by 60 percent.

Why does this matter? With the increased availability of low-cost fuel, gas- and oil-fired forced air furnaces began to replace the dirty, labor-intensive coal furnace. Less soot translated to lower profits for Kutol Products. The introduction of washable vinyl wallpaper in 1947 dealt the business another blow. By the mid-1950s, it teetered on the edge of bankruptcy.

Kutol hired Joe McVicker, Noah’s nephew, to save the company from insolvency. Joe’s sister-in-law Kay Zufall mentioned to him that she used the cleaner as a cheap toy for kids in the nursery school she ran. He took her advice to add coloring and remove the detergent, then decided he would call it “Kutol’s Rainbow Modeling Compound.”

Kay talked him out of it; her husband Bob helped her come up with the name “Play-Doh.” They received no credit or payment. Kay said that making children happy was thanks enough. Due to her influence, schools across Cincinnati bought the product but Kutol quickly ran out of new customers. With no money for marketing, Joe convinced Bob Keeshan, better known as Captain Kangaroo, to use Play-Doh once a week on his show in exchange for two percent of sales.

Since then, Play-Doh formula has passed through many hands over the years and now belongs to Hasbro. Although it won’t reveal any ingredients other than salt, water and flour, Hasbro’s 2004 U.S. patent for “starch-based modeling compound” shows it contains water, a starch-based binder, a retrogradation inhibitor, salt, lubricant, surfactant, preservative, hardener, humectant, fragrance, color, borax and a petroleum additive to make it feel smooth.

Its high salt content reportedly won’t hurt curious children who take a nibble, but it can be toxic and potentially fatal to a pet that eats a stomachful of it.

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There is a way to evoke happy childhood memories without carrying a lump in your pocket: Play-Doh cologne. Demeter Fragrance Library, the maker of such classic scents as Lobster and Funeral Home, has distilled the essence of Play-Doh.

Don’t be surprised if the scent inspires an admirer to pull on your pigtails. (Apparently, little boys used to do that to little girls they liked, but we can’t find anyone who’s seen or done it.) Guys, it’s unisex, so if you spritz it on, don’t be surprised if someone pulls on your man-bun.

Happy World Play-Doh Day, everybody!

PS: For a funny look at this holiday, including a PG-13 Captain Kangaroo legend that may retroactively ruin your childhood, check out Happy World Play-Doh Day on Magick Sandwich.