Welcome to Worldwide Weird Holidays, where you’ll find a new reason to celebrate every day of the year.
July 31 is the Moby-Dick Marathon
The 24-hour Moby-Dick Marathon begins at noon today at the Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT. An actor portraying Herman Melville will recite the novel’s first chapter aboard the Seaport’s 1841 wooden whaler. Visitors can sign up to read a chapter aloud. Hopefully, the reading will progress at the proper pace, to conclude at noon on August 1st, […]
July 30 is 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 […]
July 29 is Rain Day
Today is Rain Day. Why? According to records kept by the town of Waynesburg, PA, it has rained there on July 29th in 114 of the last 142 years, a statistical anomaly. Every year, the town holds a festival, come rain or come shine. Events include a t-shirt design competition, umbrella and window decoration contests and the requisite […]
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 […]
National Intern Day
National Intern Day, celebrated on the last Thursday in July, recognizes the hard work and dedication of interns across the country. It was created in 2017 by WayUp, a unique platform that connects college students and recent grads with job opportunities and career advice. The task of getting an internship has always been a difficult one, often […]
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 built 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 151; […]
July 24 is 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 […]
July 23 is 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 […]
National Day of the Cowboy
Today is the 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 cowgirl) to the history of […]