Welcome to Worldwide Weird Holidays, where you’ll find a new reason to celebrate every day of the year.
April 13 is Scrabble Day
Today is Scrabble Day. It celebrates the birth in 1899 of Alfred Mosher Butts, inventor of the game the world knows as Scrabble. Butts lost his job in the early 1930s; there wasn’t much call for an architect during the Great Depression. He worked to develop a board game that would emulate games of chance with […]
April 11 is International Louie Louie Day
Today is International Louie Louie Day and celebrates the birthday in 1935 of Richard Berry, the composer and singer of one of the most-recorded songs of all time. Berry took inspiration from the rhythm of “El Loco Cha Cha” when writing his tune. He and his band, Richard Berry and the Pharoahs recorded “Louie Louie” […]
April 10 is International Safety Pin Day
Today is International Safety Pin Day. On April 10, 1849, Walter Hunt received a patent for his invention of the safety pin. Walter Hunt (July 29, 1796 – June 8, 1859) was born in Martinsburg, NY, and earned a degree in masonry. He worked as a farmer in Lowville, NY, and designed more efficient machinery […]
April 9 is Jenkins’ Ear Day
Today is Jenkins’ Ear Day, also known as Jenkins’s Ear Day. It commemorates an event that took place on April 9, 1731, and remains one of the strangest rationalizations for war in human history. It’s difficult to find any time in the early 18th century when England and Spain weren’t at odds or war. At various […]
April 8 is Dog Farting Awareness Day
Have you ever let slip a silent-but-deadly gas bomb and blamed it on the dog just as your guests see him through the window, playing in the yard? Worse yet, have you ever done it only to have your friends remind you that you don’t own a dog? Hey, we’ve all been there. It’s safe to […]
April 7 is National Beer Day
Today is National Beer Day but it doesn’t celebrate the end of federal Prohibition, which took place on December 5, 1933. (If you just read our post about New Beer’s Eve, stick around; we’ve got new stuff!) National Beer Day commemorates a step in that direction. Under the Volstead Act, so-called “near beer” was allowed […]
April 6 is New Beer’s Eve
April 6th, 1933, is known in the U.S. as New Beer’s Eve because it was the last night that Prohibition kept citizens from freely enjoying a glass of beer. On January 16, 1919, the 18th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It stated: After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, […]
April 5 is National Caramel Day
Today is National Caramel Day, one of the most delicious holidays of the year. The name has a long history. The English word is cadged from the French caramel, which has roots in 18th-century Spain’s caramelo, which in turn dates back to the Late Latin calamellus. The granddaddy of them all comes from the Greek κάλαμος. But who […]
April 4 is World Rat Day
Today is World Rat Day. Back in 2002, members of the ratlist—the longest-standing mailing list about rats on the Internet—proposed the creation of a holiday to raise awareness of rats’ intelligence, affectionate natures and other qualities that make them excellent pets.The ratlist, which boasts over 2,300 members, has served as a meeting place and clearinghouse […]
April 3 is Tweed Day
Today is Tweed Day, but it doesn’t celebrate the woolen fabric favored by the British upper class for sporting outfits and by college professors for suede-elbowed lecture hall jackets. Instead, Tweed Day is named for one of the most corrupt politicians in New York history. William Magear “Boss” Tweed was born on April 3, 1823. He began […]