Welcome to Worldwide Weird Holidays, where you’ll find a new reason to celebrate every day of the year.
December 5 is Krampus
On Santa’s List Day, we suggested that children who learn the list of who’s naughty and nice has been finalized might be tempted to misbehave in the remaining days before Christmas, with no fear of reprisal. Krampus, today’s holiday, should thoroughly dispel that idea. Krampus may have originated as a pagan figure in Europe’s Alpine regions, becoming […]
December 4 is Santa’s List Day
Today is Santa’s List Day. According to legend, it’s the day when Kris Kringle finalizes his list, double checks it for accuracy and puts the elves to work manufacturing gifts for children who’ve toed the line of acceptable behavior within their age groups. Times have changed at the North Pole. Nowadays many parents and mental health […]
Chester Greenwood Day
Chester Greenwood Day Even if you’ve never heard of Chester Greenwood, chances are, he’s been keeping your ears warm for years. Greenwood was born on December 4, 1858, in Farmington, Maine. At the age of fifteen, he fashioned the first pair of earmuffs, with his grandmother’s help, from wire, beaver fur and velvet. He was […]
December 1 is Eat a Red Apple Day
Today is Eat a Red Apple Day. Unlike the freewheeling, any-apple-goes International Eat an Apple Day (September 17), today is all about the reds: Delicious, Rome, Ambrosia, Braeburn, McIntosh, Cameo, Empire, Macoun, Rubyfrost, Cortland, Jonagold, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, Snapdragon, Gala, Fuji, Reinette, Lady, Baldwin, Gravenstein, Liberty, Northern Spy, Cripps Pink, Sweet Tango and more Remember the adage: Consuming […]
Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting has become a worldwide symbol of the holiday season. The tree is lit on the Wednesday after Thanksgiving, celebrated with live musical performances at Rockefeller Plaza and broadcast around the globe on television and the internet. What’s the truth behind the legend? Worldwide Weird Holidays investigates. Tree Story Oneonta, New […]
November 29 is Square Dance Day
Today is Square Dance Day. Some of us remember awkward co-ed square dance lessons in the high school gym. Or maybe we watched a group do-si-do on a parade float down Main Street. How can we keep the memory alive of an American folk dance and its European roots? We’re glad you asked. In 17th-century […]
Make Your Own Head Day
Today is Make Your Own Head Day. Grab anything: clay, a bar of soap, a roll of tinfoil, dryer lint, mashed potatoes, peanut butter—even ice cream, if you plan to work fast. If you’d rather put pens, paints, pencils or crayons to paper or canvas, that’s fine. too. The medium is up to you. The object of […]
November 27 is Pins and Needles Day
Today is Pins and Needles Day but it has nothing to do with anxiety, diabetic neuropathy or the creepy sensation you get after sleeping all night on your arm. On November 27, 1937, musical revue Pins and Needles opened on Broadway in New York City. Comprised of skits lampooning fascist dictators and their sympathizers, bigoted Daughters of the American Revolution, […]
November 26 is National Cake Day
Today is National Cake Day. One of the most delicious things ever invented, cake has earned every one of the fifteen holidays dedicated to different variations. Whet your appetite with the story of how it all got started. A Brief History of Cake Cake dates back to ancient Egypt, where it was often flavored with […]
Tie One On Day
Tie One On Day takes place every year on the day before Thanksgiving. But it has nothing to do with Drinksgiving or Blackout Wednesday and doesn’t promote alcohol use or abuse. It began on Thanksgiving eve in 2003, when EllynAnne Geisel wrapped a pie in an apron, slipped a handwritten note of sympathy into its pocket and […]