Welcome to Worldwide Weird Holidays, where you’ll find a new reason to celebrate every day of the year.
October 28 is National Chocolate Day
Today is National Chocolate Day. There are thirty “national” chocolate-themed holidays celebrated every year in the United States: dark, bittersweet, milk, white, cream-filled, to name a few, with Chocolate Covered Anything Day taking care of whatever else may have been lost in the shuffle. While it’s unclear if these holidays originated with a candy manufacturer, it […]
October 27 is Sylvia Plath Day
Is it possible to wish someone a Happy Sylvia Plath Day? How can anyone celebrate the birthday of a woman who killed herself? Is this a joke? Is it sponsored by some brand of oven cleaner? We found evidence that this holiday exists: From the Sylvia Plath Forum: To all avowed Sylvia Plath supporters and […]
October 26 is Mule Appreciation Day
According to numerous sources on the Internet: President Ronald Reagan signed a bill in 1985, designating October 26th as Mule Appreciation Day. Two hundred years before on this date, a ship docked in Boston, bearing the gift of a donkey from King Charles III of Spain to President George Washington. We went a little crazy researching […]
October 24 is World Tripe Day
If dedication and effort are any indication, the holiday known as World Tripe Day is as real as it gets. Since 2012, the Tripe Marketing Board (TMB) has campaigned tirelessly to raise awareness of the hidden virtues of consuming, or at least discussing, the stomachs of ruminant mammals. The TMB was set up in 1992 to replace the […]
October 23 is National Mole Day
National Mole Day is not a time to pay tribute to cute furry diggers, secret agents, Mexican sauces, freckles or skin tags. (By the way, you really ought to have that thing checked out.) Once a year on October 23 from 6:02 a.m. to 6:02 p.m., National Mole Day celebrates Avogadro’s Number (6.02 x 1023), […]
INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY
Today is INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY, celebrated on June 28 and October 22 each year. Derek Arnold created the unofficial holiday in October 2000 to bring attention to those who abuse the caps lock key and, by extension, everyone who receives their emails, texts, and Internet screeds. Arnold claimed he had a higher purpose in mind, stating: […]
October 19 is Stuck in Line with a Conspiracy Theorist Day
Today’s holiday, Stuck in Line with a Conspiracy Theorist Day, commemorates an event taking place this morning in local post offices across the United States. (The post office seems to be the locus of many of these incidents. Coincidence? You decide.) An old man who speaks little English is trying to send a registered letter […]
October 17 is Wear Something Gaudy Day
While Festivus may be the most famous holiday invented by sitcom writers, there is a lesser-known day called Wear Something Gaudy Day that’s fun and doesn’t require the airing of grievances. Airing from 1977 to 1984, Three’s Company was adapted from a British show called Man About the House. Initially, it was turned down by all […]
October 16 is Dictionary Day
An immense effect may be produced by small powers wisely and steadily directed. Noah Webster, 1821 Dictionary Day was founded to celebrate the life of Noah Webster, born on October 16, 1758. Why would anyone spend twenty-seven years of his life working in solitude to produce an American dictionary? Webster sought to create a unifying, […]
October 15 is Global Handwashing Day
Today is Global Handwashing Day. We know, we know: eww! When it comes to that ill-advised hot dog wolfed at a highway rest stop, we are all like Mulder on the X-Files: we want to believe. That counter’s clean, the food freshly prepared by people who treat every day as handwashing day. So this must be […]