Celebrate Every Day

Welcome to December 16, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate rooting for the underdog and the tradition of poor taste. It’s an accepted fact that people love cheering for an underdog. Whether in movies or sports or movies about sports, nothing engages our emotions like watching someone win against all odds. Do you guys have a favorite underdog story? John: The 1980 Winter Olympics...

Welcome to December 15, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate impossible jobs and inalienable rights. One of the most successful television commercials of all time featured a mockumentary depiction of cat herding. The tongue in cheek interviews of rugged cowboys and their errant kitties aired during the Big Game of 2000. This ad put Electronic Data Systems in the spotlight as it pe...

Welcome to December 14, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate monkeying around and fancy fish stew. On May 28th, 1959, two of the greatest heroes of space travel returned to Earth after a 15 minute space flight. It may not sound like much, but it was the first time astronauts were able to survive a return trip from space. One was a monkey named Able, and the other was Miss Baker. T...

Welcome to December 13, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate fancy fiddles and the convenience of cocoa. Antonio Stradivari crafted about 1,100 stringed instruments during his lifetime. Today, they are amongst the most rare and valuable but none more so than The Messiah. This violin built in 1716 has the quality of being nearly new, though perhaps it’s because no one is allowed to...

Welcome to December 12, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate two holiday favorites and how to extend the season. The cheerful red poinsettia plant was first brought to the United States from Mexico by botanist Joel Roberts Poinsett in 1825. Today poinsettias range in color from blue to golden orange, though this is not always natural. These plants are often sprayed with paint and...

Welcome to December 11, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate stretching our limits and staying connected. You may have heard that the key to a long life includes a healthy diet and plenty of exercise. While experts don’t agree on what to eat one thing holds true: a quality life includes movement. If you need a little motivation, look no further than Swami Sivananda, the oldest liv...

Welcome to December 10, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate with a toast to Summer and those who change the world. Lagers are distinguished from other beers by their cold-conditioning process. They are made with “bottom-fermenting” yeast that can develop at colder temperatures. Before the advent of refrigeration, brewers perfected this process in cellars dug into the ground that...

Welcome to December 9, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate popular posts and the first celebrity chef. Sending a card during the holiday season hasn’t always been a tradition. In Victorian England, sending Penny Post was inexpensive and frequent. It was also considered rude to ignore a written message. One Englishman invented the holiday card out of necessity. Sir Henry Cole rece...

Welcome to December 8, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate bending time and dessert on the go. I always wish I had the nerve to celebrate Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day. This National Day began with a blog post in 2007, inviting participants to create a character from the future or past and to dress as that character for an entire day. How about you guys, would you choose to g...

Welcome to December 7, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a sweet silver lining and remember the day that will live in infamy. This treat is known in the Netherlands as “sugar spider.” The French call it papas beard. In Australia, it’s known as fairy floss. But here in the United States, we call it cotton candy. The treat was invented in 1897 by William Morrison and John C. Whar...

Welcome to December 6, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate good old St. Nick and shortwave miracles. Saint Nicholas was born around 280 AD in modern day Turkey. His parents died when Nicholas was very young, leaving him with a large inheritance. Out of tragedy was born his generous spirit. Nicholas grew up to be a bishop and was known for his generosity and kindness, especially t...

Welcome to December 5, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the rebel spirit and hidden warriors. The controversial 18th Amendment banning the production, transport and sale of alcohol sparked a revolution. In the early 1800s, groups such as the Prohibition Party and the Anti Saloon League believed that drinking was the root of all evil. They pushed to eradicate it altogether and...

Welcome to December 4, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate rolling out the fun in cookie dough and perfect pairs. Cookies have been called by many names but they all translate into one sentiment: num, num, num num. Here in the United States, National Cookie Day was first proclaimed by Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster. Of course we all know he celebrates cookies every day. Then in 1...

Welcome to December 3, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate beating the odds and rolling out the holiday spirit. While the game of Bingo seems pretty straightforward, the game is far more complicated than you might think. It’s estimated that there are over 500 septillion combinations of numbers that could appear on your bingo card. A septillion is a 1 with 24 zeros after it. It wa...

Welcome to December 2, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate loveable mixes and deep fried comfort. In the world of dogs, some come with pedigrees and champion bloodlines that win dog shows time and again, and others are...well, mutts. Unlike their purebred cousins, mutts are what Bob Ross would call “happy little accidents.” While working dogs are bred for a specific purpose such...

Welcome to December 1, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a civil rights gamechanger and giving to our furry friends. On December 1, 1955, after a long day of work, Rosa Parks boarded a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She sat in the “colored section” but as the bus began to fill, the driver demanded that she give up her seat for other passengers. Rosa refused. She was arrested and w...

Welcome to November 30, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate safety in the kitchen and online. Believe it or not, before patent #22186, home canning wasn’t safe. Thanks to John Landis Mason, a tinsmith from New Jersey, the “Improvement on Screw-Neck Bottles,” made it possible to preserve produce right at home. The Mason Jar changed the way we pickle and pack food from our garden a...

Welcome to November 29, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate convenient ways to stay connected and the season of giving. When Neil Papworth sent the first ever text to his boss in 1992, he had no idea the impact it would have. The text was pretty simple—it said Merry Christmas—but this message changed the world. Texting has become a part of everyday life. In fact, it’s the most po...

Welcome to November 28, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate reclaiming lost bread and shopping in your PJs. You may not realize it but French toast, it's actually not French at all. The first known recipe dates all the way back to the 5th century AD. That’s when the Romans whipped up eggs and milk, dipped in bread and fried it in oil or butter. And the recipe has remained more or...

Welcome to November 27, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate protein on the go and making room for one more pie. The preservation of meat by smoking or drying has been around for a very long time. Evidence of meat jerky is even found in the tombs of ancient Egypt. And this makes sense when you realize that refrigeration has only been around a relatively short while. But today we c...

Welcome to November 26th, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate our favorite mom and pop businesses and a dessert there is always room for. You know we’ve been plugging Small Businesses all month, but today it’s time for some specific shout outs. On Small Business Saturday, celebrate the moms and pops who put the fun and goodwill back into the season of giving. Today is National Ca...

Welcome to November 25, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate feeling “blah” and being in the black I know people are excited about shopping today, but I feel positively “meh.” The French have a word for this: blasé, meaning “to be indifferent or bored with life.” Blasé actually describes how many of us feel at this time of year. You may just need to hit pause and be unproductive f...

Welcome to November 24, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate freedom of choice and a meal that brings us together. Anna: In this season of gratitude, perhaps some of you are grateful you don’t have to cook a turkey today. Is anyone out there celebrating Turkey Free Thanksgiving? Yep that’s a thing. I know you cook turkey two ways John. John: That's right - roasting and smoking. An...

Welcome to November 23, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate speedy drinks rocking around the clock. The Italian word espresso means ‘quick in time.’ In the coffee houses and cafes of the late 1800s this simply meant a coffee made expressly for the person ordering it with freshly roasted and ground coffee beans. Then in 1901 it all changed. Luigi Bezzera invented the modern espres...

Welcome to November 22, 2022 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate spicing things up and a sauce with pucker power. When you think of peppers, you probably think of spicy foods. And while that’s true, there are many varieties of pepper. Like the bell pepper, a mild version. These colorful fruits—yes, peppers are fruits—have more vitamin C than oranges and they’re chock full of vitamin A...